<p>Personally I think visiting classes is over-rated. When I was a h.s. senior I was too intimidated by all the college kids and professors to get info from entry-level classes that would be helpful in distinguishing between close schools. That being said, you could try EBME 380 - Biomedical Engineering Design Experience, MWF 3-3:50 in Wickenden 322, its a really cool class, depending on the day, the prof lectures about various aspects of design, or the students present some aspect of their design (in an interactive way), it might be helpful in seeing where you could be in four years.
Also, if you want to get a feel for the academic vibe, I would suggest asking students about it, or setting up a meeting with a prof. Professors can be very busy but the thing I love about Case is that most of them are VERY good with trying to meet with you. When I visited Case, I went into a couple of engineering departments to see if I could meet with a faculty member and (even though I didnt have an appointment, not that I would recommend that but) the head of the ChemE department sat with me for about half an hour and chatted with me about Case.
More on my 2 cents: yes, some of the entry-level classes are large, but I never really got the sense that I was a number. Even in large classes Ive always felt I could go meet with a prof if I needed help, in fact, some of my favorite teachers first taught me in large classes. Also, throughout my time here I have come to appreciate some of my TAs so much, although I pester them so much, they are so willing to help me.</p>
<p>CMU versus Case:
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as eager as anyone to plug Case, but here are a few things to think about (most of which are not exactly pro-Case).
Case gives MUCH better merit aid, but I hope CMU gives better financial aid (because Case’s is pretty much all loans).
The prestige of the school is a bigger deal than I thought it was. Maybe it’s because Case isn’t MIT (and therefore CMU might have some of this too) but because of Case’s lack of “name” outside of the Midwest there is a general atmosphere of insecurity. Many profs and students feel the need to keep saying/proving that Case is excellent, but again, it’s no MIT, although quality of education has been very satisfactory.
Also, don’t quote me on this and this may not matter much too you, but I’m pretty sure CMU is a much more well-rounded school (Case is MUCH better at science/engineering than other subjects).</p>
<p>I would stay downtown. Closer to Case (straight shot down Euclid, Carniegie) and the hotels might be cheaper. Renessiance (older but stately hotel on public square), Mariott, Residence Inn (across from the Q I think—take in a Cavs game) Hyatt is cool hotel, many others to choose from.</p>
<p>Also if interested in music check out the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame—see if there is a concert at Severance Hall next to Case—some downtown hotels may have Rock Hall packages</p>
<p>Casegirl, the hardest decision my son made was giving up CMU, and it was because their initial aid package (merit and need) was the worst by far of the schools he was accepted to. They don’t guarantee to meet need unless you’re accepted ED. And their merit is nowhere near Case’s (I’d expect the OP’s son will get very good merit at Case since she feels his stats are excellent). We saw LOTS of loans in the CMU package. Oh yes–they say they will reconsider their aid award if your package from any of their “peer” schools is better. Well, they don’t consider Case a peer. But apparently they consider Johns Hopkins a peer, since they looked at my son’s award from JHU and beat it–by $100. Wow. (Still didn’t come close to Case’s.)</p>
<p>Yes, I agree that CMU’s non-science/engineering courses are better than Case’s. The problem at CMU is accessing those courses. They have strict divisions between their schools (unlike Case’s more open arrangement). You are accepted into a particular school. I think it is harder for, say, a mechanical engineering major, to take a few theater classes just for fun at CMU than it is at Case. And because their Performing Arts school is chock full of talent, I think it would probably be harder for a non-major to be involved in music or drama on an extracurricular basis as well.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody! I was happy to see so many helpful Case updates today! </p>
<p>Per hotel, I was getting ready to book Hotwire downtown 3.5 star for $57, but then realized we will arrive after midnight if flight arrives 10:30pm. Now considering airport hotel, also $57 hotwire? Would that be an awful morning drive to Case ?</p>
