<p>I'm trying to decide between Case and Rochester, but they're quite similar to one another. Could you help me with the comparison? I plan to major in mechanical engineering, for reference.</p>
<p>I've been using the College Prowler guides. They're quite helpful, but they aren't the greatest for a direct comparison.</p>
<p>Stealing the aspects from the College Prowler guides, adding importance:
Academics: Extremely high
Campus Strictness: Low (I prefer self-imposed reasonable behavior)
Drug Scene: Medium-low (I don't want to drink or use drugs, nor do I want to be encouraged to)
Facilities: Very high
Girls: Medium (brains, not beauty)
Greek Life: Low (I really don't feel like dealing with stupid frat guys, but I don't mind them if they actually do good stuff (charity, public service, etc.))
Local Atmosphere: Medium (don't care about sports, do care about culture)
Nightlife: Very low
Transportation: Medium-low (as long as it works reasonably well, don't care)
Weather: Low (it'll be awful no matter where I go)</p>
<p>The quality of education is particularly important to me. One problem I see is that Rochester's mechanical engineering department is quite small: 20ish students per year. Case's, on the other hand, is much larger. This also suggests that they have significantly nicer facilities. Then again, the NSF says Rochester spends about twice as much on engineering research than Case. Which is somewhat odd. Research opportunities are also fairly important to me, as is demand by good companies for people who've graduated.</p>
<p>Social life is important to me, as well. My tastes are a bit geekier/nerdier/whatever, so I'm more interested in gaming, movies, anime, etc. than I am in athletics (don't care about athletics at all). I did get to see Case's improv group perform when I visited; loved it. Stuff like that is good.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I'm leaning towards Case. Appears to be better for engineering, plus Cleveland seems to be a nicer city than Rochester (coming from Boston). I don't really have the data for anything else.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Experiences? Also, it'd help me if you could state your affiliation/position when you post (e.g., Case student, Rochester alumni, tech company HR).</p>
<p>Sorry for the long post. Thank you in advance for your help!</p>