I know this is a common comparison and theyare considered to have more similarities than differences My S has already visited CWRU and liked it a lot and we will be visiting Rochester this weekend. At Case he did receive 10K more per year over Rochester. Also what is the gpa required to maintain the merit scholarship at Rochester?
If anyone chose one over the other I’d like to know the reasons why.
My guy ended up not applying to Case because he preferred the campus aspect of URoc vs the more urban aspect of Case. That will be a total preference deal.
The reqs for keeping an award are low. I think it’s like 3.0 if you receive 15K or more. And I’m not sure there’s anything other than progress - which may be a 2.0 - if you get less.
@Creekland - good to know. S seems to like urban so there would have to be some other factor at Rochester that particularly attracts him during his visit.
@lergnom - thank you.
I’d be also be interested in any replies to this thread. My son is down to exactly these same two options (with even a slightly larger discrepancy in merit offers) and is finding it very difficult to make a decision.
There isn’t a good answer: they’re both good schools. If the issue is jobs, I can’t speak to C-W, but I know a bunch of comp sci, math, etc. majors from UR and they’re all quite well employed. I assume C-W would be similar.
Nephew applied to UR because D graduated from there. He also applied to Case, and favored Case until he visited both campuses. Case being spread out over city streets like Boston University here in MA turned him off and he preferred the enclosed campus feel of UR. Ironically, he is now doing a graduate program at BU!
We are making same decision. D going to UR on Friday. Just at Case. Yes, it is more spread out than UR but I would call it more suburban than urban. Advantage being there are a number of food options and activities (new bowling alley for example) an easy walk from freshman dorms but disadvantage being needing to cross big streets to campus (but Mark the campus cop/crossing guard is a riot!). Most of traffic is medical with Case and Cleveland Clinic hospitals and also from the museums on campus. (Reminds me of Northwestern in Evanston). Both good schools, good programs. I think it is more the fit. Do they feel comfortable? Are the kids like them?
We visited Rochester and BU this weekend.
Liked a lot of things about Rochester (it was a shame that the opening speech was overly long, boring, and rambling - nearly lost us right at the get go! Especially after the energizing bhangra performers who opened the event!). I got the sense the students truly supported one another - lots of cross-group collaborations (e.g. the acappella group Midnight Ramblers (all white guys) sang a song in Hindi and then the aforementioned bhangra group burst onto the stage during the Ramblers spring show).
Unfortunately I don’t feel we have fair comparison with Case as we visited nearly a year ago when school was not in session. I have been urging S to go for an admitted visit but he feels he got enough info during his visited (spoke at length with student and with the assistant Dean of Weatherhead). But my sense is there is greater school spirit and cohesiveness at Rochester. While there is not much to do in the city compared to Cleveland and the University Circle area there are still some good options. Also the new ‘College Town’ development provides some closer (though not quite walking distance) options for students.
But Rochester would be the most costly of his options to fly in and out of. And he really loves Boston so BU is still very much in the mix.
All 3 are good choices. They’re very different. BU is a very good school in a great location but it is big and that means much less student body cohesion and lines. (I know the place very well.)
I like the city of Rochester. There’s more to do than you’d think but the life of the school revolves around campus and clubs and activities related to life there. In addition to shuttle buses, a number of kids have cars - and there are zip cars.
My D had the same choices. She wanted a more urban setting, so Case it is!
Update - after thinking these were S’ top three choices, he ended up selecting University of Minnesota - Twin Cities! Rochester was his second choice. After narrowing down to these two choices, it also did come down partly to wanting more of an urban experience (probably the sports were a factor as well). I’m a bit concerned about the size of Minnesota but that’s where we’re at.
@singermom4 - Where are you from? My daughter wants an urban setting too but probably a warmer one than the Twin Cities. From what I understand is that you have to be proactive, but U of M is a top notch school. What is he planning on studying?
We live in the Chicago 'burbs. S plans to study economics and computer science - he is regretting not applying to warmer places (farthest south school for IU in Bloomington, IN) . I’m mainly happy that it is driving distance.