<p>We toured CIM/Case several years ago coming from Oberlin and heading to CMU. We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, near the baseball stadium downtown, using Hilton points and it was about a twent-minute or so ride to CIM/CASE. I was impressed with Case, but unfortunately CIM was literally being essentially torn down for major rebuilding that would take at least 18-months to two years so d did not apply. Older d was accepted in an integrated program at CMU, other was waitlisted…no merit money and just Stafford loans offered-she was disappointed but we were not in a position to turn down significant merit money offered at other schools. At CMU, the individual schools as very separate and not easy for students to get involved in other departments on a regular basis. At the time we toured CMU, we were told non-music majors could only use pratice rooms after a certain time although they could audition for ensembles.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the insights on music. Although my son wants to study engineering, I can’t imagine him without having music fun on the side. He may or may not want a formal class, but definitely access to bands (esp jazz and pianos would be a plus. We have not investigate the local CU Boulder much because it is 25,000 students (probably too big), and the music majors would out-audition him for the better bands.</p>
<p>Traffic going to Case shouldn’t be to bad as you are going in opposite direction of downtown traffic coming into Cleveland (if it is Friday morning). If it is Saturday—traffic no problem at all.</p>
<p>I’m probably too late, but keep in mind that the downtown hotels may charge you $20 for parking. I’d stay at the airport for a 10:30pm flight, as that’s past my bedtime!</p>
<p>You should see much of the campus on the tour. Make the walk from the freshman dorms to the main quad so he knows how far that is on a cold morning! Check out the park & museum area bordering campus. Walk over to Little Italy for restaurants. Look to see where the “Rapid” rail stations are, since that is how your S would likely get to Case from the airport.</p>
<p>I have no idea about the classes. I’d probably suggest one of the Calc classes (MATH 223/224) or intro biomedical.</p>
<p>Also, great idea to visit in the winter! We went on a beautiful spring day…</p>
<p>Dad’o’2 - Thanks for the hints! Although we are coming from CO and it may “feel” 2 hours earlier, we opted for the airport hotel. The concern is more risk of rush hour traffic in the morning, so the downtown parking fee might have been tolerable. But in the end I let my husband (the driver) make the choice.</p>
<p>We booked a Hotwire 3.5 star hotel and ended up with Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel for $57 nonrefundable (plus tax and fees makes it $75). Lots better than the $113++ rate I would have booked at Hampton Inn without the help and hints from you kind CC parents! (Downtown 3.5 star was also available at $57, but they would have all charged for parking.)</p>
<p>Sorry, just saw this, but for future Case travel, call the Hampton Inn downtown directly and ask for the CASE discount. Stayed there during S1’s 4 years when visiting (he just grad in May’09). Good deal, free decent breakfast, and easy, easy drive to campus from downtown.</p>
<p>CASE VISIT FEEDBACK - HOTEL</p>
<p>Thanks for all the feedback on hotels. For us arriving late night, the hotwire 3.5* Sheraton (see above, $57) worked out ok. It was a bummer having to go to Hertz off-airport and then return, but if time had not been at a premium we could have taken the Sheraton shuttle and done </p>
<p>The rooms were not plush, but fine. Only complaint was the heating unit that sounded like a freight train when it turned on at night. That can happen anywhere.</p>
<p>Our morning drive to Case was about 40 min. Thank goodness for VZnavigator (verizon mapping program) on these trips! We passed some of the downtown hotel recommendations, and they seemed within 5 miles.</p>
<p>CASE VISIT FEEDBACK - CAMPUS and SAFETY </p>
<p>Per my prior posts, the urban campus and safety was a major concern for us. During our daytime visit, we did not see concerns. The campus is HUGE (155 acre), so we really never went off it. Except from crossing Euclid avenue, a huge busy street. </p>
<p>My son did like the campus ok, but more urban than ideal. (Our next stop was Carnegie Mellon, also an urban campus. But it seemed more self-contained, without the city busyness across the middle)> </p>
<p>It was hard to judge distances on the tour, but the tourguide says she allows 20 min to walk to the engineering quad classes. The others are closer to the freshman dorms. Most undergrads live on campus, but there is not space for the grad students. </p>
