Info About Life at Case

Colleges and Universities A-Z Case Western Reserve University
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<p>As far as academics go, after one semester here(after spending my last year of highschool at Clarkson University so my first semester at Case was my 3rd total in college) I know a lot who got 3.8's but only one who got a 4.0(that'd be me). A lot of other people were overwhelmed by the freshman engineering curriculum and dropped to easier majors. When it comes down to it, I'd say that Case is a challenging school as a result of being academically quite good. One thing that is very bad about the academics is this whole SAGES curriculum they've been going on about. Basically the SAGES classes are writing classes which are boring as hell because they have no substance to them. The classes have topics to them but the goal is not to teach about the topics. The one I had last semester was horribly boring. The two professors(a main professor and a writing instructor) even had some trouble keeping awake during class discussions. A large majority of people I've talked to in other SAGES classes had similar experiences. This semester is better because the professor I have for my SAGES class seems more intent on the class actually learning things. Fortunately, due to the impressive failure of the program they might scale it back. Still though, academics are Cases high point and it is possible to do well here. I had a schedule that many would consider quite difficult(Organic Chem for Chemistry BS majors, O-chem lab, Calc III, Modern Physics along with a SAGES class and intro to philosophy which required a lot of writing) and I did well.</p>

<p>Pretty much everything else about this university sucks. </p>

<p>Housing is terrible for first year students. The rooms are tiny(which is to be expected for freshman though) and they don't even have carpets. The freshman class is split between two residential areas on campus(the main residential village on the north end and the south residential village which is a good 20+ minute walk from the north). Case had wanted to have all students living on northside and put in a very very nice apartment complex for upperclassmen but then the freshman class was too big and they had to put some freshman on the southside. Next year, they're planning on sticking most of the class of 09 on the southside in dorms that suck worse than the northside freshman dorms. However, if you can deal with this sort of crap for two years then you'll get to live in the rather nice upperclassmen apartments.</p>

<p>The food is aweful and supposedly they made improvements on it over the past few years so I can't even imagine how bad it used to be. They can't even manage to cook rice correctly let alone anything else. The northside dining hall cannot handle the number of students living on the northside so expect to wait in long lines for crappy food in an overcrowded dining hall. Half the time, I can't even have a bowl of cereal because they're perpetually out of clean bowls.</p>

<p>Administratively it's hopelessly slow. They took months before notifying me of whether my transfer credits would be accepted or not. Also, the administration is full of crap. They sit there and say things like "SAGES is a great success" even though 80% of students in the classes felt they had learned nothing, frequently skipped the classes, and fell asleep when they did show up.</p>

<p>There is some partying on campus. It's just usually not in the form of large coherent parties. A lot of people do drink and smoke marijuana on the weekends...in fact, it's about all there is to do on the weekends besides playing video games and sleeping. People just generally do it in small groups in their rooms. </p>

<p>The students are mostly really boring and nerdy but there are some decent people. Also, the average students here are really quite ugly.</p>

<p>Do not turn down an Ivy League school or any school of similar academic quality for Case unless you absolutely need the scholarship money Case offers. Being here is horrible. I don't think the university actually cares about students at all.</p>

2

<p>Did you feel the same about Clarkson? Where's next for you as I assume you are transferring?</p>

3

<p>My viewpoint as a parent.
D is a senior graduating in May
Housing: Lived on Northside freshman year, rooms are not that tiny compared to others. I like the fact no carpeting, less allergies, bring your own. D is still good friends with most of the girls from her freshman year floor. Sophomore year lived on Southside which she felt was paradise compared to Northside. Individual rooms in suite, nicer neighborhood etc. Junior year lived in Sorority house on northside again. Wanted to live in new housing senior year, did not win the lottery. I went ballistic and administration was very responsive however D decided to live in apartment.</p>

<p>Food- she never liked it but it is part of life.</p>

<p>parties- D is not a drinker or smoker and always found fun things to do on week-ends, played alot of intramural sports, etc.. I can tell you she has never played video games etc. Took advantage of reduced concerts, plays etc.. Life is what you make of it, if you stay home and wait for the phone to ring, you will never go out, same at school...</p>

<p>D has received an excellent education, approachable and accessible professors. D needed two letters of recomendations for law school applications and had no trouble getting them, and they were personal and flattering. She is graduating in four years, no problem getting any class she wanted or needed. So I think Case is a school you get out what you put in.</p>

