Does Case have cut-throat course loads? and score-deflation?

<p>The Princeton Review said:" Case is designed to beat students down(and they)attempt to compete with better school by giving more homework." If this is ture, and with score deflation, it would explain why there are so many old posts complained Case in this forum. Heavy work loads, not attractive city and bad weather.
I seriously consider Case, that made me ask more questions. hopefully don't offend anyone.
Thanks.</p>

<p>I’m a current freshman and I definitely don’t believe that is true! Every professor is different, and in my experiences, no professor has given homework that wasn’t just- it was for the purpose of practice! Trust me, between research and grad/undergrad students, no professor wants to grade more than they have to! Cleveland, actually, is an awesome city with a bad reputation (I live in one of the top 5 largest cities in the US)-- a lot of it is centered right around campus, like Little Italy, all of the museums, etc. Sports games, concerts, etc. downtown are really accessable by bus or train too. I never get bored (and at Case, there’s not a huge amount of time to dwell on the “not attractive city”). The weather is… strange, if you’re not local and used to it like me, but you adapt! Its really windy a lot of the time, and sometimes it’ll jump 30 degrees in one day, but plenty of places are like that. Your workload is what you make of it. Students who overload and take extra classes to double major or are in a pre-professional program will have more work, but hey, its college. You can go to a huge state school and not work at all, or come to a small, research-based institution with incredible professors where you’ll get a top-notch degree. I absolutely love Case and choosing to attend over some incredible East-Coast schools is the best decision I made!</p>

<p>I’ve said this before, but it warrants repeating:</p>

<p>Case prepares you for life after graduation, whether that is grad school or industry. The amount of work, difficulty, and expectations are all preparing you for a job. The students who complain about the work load do not realize this yet (or never will).</p>

<p>From experience and those around me, Case grads are as respected, if not more so, than grads from some more prestigious universities. The Princeton Review is not based on input from employers.</p>

<p>A direct quote from a classmate currently in the #1 rated master’s program in the country for her field: “I didn’t realize how well Case prepared us. Everyone here complains about the work but it’s really no different than at Case. The (mathematical) proofs we need to make are less in depth than at Case.”</p>

<p>Yes it is intense, but it’s not because it is trying to compete with better schools. It’s because it is trying to prepare you for the environment you will actually face, rather than coddling you, giving you a high gpa, and letting you learn the rest on the job.</p>

<p>Some stats from personal experience:</p>

<p>1 - The number of people I know that applied to grad school upon graduation that did not get in to one of their top 3 schools.</p>

<p>3 - The number of job offers I had after graduating</p>

<p>Case makes you work. The grades aren’t handed out. The parties aren’t advertised. The best spots are sometimes hard to find. The weather is sporadic. But once you realize things won’t be spoon-fed to you, it is an amazingly fun, interesting place. </p>

<p>P.S. - Once you turn 21, Cleveland is one of the greatest cities in the country…</p>

<p>^^^ So my D has been offered a very generous merit scholarship. So we need to be concerned about her ability to maintain the GPA required to keep said scholarship? I just reviewed her letter and it states that she must “meet CWRU’s scholarship retention requirements”, which according to the website are that the “the student must be in good academic and disciplinary standing”.</p>

<p>Now that I think of it, this is pretty flexible. Case does have a probation period of one semester wherein a student could get the scholarship reinstated.</p>

<p>2girlzmum, Case told me that retention requirements were lowered in the past couple of years so that students wouldn’t feel they had to take “safe” classes to avoid putting their merit money at risk. To keep the scholarship, one need only maintain a minimally full-time course load (12 credits out of a possible 18) with an overall 2.0 average. They wanted to encourage kids to try new challenges. Very cool!</p>

<p>Agreed! It’s nice not to have additional pressure.</p>

<p>I would double check that scholarship retention requirement if I were you. i believe most of the merit scholarships require a 2.5 (out of 4) gpa for the freshman year grades, and after that, a 3.0 is required. </p>

<p>Do yourself a favor and get the FA office to clarify.</p>

<p>2.0, I was told.
Case is the best one among the merit scholarship requirement in my case. Most of schools is 3.0, the highest one is 3.3, and one of the school even ask me to do 100hr community service.
I haven’t decided where I should go.</p>

<p>askq - Case changed the retention requirements for their full scholarships to the aforementioned 2.0 gpa last year. However, all of the partial scholarships (provost, dean, trustee, etc.) are handled diferently - the details of each scholarship is indicated in the award letter, and may be more stringent than a 2.0 gpa. Again it is wise to double check.
In regards to your initial question/observation:

  1. virtually every college in the snow belt has “bad weather” - this includes every Ivy league school.
  2. Many top school are located in “bad” cities, or “bad” neighborhoods - again, including many if not most Ivy league schools.
  3. Case’s reputation is mostly as an engineering school. Undergrad engineering is difficult, and Case prepares engineers well. So, yes, people will complain that the school is tough - I guess it is a matter of prospective.</p>

<p>1) My scholarship, which is a partial scholarship, requires me to maintain a 2.5 GPA while enrolled in at least 12 credits per semester.
2) Cleveland isn’t as bad as people say - there are a lot of jokes, but when it comes down to it, the police keep our campus very safe.
3) It is tough, but not in the way the Princeton Review states. The people, in my experience, who complain about the workload are the people who skated by in high school and made As because of natural intelligence without having to work hard. Case requires work. It isn’t easy, but it prepares our students for the real world, and isn’t crushing or unfair by any stretch of the imagination.</p>