Case Western Reserve (should I apply)?

Hello! I am thinking about applying to CWRU this fall because I have heard that their nursing/nutrition majors are very good. I am hesitant on applying though because I have heard that the students are quirky and weird. What do students do on the weekends or at night? Do a lot of students attend sports games? Is the overall campus vibe competitive? I have never been to Ohio and do not know what it is like. Is the size of Case nice? Thank you!

I can’t speak to the student culture but Cleveland is a great city, and the University Circle area where CWRU is located is wonderful. Lots of museums and the home of the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra. Little Italy is near by with great restaurants. The students who I know who attended are not “weird”. I would call them smart and independent enough to be themselves.

Case is a wonderful school and university circle is a great place for young people. It’s not a sec or Big10universities school but put thousands of students together and you’ll be hard pressed being bored (with all the things going on it’d be on you if you chose to be Antisocial and stay in your room alone).

Case Western is a highly ranked research university with over 10,000 students and all kinds of resources. Yet when it comes to sports, they compete in NCAA Division III. This is the lowest possible level of NCAA competition – it is really meant for small liberal arts colleges that probably have fewer students than your high school.

If a major university opts for Division III athletics, you can assume that sports are not a big deal there. See also: MIT, URochester, Washington U in St. Louis, NYU, UChicago, Carnegie Mellon, and Emory. (I would add Johns Hopkins, but they are Division I for lacrosse).

CWRU football actually had a very successful year in 2017; they went undefeated during the regular season and made the NCAA Division III playoffs. Yet the best home attendance that they had was 2,238, for a game vs. Grove City College. There are probably many high school football games in Ohio that draw much larger crowds than that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Case_Western_Reserve_Spartans_football_team

CWRU is a great university in many respects. But you don’t go there for the sports.

Btw, I’ve been told Cleveland’s got pretty interesting pro teams if you’re into sports;)

CWRU is a great school. I like Cleveland and there’s tons to do there. BUT if Case was in Boston, NYC, LA, Atlanta, etc. it would probably be a higher ranked school and tougher to get into…IMO

About the 10,000 students at CWRU. Half of them are grad students. It’s undergrad population is closer to 5000. It’s a great school but I just wanted to put it perspective.

If the interest is health care/nursing - I think CWRU is top notch. Great affiliation with Cleveland Clinic now. Cleveland is becoming one of the big health care powerhouse cities. There will be a lot of opportunity there.

Many nursing students join sororities at Case, they are pretty normal college students. So they go to parties
on weekends. Greek like is active, both in service and social life.
https://students.case.edu/campus/greek/chapters/sororities/

I have met two nursing students, at Case, and both are very social. One did not join a sorority,
dated my son’s friend, and liked dancing in downtown Cleveland, and hanging out with her boyfriend on weekends.
The other is a rising senior and a member of a sorority, planning
to work in a hospital in New York State when she is done. She and her Case friends go apple picking, go to sorority parties and dances,
go downtown to eat, and go to off campus weekend parties on campus. . She also goes to Cleveland Symphony concerts, for dates and goes out in Little Italy with friends. Little Italy is walking distance from Case housing.

If you bring a car to Ohio, you will have a slightly wider list of things to do, but a car is not necessary as
Ohio students will bring them, and you can ride or Uber to various locations. The buses and trains are pretty good to get around too.

@peyre1 “I am hesitant on applying though because I have heard that the students are quirky and weird.”

If this is a concern for you, how would you describe yourself? Don’t worry, quirky and weird aren’t contagious.

As with any college, I would try to visit. If you think the college fits you otherwise, then either visit before you apply or apply and then if you get in, visit during admitted students day and see what your fellow classmates would be like.

CWRU students are “midwestern nice” and often sporty. I don’t find them to be as weird as schools like GaTech or other super technical schools. CWRU students have a Greek life but non Greeks are often cooler. I don’t find them weird at all, but some are gamers, in particular boys, is my assessment. CWRU has a lot of middle class white kids but a good dose of Asian first generation. There are international students too. Its a nice mix of kids, quite healthy socially. Easy to date there, as its gender balanced and students have a variety of interests, from business, to law, to science, to medicine, to engineering to nursing to music

Its a highly balanced school compared to most rich LACs or Ivy stuck up type schools.

There are not a huge number of very wealthy kids at Case Western, which makes it more down to earth than some schools with very rich demographic. Because CWRU offers good merit, it attracts middle class kids.

Ok so we visited last summer. After the visit it made the parents’ list, but not quite the kid’s list. Academics solid – zero to worry about there. The neighborhood is nice. Park like, lots of “artsy” things to see and do. The campus is nice as well. When to a little bar/restaurant and spoke with a nursing student/bar tender and got the lowdown. Sports, not really well attended. Lots of studying required. There are parties and social life if you want, but not crazy college like you see on tv. The Browns suck and you can get cheap tickets for the Indians games. Cleveland is a typical mid-sized city with things to do and places to go. Good luck.