Case (With Scholarship) vs. more prestigious schools

Your responses throughout this thread do not paint a very good picture of you. You parents have 3 kids to put through college, and you want to know whether you should go to a top 30 school with $$ to offset costs or a top 20 school on an all mommy and day money plan. and, you paint your concern in terms of getting into med school, and opportunities for shadow work at CWRU (3 hospitals take their pre-med students for shadow/research posts). If you just like Wash U better, go there. If it is just you vague concern for reputation which is statistically insignificantly different, go to CWRU. with a 90+% med school placement rate, CWRU is a great option. Pre Med is not a magical program - you need 2 calc, 4 chem, 2 physics and 4-6 biology classes to get in, and to get all of that you have to start in lock-step with the lower level classes as it all builds from there. the rest of your education is your choice. You could do all of that, do well and go to med school out of any major state school, so go to yours for a ton less (it is not like you want to be an engineer, in a highly specialized field, you want to go to med school, like every other kid who did well in chem or bio - most change their mind, btw- kids do two years at community college taking the intro courses and saving a ton of cash, then go to state school and on to med school, status undergrad does not set you apart from them - in fact, not that a kid like you has ever gotten a B, but someone has to in undergrad, so - big fish in small state school pond (more kids with B averages and 1200 SAT scores there or small fish among a group with the same drive and credentials at a prestige school? I point that out because a 4.0 from state college gets in faster than a 3.0 from Wash U or CWRU and 90% do not get an A ā€¦))ā€¦If you want higher status school than that, CWRU at $36k is a far better deal than WU at $66k ( which, with books etc. is more like 80.

Disclaimer - I am not a CWRU student, or alum. I am not an employee of CWRU. Likewise, I am not a student, employee or alum of Wash U. I am a CWRU parent.

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There are MANY years between starting college and getting that ā€œhigh payingā€ medical job you want. Life happens. You change your mind. There are no guarantees.

But there is no doubt if you got to WUSTL you will exit with $120,000 in debt.

Go to Case.

@Arao99 is this @superazn69 back again? USC not working out for you, Dan? Still finding the time to bash Case?

@wildcatmom16 No, thatā€™s not me. But Iā€™ve seen his comments about Case on other threads and I agree with them. Also, Iā€™m not bashing Case. Iā€™m commenting here because that school is a ripoff and thereā€™s not a lot of honest reviews about it. As someone who transferred from Case to a state school, I have a perspective that not many people have.

Ok, I find it odd that you superazn69 comment on the same schools (WashU and Case) and use the term ā€œnothing special,ā€

This thread is a discussion about a choice between a school that is charging more than Case - so your statement about Case being a rip off does not apply to this discussion.

Since you took the time to reply, what do find lacking in Caseā€™s research opportunities and thinkbox versus other schools - your current school?

Your perspective is one that maybe not many people have - but your statement is not helpful either. It came off like a bash.

OP, there is NO question in which school you should choose. If you want to go to medschool, unless ones parents are flush with money, you go to the cheapest option. My daughter and son in law came out of UG with NO debt, yet came out of medschool with $400,000 in loans between the two of them. That is not a typo. Thank goodness they didnā€™t have UG debt to pile on top of that.

Daughter was deferred Case Western and would jump at the chance for a 36K tuition there. I get everyone has their dream schools, but not for that much more.

@Arao99 It would be much more helpful for readers for you to add details and specificsā€¦not just ā€œnot that specialā€.

Case advertises their thinkbox like itā€™s something great when itā€™s really not. Pretty much all technology oriented schools have makerspaces, they just donā€™t advertise them as aggressively as Case does. For example, the state school that I go to now has a makerspace which offers the same technology as thinkbox (3D printers, laser cutters, etc.) and the same resources for getting a patent or starting a business. Thatā€™s what I meant when I said ā€œnothing specialā€.

Do thsoe schools have as many entrants at the Consumer Electronics Show?
http://engineering.case.edu/news/cwru-storms-ces-2019?subsite=1327

Have they launched companies?
https://students.case.edu/career/entre/launchnet/clients.html

Do they support entrepreneurial competitions?
https://students.case.edu/career/entre/launchnet/events.html

Do they have an entire building devoted to makerspace?
ā€œWithin the maker movement, Sears think[box] is considered a leading example of whatā€™s attainable. It stands out not only for the depth and breadth of the machinery available (including 3-D printers, circuit-board routers, laser cutters, welding equipment, some of which was donated by Lincoln Electric), but also for its design, which guides users floor by floor through the entire making process, from whiteboard brainstorming to fabrication to legally protecting an idea to taking a product to market.ā€

Did they host an international symposium on MakerSpaces?
https://thedaily.case.edu/cwru-hosting-international-symposium-running-successful-maker-movement-innovation-spaces/

OP received no need based aid from several generous schools (UChicago), so Iā€™m inferring that the parents have a healthy income. Thatā€™s fine, but do they have that income to pay for 3 kids x 4 years? Iā€™m not one who thinks that all the kids have to get educations that cost exactly the same amount, but they need to decide as a family if it is worth it to pay for WUSTL for one if the other two will not be able to go to college at all. Itā€™s time to sit down and decide where the money is coming from.

In our family, this decision wouldnā€™t be left to the student. OP could have input on why WUSTL is so much better than Case, but arguing that the food is better would not cut it.

WUSTL is #19 out of 312 national universities (or out of 2500 4 year institutions in the US) = Top 6% of National Us
CWRU is #42 out of 312 national universities (or out of 2500 4 year institutions in the US) =Top 13%of National Us

It is not worth paying double for one top 50 University vs. another

Update: WUSTL has agreed to try and fill in the gap. Case is now only $10,000 more expensive a year.

? Case is your situation, was never more expensive than WUSTL. Are you saying that WUSTL has gone from giving you nothing to $46K a year? That would make Case $10K more a year.

@wildcatmom16

Whoops ! I meant WUSTL is now $10,000 more - last comment was a typo!

Congratulations. You only have your parents to convince now. I really hope in the end - it was all worth it for you.
I believe your preference for WUSTL was really just personal - which is understandable.

@D.Mat1234, did WashU give you merit money ? I thought you were full pay and went ED.
10k x 4 is more manageable than 3 times that.

Still you need to pay an extra $40,000 for one University in the top 50 vs. another.
So that is $460 per month for 10 years. Thatā€™s like paying off two cars.
But you still have your rent and car payments to make.

Itā€™s merit aid. I know now WashU is $40,000 more, but I am going to visit Case next month and try to get to know both schools before making the big decision. Thank you o everyone for your input!