<p>The tour ended with a shuttle bus (“greenie”) ride back to the admissions office.</p>
<p>CASE VISIT FEEDBACK - MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS </p>
<p>Yes, it really seems that compared to other schools Case gives generous Merit Scholarships (but not so much need based aids). And the campus seems to have serious, enthusiastic students. We happened to have a tour of mostly boys with a team of 3 girl students. When I asked at end what most surprised them (happilly), one said she really loved it that all the students were so serious…it was not so at her high school. </p>
<p>Based on CC posts and discussions this weekend $20K or more is possible with strong stats and ECs. At Carnegie Mellon, we heard that they sometimess loose prospective students to Case for academic/merit and football scholarships.</p>
<p>CASE VISIT FEEDBACK - MUSIC </p>
<p>One of my major concerns had been accessibility of music activities to non-music majors. We found a lot of variety of music options available, from open amatuer groups, to classes. to classes/minor, to classes/double-major. My son would most likely do just the first two. </p>
<p>For the really serious muscians, the Cleveland Institute of Music (on the edge campus, but a separate institution) allow Case students to enroll in classes. We walked around inside it, and it seemed to have a real serious musician vibe. I bet there are some awesome concerts there! </p>
<p>The admissions office mentioned that they like “quirky” students, like an engineer that is also interested in music or drama etc. One of our tourguides was a Biology major miinoring in Dance.</p>
<p>Thank you for the great reports Colorado_ mom. It sounds like a good possibility but have a feeling it might be too urban for my son if there is a major busy road running through campus and dorms are 20 min walk (long cold walk in the winter!) to engineering buildings. I could be wrong though. </p>
<p>It will all depend on where my son gets in I suppose. The merit dollars at Case are hard to ignore. If the baseball coach is interested in him that would seal the deal, but don’t know if that will happen</p>
<p>Centennialmom - I’m not sure the walk is really 20 minutes. The tourguide says she would leave her room 20 minutes before class. She also pointed out that sophomore housing is closer to the Engineering classes. I brought home some maps - PM me if you want me to try to make a scan-to-PDF copy for you. A real trip to campus of course would be the best thing. Certainly there are many parts of it that feel like a traditional university (ie not like BU, which seems more stretched along the Boston streets). </p>
<p>The surrounding area is all wonderfully cultural… musuems and hospitals. But there is definitely a city street to cross. We have the same deal at Northeastern in Boston… but there you have to deal with the T (train) in the middle of the lanes. </p>
<p>Another hint - google “severance hall” (a famous concert place). It is on the corner between the two parts of campus.</p>
<p>C’moms - Couple of comments about Case and your urban campus concerns. Euclid, a major Cleveland street runs through campus because Case is a campus that is the merger of 3 different schools many years ago. That said, Euclid is not an issue. In fact, it was under construction 2 of S’s 4 years there. Engineering quad from North campus is an easy, but fast 10 minute walk, especially when cold.</p>
<p>Regarding music opps for non-majors, S was in the Wind Ensemble all 4 years as an extra-curricular. Loved it, played in Severance Hall a couple of times each year. S also did 4 years of marching band. Never took private lessons, didn’t have time as an engineering major.</p>
<p>If really interested in Case, feel free to PM me.</p>
<p>Thanks for the comments, TheMom. </p>
<p>The major impact of Euclid was just that the campus is not as tranquil as other more self-contained campuses. But there are pros and cons to every school. The tourguides did mention it was nice to have the shuttle available, and of course they tend to be most crowded when weather is bad. </p>
<p>I forgot to mention that they say taht Marching Band counts as PE credit. That was good news, except for the fact that it would mean transporting two tenor saxes (the nice jazz band sax, and the “beater sax” used for marching). </p>
<p>I liked Case because scholarships could bring it down toward the price range of our CO state schools. (Of course he still likes Mudd and MIT better than all the others… but those are longshots for admisson and finances).</p>