Hi everyone! I’m an applicant to Case Western and it’s my dream school. However, I found out that the scholarship deadline passed a while ago, and the only way I’ll be able to attend Case, is if I have a full ride, or am able to pay at maximum $5000 a year. I’ve already been accepted to my state school and a liberal arts college within my state, and both gave me full scholarship to attend. I want to major in Cognitive Science, but neither of the two schools that have provided me the full-ride provide that major (I’d have to double major in order to have the same foundations as in a Cog. Sci. major.) Any suggestions and any help will be more than welcome and helpful!
I don’t have any suggestions but I am interested in why Case Western is your dream school. I do believe it’s a great school. My son applied and we’re visiting it later this month. I just haven’t heard him talk about it that much.
@privateID I love how the Case community is very much of a model of what I believe is the new 21st Century environment, Tech-driven Renaissanceism. The Case community is very in tune with the demand and change of our society, which is one where technology is a facet of our lives. Technology is an element that every member of my generation will know how to operate and manipulate, and Case implements a technological aspect to all its programs, regardless if the program is a non physical or computational science. This mixed in with the fact that the Arts receive well recognition and support from the Case community, and you have a well-rounded environment that’s suited for the 21st Century academic. I eventually want to pursue a career specializing in software user interface (Cognitive Science major), but in addition I love music of the Classical, Jazz, and Rock genre. With that said Case offers the outlet and opportunity to further explore and enrich all of my interests through their tech inspired academic programs and patronage to the Arts. I know all this a mouthful, but hopefully I was able to properly present the reason why and how much I love Case!
Thank you for your articulate answer. I will share it with my son.
@privateID No problem! I hope for the best in your college search and admissions process. Hope you also enjoy Cleveland and Case!
Case gave my daughter her worst (maybe second worst, behind BU) FA offer last year. She was accepted early, clearly desirable, but Case just doesn’t have the funds to do anything like a full ride based on need for most (any?) accepted students.
Case met need for 28.6% of aid recipients according to http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=966 and if I had to guess I’d say that 28% had very low need.
Is cognitive science very different from neuroscience?
Case was also one of the two worst offers of merit aid for my D, which is not to say they didn’t offer quite a bit, but full-ride scholarships are rarely if ever given at Case and their COA is quite high. Great school if you have the money for it.
My son was accepted to Case a couple of yrs with a large scholarship, but considering how expensive Case is to begin with, the fact that their scholarships are fixed amts, so increase in costs are an issue, he had to remove them from his list. (He applied for one of their full ride scholarships (only a couple are offered) and didnt get it.)
@privateID @OHMomof2 @Skates76 @Mom2aphysicsgeek
To all:
Hello everyone! My apologies for this almost month late response, I’ve been going through some rough situations but I’m working through them. I have really good news, however, as I have been accepted to Case Western with a $26,000 University Scholarship. Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends because Case is really expensive to attend. Both tuition and room & board combined are around $60k, and that just won’t cut it. The Financial Aid package I received was very little as well, despite having the requirements for aid, and they were all in the form of loans. If anyone has any ideas of where to look for more in-house aid, I would really appreciate all the help! In the meantime, I’ve been applying to external scholarships to subsidize Case. I really would love to go to Case because I feel that it would be a transformative intellectual experience, especially since they have a Cognitive Science program. If I don’t attend Case, my only option is my local state school for which I have a full ride and acceptance to its Honors College.
Cognitive Science does incorporate a neuroscience element to its curriculum, but what it actually focuses on is an interdisciplinary curriculum consisting of Psychology, Sociology, Computer Science, and Education. It also encompasses other social sciences, but these are the ones that are most apparent in the field and curriculum. Hope this helped in clarifying☺.
@theaddresser - my daughter was also accepted at Case and wants to pursue Cognitive Science. It really sounds fascinating. That said if you are thinking about attending grad school - or even if you’re not - it’s really hard to justify going into a lot of debt for an education if you don’t have to. A full ride in an honors program at your state school is amazing and while we share your enthusiasm for Case, I’d definitely be pushing my daughter to attend the local school if we were in your boat. I imagine you will get a great education and to come out with little to no debt after four years is an amazing gift!
