Chance my kid + Interview Question

Colleges and Universities A-Z Case Western Reserve University
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White male from NYC suburbs.

Applying EA (would apply ED if I’d let him but we can’t commit financially). Engineering - Mechanical but also some interest in Civil. Loves Economics as well and ability to minor across schools is a huge reason he’s so in love with Case.

SAT 1550 - 790 math. National Merit Semifinalist.

GPA is out of 100 with minimal bump for honors/ap so unweighted average around 97.5 and weighted around 98.25. Nothing unweighted below a 93 so I guess it’s a 4.0. No class rank. No APs allowed til 11th grade. He took Econ (Marco) on his own in 10th and got a 5. 11th took APUSH, AP BC Calc and AP Physics and got 4s, though a 5 on the AB part of the BC Calc exam. Was fully remote for much of 11th grade and feels he wasn’t prepared and the 4s will hurt him. Taking AP Comp Sci, AP Stat and AP Chem this year.

No real engineering activities - not really offered at our school. This year for the first time they are offering Project Lead the Way Intro to Engineering and he felt he had to take it (it meant not taking AP Euro which made him sad). Part of a two year Science Research program, but couldn’t find an engineering mentor due to COViD so did an economics/real estate based project but with a lot of comp Sci/coding and some civil engineering implications. Won a “Junior Book Award” at school for APUSH.

Activities are good not great - and not engineering based. Tennis 4 years, Academic Challenge 4 years (president), honor society, band 4 years, tech for theater productions (assistant stage manager), temple youth group (leadership grades 11 and 12; some community service associated with this - probably 12 hrs per year - once a month or so), model un (went to Harvard sophomore year, cancelled last and this year).

Essay is very good, but not outstanding.

Very shy - if he had an interview it’d be mediocre.

Demonstrated interest: Visited campus in August (and we’re all now in love with Cleveland); attended in person meeting in NYC in September.

Here are my questions: First: Will he get in early action? Our good friend’s daughter with his GPA, a 36 on the ACT and more activities was waitlisted and that scares us. His stated are top quarter. He doesn’t want Case to think they aren’t his top choice. They are, though attendance depends on merit, so there are a few other contenders including our state flagship. Second: he’s so shy, the idea of an interview makes him incredibly nervous. And thus, he didn’t sign up for one and now they are all full. How bad does this look in terms of demonstrated interest? He did email and ask if any more interviews would open up but did not receive a response.

Thanks.

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According to the most recently published Common Data Set, Case rates the interview as “important.” Assuming this is still the case, not interviewing may hurt him. Will he get in? His stats are certainly good enough, but as you saw with your friend’s daughter, it’s no sure thing. I think he would very likely be admitted ED, but like you said, if the finances are iffy, you can’t do it. FWIW, DS 19 had very similar stats to your kid and also applied for engineering without much in the way of engineering EC’s. He didn’t apply to Case, but he got into University of Rochester and WPI early action with some pretty good merit money.

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Case is huge on demonstrated interested. I agree that requesting an interview was another way to show interest. I think it’s good he reached out to email and ask if more slots would open up.

At this point, it’s a waiting game. Your son sounds very qualified but Case is notoriously finicky. Hopefully he made it clear in your application that they are his first choice.

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Thanks. Going to visit Rochester after the EA deadline. Just couldn’t fit it in before - though we saw if apply by 12/1 can still be considered for merit. Seems like a lot of what my kiddo loves about Case may also exist at Rochester. One difference is those Rochester supplemental essays!

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I just checked and there are many slots now available for interviews. Maybe things opened up overnight. Now to schedule my daughter an interview- thanks for the reminder!

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Has he demonstrated interest at CWRU in other ways besides the visit (assume he registered for that)…virtual admissions session/tour/subject sessions/student panels? Visits & Events | Undergraduate Admission | Case Western Reserve University

If not, he should do a couple of them.

Regarding affordability, does the NPC show COA that is too high? How much merit does he need to make it affordable? What is the budget?

What other schools are on his list beside U Rochester? Does he have at least one affordable safety?

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Chances:
SAT: Very good
GPA: Very Good
ECs: Don’t worry about Engineering ECs. Colleges don’t expect that. They want to see you engaged with your community and show some leadership.
His stats are consistent with those who get in…but there are so many qualified students that there is no guarantee.