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<p>anonymom has it to a tee. I think a lot of college students (or maybe it is just the ones at Case that have this problem) don't really fully realize that they are in charge of finding fun things to do and make the most of their time in college. Case is a stressful school, but the education is incredible, and there are always things to do.<br>
About the only thing I agree with Nitric on is the SAGES curriculum...forturnately I arrived the year before SAGES was fully implemented and I am not in the program.</p>

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<p>The food at Clarkson wasn't great but it wasn't as bad at Case. They had half the number of students but twice the options for using meal swipes. The dorm building I was in at Clarkson had nicer rooms than here at Case but that was part of the early college program Clarkson had. I liked being at Clarkson a lot but that was mainly because of the rather unique people I was surrounded by in the early entrance program. The first year physics and chem professors were also quite good but other than that their chem department didn't seem very good and all of my friends there were planning to leave.</p>

<p>I'll admit that my view of Case won't be universal but a lot of people do agree with me on it. There is a reason why it's ranked as the 19th least happy by princeton review. There's also a reason why Clarkson ranks as 6th least happy but I just was shielded from that by being surrounded by people I liked for that year. </p>

<p>I'm contemplating applying to Stanford, USC, and maybe Harvey Mudd(I got waitlisted last time I applied to HMC). I might not bother though. They'd all probably be a lot less irritating to me than Case but they'd also all cost more, be really far away from home, and Stanford and HMC probably won't accept me anyway. The decision by Case to stick sophomores in the tiny southside rooms next year is really what tipped things for me. I've tolerated crappy dorms for nearly two years now and refuse to be stuck in crap like that for a third. If Case would let me live off campus I'd probably be willing to stay.</p>

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<p>I am also a Case freshman parent. I would have to say that Ctheflute's outlook and view of Case reflect my S Case experience so far, as well as his friends, and the students I met while visiting Case. The SAGES program is the only negative I have heard academically. </p>

<p>I would venture a guess that Nitric would be unhappy wherever Nitric next lands.</p>

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<p>I'm a freshman at Case and I agree. Some people whine about anything. I like it here (oh and, I'm not "ugly",don't drink or smoke anything etc.)...I agree about SAGES although this semester the course is actually good.</p>

<p>So,calm down, go where you're happy. Why do you bother getting on line to complain?</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Why do you bother getting on line to complain?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>answer: to let the world know how miserable he is.</p>

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<p>Nitric63, I appreciate your comments and your candor.</p>

<p>I feel it is very important for new students to try to find activities outside of classes, esp for first year students. I hope you have tried to seek out clubs, sports, intramurals, greek life, etc. College should be fun and about making new friends. For example, I suspect anyone playing on a varsity sport at Case would have an entirely different view of their experience (in DivIII, anyone can try out). Also, if you live in a frat, you are out of the dorms and off the dining plan. I hope in a school as big as Case you can find people you can connect with. You can also look off-campus for activities.</p>

<p>My D is also a FR at Case. She is volunteering at University Hopsitals as well as being in a number of musical ensembles. She has a part time job with her department, and has opportunities for many more things to do and jobs she'd like to do (such as campus tour guide). There's more to do than time for her and I'm afraid she's not getting much sleep.</p>

<p>My D took one of the specialized SAGES sections last term. I didn't hear any complaints about it. It was small, there were 2 teachers (a married professional couple). AFAIK, they spent a lot of time discussing and writing about what their career goals are and how their studies at Case fit in. The students in that class got to know each other very well from that experience and they started going out to group dinners occasionally. In the end, she came away with 2 professors who know her well and would be able to write a letter of recommendation if she needed it. She is not taking SAGES this term (and has loaded in science classes that interest her), as she plans to take another specialized SAGES (about opera) a year from now, which will be taught by her department advisor.</p>

<p>BTW, another of her professors had her and her classmates to his house for dinner last term.</p>

<p>Note that the undergraduate experience at Harvard and Stanford's engineering does not produce much contact with professors. Undergrads mostly deal face-to-face with TAs; and having a prof know you enough to write a letter is not easy. If you maintain your grades at Case, you will have your choice of attending grad school at places like Harvard and Stanford (thats what I keep telling my D ;-) ), and you will be well prepared for it.</p>

<p>I also do not hear complaints about the Case dining hall, but you can get an option on your card to eat at off-campus restaurants. Once or twice a week, why not gather a friend or two and eat in Little Italy or Coventry? </p>

