When we visited CMU last summer, my son’s impression was that school was amazing, with wonderful facilities and teachers and also 100% NOT for him.
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CMU’s loss is Va Tech’s gain 
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hahahaha… also my wallet’s gain. To be fair, CMU was probably not going to accept my son anyway, but this was one of those cases where visiting helped a lot, b/c CMU had a very distinct feel/culture that was evident on the tour and talking with students. My son was very impressed but also felt it didn’t fit him at all.
I should say though… if the CMU is a good fit for a student, and the price is affordable (it’s very expensive), I think the experience there could be amazing. So many intense students passionate about their areas of study can yield some impressive results.
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Drexel is rated one of the better schools for learning differences. Personally I would pay more for the support if needed. Could be the difference in successfully graduating or not. Unfortunately this comes from experience.
This site indicates no extra cost for support at Drexel but not sure it’s up to date. And although it specifies “autism”, there are learning differences that can overlap with adhd and autism. Executive functioning is one that’s a big struggle and definitely needed for college.
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Exactly above.
Office of Disability is your friend. Go to both CWRU and Drexel and get a feeling where your son will get better support if anything will fall through cracks. Forget about CMU. I would not count much on Pitt either (but I do not know for sure.) From my experience at big public, support is very limited.
Support should be a key in your search and then money and after that major and reputation.
Make sure that your son is officially registered with the office of Disability and gets all possible and impossible accommodations. You may think that he does not need them but it is better to be safe than sorry. My gut feeling Drexel is your best bet.
Sorry, this is for OP. @wishfullthinker
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Why would you avoid Drexel?
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Not very favorable words from the parents of someone in our orbit. YMMV.
We know someone who transferred out. Reason was crime. Do your own due diligence. And yes, I’m well versed in situational awareness.
Both sons applied. I was pleasantly surprised when we visited.
Interesting… do students also transfer out of UPenn for crime reasons?
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Is UPenn as under resourced with apathetic admin, old dorms and terrible food? Those were some of the main gripes I have heard. Def not good value for $$. OP has better options for a kid that might need a bit more hand holding.
I don’t know. Maybe. Do you know?
Several of my son’s friends took the money and went to Philly schools including Drexel. The ones that could transferred. The others wish they could but they’re too entrenched at this point. As I said in my prior post do your own due diligence. Don’t take my word for it.
Drexel is next door to Penn but that’s where the similarities end. I’ve visited all of these schools and attended Pitt. Drexel would be a tough sell right now which is a shame because I enjoyed visiting the school.
Not Drexel but Temple’s president resigned.
Wingard’s resignation caps a tumultuous time at the North Philadelphia university, after a 42-day strike by graduate student workers and the February shooting death of an on-duty Temple police sergeant. Enrollment has fallen 14% since 2019, with deposits for next year down 25% compared with the same time last year, according to a source close to the school’s deans.
UPenn has much more money and can keep its larger/better campus more protected.
Drexel’s issue isn’t necessarily crime but rather that it’s extremely expensive without the cachet that NEU has nor the efficiency and history that UCincinnati carries wrt co-ops. As a result, it’s not a very good value and “a back up if you didn’t get into NEU and don’t like UC” isn’t that great. Some kids really like it but it’s not on par with other choices this student has. The appeal would really be the co-ops, if the student thinks he’d prefer that to internships.
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Yes, that’s exactly how Drexel has positioned itself… and now, traditional universities have made co-ops available too. I know a CivE student who did the co-op plan at Pitt and had a very positive experience. CWRU has a co-op option also. Schools that have made co-op the norm and really have that baked into the culture still offer something different, but for a lot of students, it can be good to keep options open and figure out later whether to do co-op or stick with traditional internships.
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Temple is on the other side of town, in a completely different location. It’s a totally different institution from Drexel. Temple’s issues have absolutely nothing to do with Drexel. Yes, there is crime in West Philly, but the entire area around Penn and Drexel has improved, gentrified. North Philly, around Temple, is a completely different area, much more crime.
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