Interview:
Not everyone can have one so it is okay that he isn’t doing one.
It is good that he visited, that shows interest. Here are some other ways…but don’t feel like you need to do all of them.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/t/how-to-show-interest-in-cwru-updated/1933995/43

Re: AP Scopres
Fret not…colleges are much more concerned about your grades in those classes as opposed to the AP tests. Most colleges don’t use them for admissions, only for credit.

Why is that?

  1. Doing well in a class shows you can learn over the year and work hard over a period of time. That is what they want in college.
  2. Not all HS have many APs.
  3. Many people take AP tests senior year which is too late for admissions

For example, Stanford says:
Students currently enrolled in AP courses are not required to submit AP scores as part of our admission process. AP scores that are reported are acknowledged but rarely play a significant role in the evaluation of an application. Grades earned over the course of a term, or a year, and evaluations from instructors who can comment on classroom engagement provide us with the most detailed insight into a student’s readiness for the academic rigors of Stanford.

Let me state clearly: we do not admit students solely because of their AP courses/scores. There is no minimum or recommended number of AP courses. AP scores are not part of an admission formula… What we are saying is that, despite what you may have heard, college admissions isn’t a game of whoever has the most APs, wins.

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Thanks. Looks like he got an interview mid-November. Hope it’s not too late. He’s emailing admissions tomorrow to ask if he should try and move it up. He does have our state flagship (Binghamton) on his list, which we can afford, and he should get in (based on Naviance, etc.), but you never know, so he’ll probably apply to one or two of the less competitive state school locations (Buffalo or Stony Brook).

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One of the reasons for the interview is also to talk to you about Case…If admitted, they want you to attend!

His application should tell enough of his story.

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Case says that they release decisions “on or about” December 21. Their website says that students should interview “before or near the application deadline,” so it seems that mid-November is still pretty close to November 1. Still, I’m curious to hear what they tell him.

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Keep in mind there are almost 30,000 applicants and I am sure they don’t interview them all.

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What happened? Did he stick with the mid-November interview?

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Curious as well…my son has an interview at CWRU the end of this week and I hope he does ok. He’s pretty shy and a bit awkward. He did one for another school and one of the questions was “what song would summarize your life?” He couldn’t think of a song and felt like the rest of the interview he was distracted by not being able to answer that question. :woozy_face:
He’s going to visit CWRU on Monday for their open house and I’m anxious to hear what he thinks!

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Yeah, that is a tough question. I don’t really listen to music, so I’d have a hard time answering that. Hope he does well at this one.

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I used to do Alumni Interviews for Case and we would ask about what you have done, your family, how you would describe your leadership style, what activities would you continue at Case, stuff like that. Tell him to come up with some question for Case… like “Describe a typical Case student” or “What would you say makes Case unique” or “What is a tradition at Case you find interesting” or if they went to Case “Why did you choose Case”

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Also it was good to get a picture of the student that may not be captured in the applicatons.

I had a student that didn’t appear to have many ECs at all, much less leadership if you look at his resume. But we were talking about that…and it turned out that he watched his little brother after school, so he couldn’t do traditional after school activities. He had to watch his brother because his parents were getting divorced and he started to notice his brother falling through the cracks. So he started making sure he did his homework, and also signed him up for a baseball league. He took him to practices and games.

So not only did he babysit his brother, he showed leadership in making sure his brother had opportunities and support.

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Yes, he kept it. It’s in about 10 days. He’s already nervous! We’ve been very clear about the perils of having a “dream school” but he can’t help it!

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Good luck! My kid has an interview this week.

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My son had his this week and it was very benign…tell me about your high school, tell me about your interests in x activity, why CWRU, what would you like to get involved with at CWRU, etc. He had another interview earlier in the week where he was asked what song would sum up his life and who (dead or alive) he’d like to have dinner with- he had no problem with the dinner one but the song one stumped him. CWRU interview wasn’t like this at all. Good luck!

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I was thinking about how you stated that “his application should tell enough of his story” and it really doesn’t - there’s no supplemental essays, etc. He loves Case because it seems that even as a Mechanical Engineer he’d have time to study some economics, even minor or double major. He loves Case because it’s strong engineering, but not all engineers. He loves Case because of the location. There are a lot of reasons he loves Case but I just don’t think that was communicated TO Case. Would you recommend him email admissions? Maybe after his interview, which is not this week but next? He could couch it as “thank you for the interview” …