Hi,
So I’m deciding between Case and Rutgers, and their course offerings/departments for cognitive/neuroscience seem about equal. Does anyone know about both of these programs and could tell me about their differences or similarities?
Thanks!
Case Western is the much better school of the two.
Case Western wouldn’t be worth any significant cost over Rutgers, which is vastly more capable in science than Case.
Case is the best of the two for undergraduate Neuroscience.
However it’s not worth significant debt, so would case require more than federal loans ?
@MYOS1634 What makes case better?
and case for me is like $39,000 per year and rutgers is about $27,000
Better access to research, smaller classes, better contact to professors, less redtape, better campus and location. Generally better for science even though both are strong for neuroscience.
What’s your budget?
If your parents have 30K then I think your working + taking on the federal loans for 5.5K would be worth it.
If your parents don’t, then Rutgers is fine.
Do you have Rugers Honors? As this would mitigate the difference.
@MYOS1634 I think i could do the 39K with the loan for Case, but yes I’m in the Rutgers SAS Honors Program
I thought Case was better for engineering rather than something like neuroscience. But I agree, the small classes and better contact to professors= better research opportunities
Also, the neuroscience major at case requires 30 credits and rutgers is 36 credits, does this mean that rutgers is possibly more rigorous for this subject?
No, it only means you have more flexibility at Case (ie., you can take 2 neuroscience classes for electives, or something else if you’re doing a minor for instance). It’s a difference of 2 classes so not necessarily essential.
Rutges SAS Honors makes things different though since it does offer better learning conditions than “regular” Rutgers. The new Honors College is terrific.
Have you visited both?
I personally like University Circle better than New Brunswick (actually I think most people would agree :p), and being IN the heart of a city beats being NEAR another - granted: awesome- city but if you don’t mind the split campus and ugly architecture at Rutgers, its huge advantage is proximity to NYC + you have Honors.
I think you need to do an overnight - attend one honors freshman class and one regular neuroscience class at Rutgers, attend one freshman English and one neuroscience class at Case, eat in the cafeteria (not just for the food but to see if people are social, friendly), read the campus paper to see what concerns the students and whether they can debate with sophistication and respect for each other, talk with students, tour the library and the labs…
@MYOS1634 oh no, i wasn’t admitted into the Rutgers Honors College, I was admitted into the Rutgers Honors Program. The honors college is much more exclusive and offers more benefits than the program I’m in.
Unfortunately I don’t have time to do an overnight because I have 10 days to make a decision between these 2 schools. I live close to Rutgers so I’m visiting again this weekend but…I can’t visit Case again.