<p>It is finally time for me to make my college decisions.... :)
If cost is not a factor in making my decision, which school would be better for pre-medicine? All 3 have relatively strong pre-medicine programs and are great schools, but does anyone know the difficulty of getting a good GPA at each school? I have visited Case, and it has many opportunities for experience/volunteering such as the Cleveland Clinic. Can anyone give me some insight on the other two schools and also compare it to Case?
Thanks</p>
<p>U of R will also provide you many of the same opportunities, maybe not quite as many as Case because Case has 5000+ grad students - many providing research opportunities for undergrads, but both have adjoining hospitals…Case has University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic, U of R has Strong Memorial. U of R is ranked #32 and Case is ranked #37 in national universities so that is fairly negligible. Cleveland is a bigger and nicer city than Rochester but neither is spectacular. Both have cold, cold winters. Rochester definitely has one big plus IMHO… They have Wegmans- the best grocery store ever! 
Rochester has a smaller, more compact campus with a very collegiate feel. Case is larger and more spread out…has a bit more urban feel. They will both be rigorous as far as GPA, very similar in difficulty. And I know nothing about Tulane</p>
<p>Thanks for your comment!
Case Western’s campus was definitely different from a lot of the other campuses I encountered. It’s such a tough choice between these three…</p>
<p>Academically, the schools are in the same ballpark. Pre-med is pre-med is pre-med. The med schools won’t care where you go but what you do. URoc and Tulane are going to have better non-STEM resources. So this comes to intangibles. For instance, Tulane is the best of these cities and has the most going on, the best food, the best music, the best weather, and the best parties. And costs to you, including loans.</p>
<p>Many change their mind from pre-med or simply don’t get into med school even with decent stats. What’s your planned major and “Plan B?” If that’s “better” at one college or another, factor that into your thoughts. Costs too if they are an issue.</p>
<p>My guy chose URoc and opted not to apply to Case due to Case’s campus not being what he was interested in and they didn’t have nearly as much in his major. He never considered (or wanted to consider) Tulane, so can’t help you there.</p>
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<p>I agree with jkeil911, Tulane is easily in the best city. I have not been to Rochester, but do go to Cleveland at least a couple of times a year. New Orleans is much better, and far more interesting.</p>
<p>The Tulane campus and adjacent areas are very nice. Audubon Park, one of the best city parks in America, is immediately across the street from Tulane.</p>
<p>Tulane also has a hospital, the Tulane Medical Center, but it is not near campus. Rather it is in downtown New Orleans, about five miles away.</p>
<p>Tulane students are truly drawn from the entire country, but especially the East Coast. One writer said that you cannot escape the East Coast flavor of the Tulane campus, but neither can you ignore the southern flavor of New Orleans. Sounds about right.</p>
<p>When D applied to Tulane, the admissions office did all the little things to indicate that they cared about her as an individual and person. It has my attention and it has a lot of merit aid. I would think that Tulane has the least GPA depression of all these schools, but that is something you really need to ask students: are they getting the GPAs they expect to get? do they find that med schools are aware of any depression at their schools? Can the AOs put you in touch with pre-meds? Ask them.</p>
<p>Three great choices! Have you visited the other campuses? If you have a chance, I’d recommend it. Both D and I thought UR looked like a superb place to go to school (caveat: we visited in July…we may need to go back in January if she’s still in consideration next year). Tulane stumbled a little in terms of its “vibe” during our visit, but I think that was a personal issue rather than one that would apply to others. </p>
<p>(I’ll be following this thread because all three of these schools are on premed-leaning D’s list, too! I’d love to have the chance to listen to your ideas as you make up your mind. )</p>
<p>Thanks again for the comments! I’m going to visit Tulane and Rochester soon, so I can’t wait for that.<br>
@ jkeil911 That is the one thing I’m afraid: the gpa depression and that the med schools don’t realize this. I’ll definitely ask the people there :)</p>
<p>Point of clarification… New Orleans is not a nice city (like, say, Seattle). It is a fascinating and interesting city which feels like you might be about to leave America behind. Not everybody likes it.</p>
<p>Frankly, I would never permanently live in New Orleans, or Cleveland, or Rochester. I could go to college in any of them, but I know that I would enjoy New Orleans. I would only go to college in Cleveland if I really had no other realistic options. Cleveland has some good things going on but those things seem like finding gems amongst rubble.</p>
<p>As someone who has lived in the Cleveland area for many years (and also lived in Boston and in a small rural town for college), I have to disagree. Certainly, Cleveland has at least as much going on as Rochester. It’s not New Orleans (or Chicago or NYC or Boston) but there is plenty to do. There is pro football, baseball and basketball plus minor league hockey, the music/concert scene (of all types of music from classical to jazz to rock, etc.) is pretty active with local and touring artists, lots of active professional theatre from touring broadway to regional repertory to numerous college/university productions, there are great restaurants and University Circle where CWRU is located is full of students, museums and cultural organizations. For a student interested in STEM and/or medicine there are great research opportunities. I doubt most college students would take advantage of even a fraction of these options. Cleveland winter weather is not great (nor is Rochester’s) and Cleveland’s downtown could certainly be livelier but Cleveland (or Rochester) for that matter is likely to be a lot friendlier to a student budget than some other big cities. Most students I know who have attended CWRU in recent years have really enjoyed it. I have also heard great things about the University of Rochester. I know nothing about Tulane. I just wouldn’t rule out CWRU because it’s in Cleveland (unless you don’t want an urban campus at all).</p>
<p>^ ITA wrt Cleveland. University Circle in particular is great.</p>
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<p>I think this is a case where you have 3 comparable academic options, and picking the school you like the “feel” of best is the right choice. You will set yourself up very nicely at all three.</p>