Case (With Scholarship) vs. more prestigious schools

If your parents won’t pay, the answer doesn’t really matter. But no, $120k of undergrad debt isn’t worth it, especially for someone who wants to be a doctor.

Everything starts with attitude. If you are already have your heart set against CWRU, then by all means - convince your parents and go where you want to go.

From a parent who has admissions background - attendance at “prestigious” schools isn’t a golden ticket. Admissions ANYWHERE is the building of a class. I don’t care what your stats are - there are thousands who have similar or better. Graduating from your choice isn’t going to give you an edge.

I remember addressing a group of parents from a prep school who balked at the idea that a student from an inner city school would have more of a chance at Stanford admission than one from the prep school. Economics, aside, the inner city student will have done more with his “limited” opportunities.

TBH, if I were your position - go to the school with less debt - you will need to save where you can. Take each negative and think of ways they can become a positive. Anyone can sit and complain.

Pitt didn’t give you any merit money? That’s hard to believe.

If you are a resident of either North Carolina or of Pennsylvania, then your acceptances to UNC and Pitt become financially attractive options. Same for Michigan.

@pittsburghscribe
@Publisher

Resident of VA! Deferred from UVA :((

I guess I didn’t try hard enough for the Upitt Application to receive aid. I applied all the way back in October.

If I had to rank the schools: UChicago/WUSTL > Case > UMich > UNC > UPitt

My son also applied to both schools. He applied EA to Case and was accepted, However, he did NOT apply ED to WUSTL, and therefore has not yet been notified whether or not they have accepted him, much less offered any sort of merit aid.

I’m guessing you applied ED, which is binding, to WUSTL. If not, I’m wondering how you’ve been accepted and are faced with a firm “choice” before my son has even heard.

“WUSTL seems close enough to many schools just barely below HYPSM level such as Duke, UChicago, Northwestern, Rice, etc. in terms of resources and pre-med prestige to med schools.”

No WUSTL isn’t close. UChicago is close. WUSTL has just gamed the ratings. Yes, it is a fine school. But nobody really thinks of WUSTL as they do a school like UChicago.

Colleges don’t prepare you for med school or “land you” into one either. That’s all up to you. @WayOutWestMom and @mom2collegekids know a lot about med school. You should search out their posts on the subject.

Hello all,

I am in a tough position. I am trying to determine whether or not I should attend WUSTL (W/ no aid/scholarship, total cost = $66,000) or Case Western (W/ aid, total cost = $36,000). My planned area of study is pre-med (biochemistry) with a possible minor in political science.

My parents are against paying full price for WUSTL. The cost of attendance would put a big dent into my family (upper middle class with 2 other brothers in college soon). However, I find WUSTL MUCH MORE appealing than Case Western in many regards: Food, Dorms, Campus, People, Academics, etc.

At the end of the day, I don’t know if I will be put at a severe disadvantage attending Case in terms of getting into a good med school, quality of life (Case is known for a lesser quality of life apparently), and research/shadowing positions (I know Cleveland clinic is near Case Western, but WUSTL appears to have more research positions open and 2 hospitals on campus).

What are your thoughts? WUSTL or Case? Is it worth it to go $120,000 more in debt attending WUSTL???

I truly consider these schools equivalent…They are both top 50 national universities.

If you want to go pre-med then think about:

  1. The cheapest reasonable college so you/your parents can use the money for med school
  2. The college needs to prepare you for MCATs but still allow you to get a good GPA
  3. Access to volunteering opportunities (e.g., near a hospital)
  4. Success in graduates getting into med school
  5. Options if you don’t go to med school

WUSTL is not worth twice the price of Case.

Also you assume you are going to be a high paying doctor.
Zillions of students start as pre-med.
My daughter started as pre-med.
And she is about to graduate…she completed all her pre-med prereqs and has just decided that the stress of Medical School isn’t for her.
My roommate at college was pre-med…but decided to stick with her Biomedical Eng degree instead.
Then there are all the students who don’t make it through Biology or Ochem or such.
Or don’t do well on their MCATS.

Did you know that Case Medical school is the first school to use Microsoft Hololens to teach surgery to students?
Case is the best school for technology/healthcare combinations, and overall a top rated school. Hololens is augmented reality technology that allows students to walk around a surgery observing it, but NOT contaminating
The surgery room.

