Hi,
So I’m worried about the workload and the high level of stress here. I would have committed here if it weren’t for the extreme work load, can anyone tell me a bit more about that?
What is your major? STEM majors have high workloads everywhere. It isn’t tougher here than other schools, I think.
@intparent My major is Cognitive Science.
I’ve just heard that Case is more difficult than Cornell and equal to Carnegie Mellon…and I am definitely not at that level
@Zedd101 My daughter is a junior at Case. She is a double major- Cognitive Science and Psychology and double minor- Social Work and Studio Art. She is also very active in Greek Life. It is all very doable with proper time management. Don’t be scared away- it is a great school!
I think you have heard wrong. It isn’t harder than Cornell, nor CMU. Have confidence – admissions knows what they are doing, and they admitted you. (Yay!) Don’t overload your first semester, and take advantage of any tutoring, office hours, and facilities like the writing center. You will be fine.
Case is a very flexible school for getting a B.A. degree. You can do it, and if you really do not like it, you can always transfer to a different type of school. Give it a shot. It also has some cool Cognitive Science research:
http://cognitivescience.case.edu/language-and-cognition-lab/research/
One advantage of Case is you will not be stuck in a classroom. You can get experience in a cognitive science lab and discover if this field is for you! Good luck.
@Sdgal2 Wow it sounds like she has very similar academic interests as me!! And I’m also planning on joining Greek life!
Another thing that concerns me about Case is that (well, i’ve heard) some students are known to be very antisocial. That does bother me a bit, ya know, if everyone is studying all the time I wouldn’t really fit in.
@Coloradomama thank you!! is research mostly given to grad students or do undergrads definitely get lots of opportunities?
As mentioned before, it’s doable as long as you have good time management.
Students like to complain and have a tendency to exaggerate.
@Zedd101 my son has worked with an economics professor on an econometrics analysis of crime data, with a $3000 grant from Case last summer, and later worked for a theoretical physics professor on a modeling problem in biophysics. I think if you look up individual cognitive science faculty, you may be able to see if undergraduates work for them. You can even write to them and ask before you get to Case if you wish. Case faculty are very responsive and want to help admits to learn about the school. There is a program called SOURCE which students can write a proposal with a professor’s help and then work for that professor over a summer. You can live in the dorm or off campus for the summer. Some professors require a certain amount of coursework, so my son needed a good deal of math to work for the theorist in physics, which he had taken, so he got the position.
There are also TA positions for undergraduates in math and payed positions to grade homework for computer science courses. If you do well in a course you will be asked to TA or grade the following year, for good pay. The TAs teach a once a week review session, like calculus for premeds, and grade homework etc. Its fun. The professor gives the lectures, and oversees the TAs. He needed a very good grade in a few math classes to be able to get this TA position as a junior or senior.
I don’t know if cognitive science offers this, but you could ask.
@Zedd101 The kids in fraternities and sororities are quite social at Case. The athletes are also social at Case. There may be some more quiet students, its not a huge party atmosphere, but I think there is enough going on. (but I am a parent, so really you need to go and talk to students ) There are a few other colleges, Cleveland State and a smaller Catholic college nearby too. A few students in math cross register at Cleveland State, I have heard.
@Zedd101- there is another potential cognitive science student posting the same questions about CWRU on another thread, which are the exact same questions and concerns my DD is having about CWRU, also cognitive science. She also is interested in a sorority. Think the three of you will need to meet up if you all end up attending!
Case is relatively high stress for engineering because we teach a theory heavy curriculum. The majority of your grade is exam based, and up to 40% can be a cumulative final. Design projects are not common. Labs constitute 5-25%. Homework is usually around 10%. The rest is all test and finals.
Daughter ready to commit to CWRU for cognitive science and art. Still somewhat worried about the work load but has now talked to many kids who are happy there and just thinks it’s the best school for her- we are all getting excited!!
My D is doing Engineering @ CWRU. It’s a good school so the students are going to be taught well. That means lots of work and preparation for class, research but the students will be better off because of it… My D takes 18 credit hours per semester. Engineering is definitely a rigorous discipline. If you manage your time correctly, it’s doable.
DD isn’t a partner but definitely wants to do more than just studying- wants some fun. Sounds like most CWRU kids can manage both. I see your daughter is involved in EC at CWRU despite an engineering major so that is very encouraging…
Nice kids go to CWRU. 
Students help one another.
@LanaHere hi- im not planning on going into engineering at all, but do you know about the Cog Sci program? And yes research is very important