@theaddresser My D was in the same boat at Case, large amount of money offered, but not nearly enough to offset the high costs for us. She politely declined a few weeks ago and is concentrating on three other offers now, including two full rides at OOS publics. I tell you this only because she has come to realize what a great opportunity those schools and their honors programs hold for her, and she is already planning ahead to graduate/professional schools, many of whom either didn’t make her list or fell off of it because of costs. Having no UG loans will give her much more freedom in choosing grad/prof schools to apply to, which it sounds like you have an offer that could do the very same for you.
At the graduate/professional school level Case may be a truly great target for you in their Cognitive Science program. Remember that even sometimes when one door closes, it means another door is opening up somewhere a little farther down the hallway. Best of luck to you in your entire academic career!
Agree 100% @myjanda. That is exactly what our ds is doing and loves it there. Zero regrets accepting the full-time at the state school.
Fwiw, it is very doubtful that at this late date scholarships that would make Case affordable for all 4 yrs.
@theaddresser - sorry to hear Case won’t work out.
It sounds like cognitive science could be replicated at a school that offers neuroscience, and you take some electives in the social sciences? Or you could do neuro and move to a cognitive grad program.
This sounds like a great option! Let us know how it goes,and good luck.
Just an FYI, Case has been working on moving toward a need aware admissions process. Subsequently, they will meet the full need of admitted students.
It should be irrelevant to applicants if a school is need aware or need blind. It doesn’t affect how much you like a school, it affects only the chances of admission, and then only for a few applicants on the cusp. If you like the school, apply! Meeting full need can be the critical issue.
@privateID @OHMomof2 @Skates76 @Mom2aphysicsgeek @myjanda @cle4life @vonlost
Hello all! I am sorry for not responding earlier. A lot of things have been going on in my life, but fortunately things are looking for the better. I wanted to update you all on my decision for college and I decided to go to my local state school’s Honors program. I visited Case Western on their accepted student’s fly-in program back in April and was really excited to visit the school. To keep things short and on point, I’ll just say that my time at Case was really great and the people were more than welcoming. However, I will say that the food will give you stomach aches no matter where you go (I assume it’s because they use too much grease or fat). What it really came down to was finances for me. I would’ve come out with a total of $120k in debt if I would have attended Case. In addition, since I am a high school graduated who also graduated with an Associates degree (60 credits), Case was only willing to accept a max of 15 from institutions that have articulation agreements with them (the college where I received my Associates did not have an agreement with them). With all this said, these were the factors I was weighing wen decision time came about: local state school’s Honors program with full ride where I would have to only do two years, or four years of Case with a respected Case degree and $120k in debt. As much as I would love to have gone to Case and have a unique college experience and graduate with a degree from a well respected institution, I knew that I still had my ultimate goal to complete, and that is my Masters and Doctorate degrees (and Masters programs aren’t very affordable either). In all honesty, I still have internal conflicts with the decision I made, in fact I think about it almost everyday. However, the truth of the matter is that I live in reality, and reality is not all clear blue skies and sunny days. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Nothing in life is certain, but death and taxes.” I’d like to add my own personal flare to that quote as a result of my experiences throughout the college admissions process and say, “Nothing in life is certain, but death, taxes, and debt.” However, with that said, I will do my best and give my best efforts in where I am going, and hopefully I can serve to be an example of the person who started from the state school and made it to the top :).
Best to all,
theaddresser
P.S. If anyone has any questions or concerns about dealing with situations of this matter, please do not hesitate to Inbox me. I’d love to share my experiences and knowledge of managing the college admissions process.
Interesting. First time I’ve ever seen “inbox” used as a verb.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/inbox
[Quote]
VERB
[WITH OBJECT] informal
Send a private message or an email to (someone, typically another member of a social networking website or online forum):
“I’ll inbox you on Facebook when I get home”
[WITH TWO OBJECTS]: “Could everyone please inbox me their numbers?”
I’m not saying it’s never been done before; I’m saying it’s the first time I’ve seen it. And I think it’s interesting.
My kids use inbox as a verb back in 2009.