(Wash U is a great school,but I would say its not really as well known as the graduates want to think, and often
confused with UW Seattle in the west. )
Case is also somewhat unknown, in the west, , but I think, one of the most supportive for medical school applications,
and options for both clinical and medical research abound.
Also, because Case is BETTER than Wash U in engineering and a lot of medicine is now measurements, and very quantitative, I believe Case will surpass Wash U as a medical school prep school soon enough.

So, here is something interesting, math is so important, that Dr. Jacob Scott, an oncologist at Cleveland Clinic
also earned a PhD in MATH to help his patients. no joke Dr Scott works with physicists at Case and Cornell University, to further medical science.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff/21226-jacob-scott

Full disclosure, my son graduated from Case. Not premed but one of the math people that work with Dr. Jacob Scott.

Look at the Health Sciences campus at Case, and the philosophy of medical education at Case, its arguably BETTER than Wash U. They basically get the social workers, doctors and engineers all working for the patients best interest.

Social work college at Case is A+. It takes more than medicine to cure new diseases, it takes mathematics, engineering, and social work combined with medical science.

https://cwru-newmed.com/info/

@“D.Mat1234” Among the many schools where my daughter applied were WUSTL and Case. She visited campus after her acceptance and even though it was a cold, gray, sleeting, miserable day, she loved it. Especially after visiting classes, she was extremely impressed with the quality of interaction among the students and with the professors. The dining hall food was also better than average. While the dorms and dining halls may not be as plush as WUSTL’s, both universities share ready access to parks, museums, and of course, teaching hospitals. My daughter ended up opting for a LAC in the end but Case was edged out only narrowly. We have it in consideration for our second child, who is also a very high-achieving student.

TBH, in my opinion, the disparity between the two schools with respect to academics, facilities, preprofessional opportunities, etc. was negligible. For us, it did not justify the 30K+ per year extra cost.

If you have the opportunity, do an in-depth visit at Case if you have not already done so. It may surprise you.

Wash U grad here. I wasn’t premed and neither are my kids so can’t get too particular on that part of it, but I honestly can’t see going $120K into debt for an undergrad degree from WashU. Especially if you are planning to go on to med school. Don’t start your adult life off in such deep debt.

I got rejected from WashU ED and have been accepted EA with a scholarship to Case and I’d like to think I know both schools pretty well. If I were accepted ED, I would have likely been in the same situation as you. Last month I visited Case and loved it. It is actually similar to WashU in many different ways such as the size of the campus, type of city and academic programs. I was devastated with being rejected from WashU but I realized the few negatives of it in my mind were now gone. Personally, I like that Case is a 7hr drive from home vs a necessary plane ride to STL. Also I spent two days on campus @ WashU and was very surprised of their high food ranking as I didn’t think it was anything special. Rn I am choosing between Case and Rochester (I’ve been accepted but haven’t received financial info yet) All schools are in the UAA and coincidentally I originally looked at nearly all of them. I think going to Case is more ideal because $120k in debt plus med school does not seem fun.

You got into WashU ED? Then how did you collect all those other acceptances? You were obligated to withdraw all your other applications, not continue to wait 2 months to fish around for better offers.

Parent of a WashU student and I would say that if you are released from your ED obligations, go to Case.

The money does the talking and supposedly Case is more generous with regards to money. An Eagle Scout I worked with was accepted to Case with 20,000 a year merit even though the family likely could have afforded WashU without merit.

I have heard that Cleveland is a very underrated city with excellent museums and a lively entertainment scene. Both WashU and Case will prepare you equally well for premed, although Case may have a less of a weed-out reputation than WashU.

And if the OP applied to Case EA and WashU ED, that is perfectly fine. You can be released from your ED commitment if the finances do not line up.

The bottom line is Washu is probably the better college but you can’t afford it. Excel at Case and take out the loans for medical school.

@“D.Mat1234” I don’t know much about WashU, but your impression of Case is spot on. Those things that Case constantly advertises (research opportunities, thinkbox, etc.) are nothing special and are offered at most schools.

Not an alum or relative of anyone at either school but they are basically equivalent and both great for pre med or nursing (case). 30000 a year difference can buy a LOT of takeout to make up for any difference in dorm food and Cleveland has some amazing takeout. If this was Yale vs case that’s one thing but WashU vs case? No meaningful difference