What would you have liked to know as you applied to CWRU this year?
What make you choose to apply to Case?
What made you choose (or not choose) Case?
And it a while…what do you love/hate about it?
For PSPP applicants…what questions did you have? How was the interview?
As I sit here reading the thread about waitlisted students, I continue to feel very fortunate that my daughter was accepted EA. When I read the waitlisted threads I realize how close the decision often is at a top tier school like CWRU. Since @bopper is asking about what advice we might want to give to next year’s group (Class of 2021), one clear point comes to my mind: Consider Applying ED.
For my our family, by the time the EA deadline of November 1 had arrived my daughter knew CWRU was her top choice. In mid-October we had several discussions about changing her application from EA to ED. We were worried about whether the money would be an issue. It was sometime after Nov 1 that I read that if you apply ED- you are bound to the college if they accept you, unless you cannot afford it. If you are sure CWRU is the right place, then using ED is the ultimate way of showing it.
All colleges, are increasingly using "interest’ as a determining factor for admission-- schools like Duke and the Ivies have had freshmen classes that are made up of 50% of students using ED. Clearly, applying ED increases your chances dramatically, since you are saying, as long as I can afford it, I will attend. CWRU just added ED a couple years ago.
As a comparison, CWRU did not push it as aggressively as Duke did when we toured them. Duke basically said if you are really interested in Duke- show it by applying Early Decision. Over 50% of their freshmen class was accepted this way. If my daughter had loved Duke, we probably would have applied ED, but she did not- she loved CWRU. My daughter ended up only applying to CWRU, with a back-up plan to apply to more places in December if things did not go well. In the end, she got in December, and the financial aid was good enough for us to afford it. If she had been waitlisted, I really think we would have had a hard time wondering about the what if’s of applying ED.
Anyway, I guess what I am saying to next year’s High School Senior parents is that if in November CWRU is a clear first choice consider Early Decision. I know it is not right for everyone. But, as CWRU becomes increasingly competitive it is an option that needs consideration.
Demonstrate interest—especially you have high stats. Otherwise they think you would go somewhere else so they don’t accept you to protect their yield.
To go along with weiba10114’s post, a good way to show interest is requesting an alumni interview. Case doesn’t require interviews and I don’t think they’re very common, but I think doing one helped me get accepted EA. Some of my friends with higher stats (but different EC’s) got waitlisted or denied. The biggest difference I could figure out between our applications was that I interviewed and they didn’t even request one.
Case uses its waitlist rather aggressively to protect its yield since they get a lot of “why not?” applications becasue it’s free to apply yet is still a super good school. If you want to go to Case, show interest!! Visit campus, interview, email counselors with questions, etc. A ton of kids who thought Case was their safety got waitlisted this year, and historically only 10% of those who are waitlisted make it off the list and to Case. I cannot stress it enough- SHOW INTEREST!!!
Good luck on your applications, and hope to see you in fall 2017 
Just to add to the post, applying to CWRU nonbinding Early ACTION is also helpful, and gives a student a slight edge over regular decision, but I agree with @Wizard2 the new binding Early Decision program is for sure a way to show interest and have the best shot at getting into Case in this new competitive admissions environment. If you have a sibling already at CWRU, that helps with admissions.
Binding Early Decision is the way many small liberal arts colleges fill a lot of their class, up to half I have heard. Now that Case Western introduced this program, this means it will be harder than ever to get in Regular Decision. Good luck.
My son’s story, which I have posted on another thread can serve as a guideline: We toured this summer and he interviewed then as well. He submitted his application EA. He had solid scores, excellent class rank, very difficult course schedule (8 science credits/6 math credits/4 engineering credits), decent ECs and a lot of community service and really fit the profile of a Case student. We felt like he had shown interest–making a trip to the campus from Texas, interviewing, etc. The only place we liked better than Case after visiting 15 different schools this summer–including several Ivies-- was Rice, which is a lot closer to home. But he really, really liked Case.
EA acceptances/deferrals came out on Saturday before Christmas. He was deferred to RD. He was disappointed. He called the admissions office on Monday, Dec. 21st (although I did not think anyone would be in because it was close to the holidays). He spoke to an admissions counselor, again expressed his interest, and asked if there was anything he needed to do to strengthen his application or if there were any glaring errors. 24 hours later, he had an EA decision and a nice amount of merit-based aid to go with it. I jokingly referred to it as our Christmas miracle.
Why? Maybe they overlooked his application? Maybe it was a mistake? Was his application “too good?” Who knows for sure. But, most likely, it was because he followed through and expressed his continued interest, even on a holiday. He redirected attention back to his application. He showed a willingness to do more if necessary. I think showing interest cannot be overstated if you want to attend Case.
Definitely agree with the above posters. As luck would have it my husband met someone at a function in Texas (we are from Texas) who happened to be a professor in my S’s area of interest. This professor met up with us when my S and I went for a visit to CWRU and gave us a more in-depth tour and we even had dinner together.
About a month after our visit my S had an interview with an alum and mentioned this contact with the professor so I often wonder if that was a helpful factor with getting accepted EA. So essentially if a student has any contact with professors thru email or while visiting the school I would encourage them to mention it in any way possible so the school can see the efforts made. I don’t remember if he had mentioned that anywhere on his application but if there was a spot I’m sure he did.
I am writing this as a parent and what my view of the process was like and of Case. This was a long process and it had its ups and downs. My D applied to @13 schools and could have applied to a few more. In the end it was a lot of work for her and costly for us. We had gone to a few campus visits just before 12th grade and had a good time doing it, mostly east coast. We are from the Cleveland area but have not lived in Ohio for years. D has good stats and I would say she would be average in most high ranked schools she applied to. She comes from a very competitve public school that produces @35-45 NHS kids a year.
One of the things we learned was that there has been an absolute explosion of applications being sent out over the last 5 years, just look at Case. In 2011 they received 13,547 applications and in 2015 they had 22,807 students apply, I can’t wait to see how many applied in 2016. I think that the reality of it is that only the best of the best are guaranteed a place holder in the schools they are looking at. The students that make up the middle and lower end are not so different in stats, so how does a school really say I want you - but not the other kid. You either need some type of hook or show the school that you really want to attend that school.
Why case? Well its a great school. D applied to a few of the big schools and we toured their campus. Sure Yale had such a great feel to it and you feel like - wow I am walking around Yale, this is great! The fact is that Case was great to walk around also. I had read somewhere on CC that there was a major road down the middle of campus at Case and they didnt like that. Well guess what so does Yale and Penn and JHU, Harvard had so many streets going around I couldnt count them.
D had to show Case how much she like them. Emails from D to case, campus visit, my wife and I emailed questions and we all responded that day to any email, even if it was just a thank you.
What I think did it for my D besides all of the hard work she put in was one simple statement that she made to no other school. “Case is my number one school and if chosen I will attend.” She let her recruiter know and the admissions department know when she responded to emails.
You will find good and bad in EVERY school that you look at. What you need to find is the one that fits you -easier said than done. You also need to be realistic about expectations and if you have the stats to get into that school you are looking at. For some the process was easy and the choice was made when they were accepted in November after applying ED. For others you might suffer a few months and when in March the decisions come out, there might be joy and there might be the pain of being rejected. This has been a role of the dice in so many ways, you never know what school will say yes and what school will say no. My D found what she was looking for, I hope you find yours.
I could not be happier for my daughter, I am the proudest father in the world.