<p>For things to do, visit Tower City downtown, there is a Hard Rock next door, or take the bus out to that fancy mall near Beachwood. Do you like pro sports events? My D is not a sports fan, but has already been to an Indians game w/ Case friends. She's been to the Orchestra many times and also the opera. Surely there are a lot more options for things to do around Case campus than they have in Potsdam, NY. If you can connect with some people who want to do things, you're opinion might change.</p>

<p>Even if you decide to transfer, I would still recommend trying to join some activities at your new campus right away.</p>

10

<p>I'm a 2nd year. I love Case. That's pretty much it. ;)
I will agree though, I'm not a fan of the food but food in college just sucks no matter where you go anyway. Personally what I REALLY don't like about it is how you're required to buy into a meal plan for a certain number of swipes a week that's completely different than the Case cash you'd use to eat off campus, and no one ever finishes all these swipes. So basically a non-negligible amount of money will go into the food services' pocket.
As for SAGES, I'm glad I'm not in it because I wasn't required. I have already had many complaints from my first year friends about it though because your advisor is most likely someone who has NO CLUE about what classes you need to take, etc etc.
Housing-wise for anyone who doesn't know, the rooms are basically standard dorm rooms for frosh that you'll get anywhere. So again not the best, but not like you are going to get much better ones elsewhere or something...
As for the good, I really have to say I love my profs to death and couldn't imagine not having met them. I mean how many other schools have teenagers waltzing into the office of a guy who's in line to win a Nobel Prize just to ask a question, especially when the guy might not even be teaching you in a class? Not many, I'll promise you that.</p>

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<p>I like this thread....informative and from different perspectives. Keep 'em coming.</p>

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<p>The complaint about requiring more meal swipes than most people use per week used to bother me. I even went and talked with someone in charge of food services about it and basically was told that the meal plans are meant to force students to eat together(in overcrowded dining halls with very crappy food) and that the excess of swipes is because they don't actually expect us to use them all. Essentially, she admitted that part of the reason freshman are required to have 17 meals on their plan per week is to make more money. I was pretty annoyed about this until I compared the cost of the Case meal plan to the one I was on at Clarkson. Although Case has crappier food and fewer meal swipe options, it is at least cheaper by about $500. </p>

<p>Another problem with the meal plan is that there's no dining hall on the main quad to use meal swipes. They have this place where you can use a swipe to get a sandwich and a drink but that barely counts. They also have a dining hall there but it doesn't accept meal swipes. So basically, one can use dining points/Case cash at that dining hall and run out very quickly or one can be forced to walk 15minutes back to the residential areas just to get lunch. It's like they're intentionally making it inconvenient.</p>

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<p>I've heard that schools who do NOT require students to purchase a meal plan most often have way better food because they have to achieve business from students......"food for thought" about why Case food might not be as good as it could be</p>

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<p>haha, take that to your economics professors.</p>

<p>anyways, my main beef with the food is not the taste (which I can stomache) but the hours it's open. They close at 7:30 on Fridays and Saturdays. They open at 10:30 on Saturdays. They close at 9:00 Sunday-Thursday. So, when you're doing homework at 1 or 2 in the morning and you're stomache is grumbling (it always does), you have NOWHERE to go. The closest area is Rascal House pizza (stays open until 2:30AM) which is at least a 10 minute walk from North Side in very cold weather and an unsafe neighborhood. You're stuck with vending machines that sell candy, coffee, drinkis, and a few real food items (which I cannot eat because I do not eat beef). So yeah...</p>

<p>I still like Case though. If I was not an uncorrigible procrastinator, I probably wouldn't be doing homework that late.</p>

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<p>sorry for the double post, but I cannot find an edit button.</p>

<p>I'm also doing intramurals and a large number of clubs. this is adding to the stress. My advice to you: pick a few but not too many.</p>

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<p>Nitric: just go to Fribley for lunch. Infinitely closer than Leutner, and back in the day it was assumed you were going to do that for lunch (as Bag It was only put in a few years ago).</p>

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<p>bump bump bump</p>

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<p>I'm a fourth year at Case and I love it!</p>

<p>But what I do hate about Case is the attitude that some students take toward it.</p>

<p>I'll be the first to admit that party scene at Case is by no means going to jump out and grab you. But with a little work on your part the sky's the limit for fun stuff to do at Case. For one, it’s in the middle of a city. There are Concerts, Plays, Sporting events, Festival, Museums, Clubs, bars, shopping and Dining. That’s not to mention the events on campus and all the different clubs.</p>

<p>As far as the food goes, he’s right it’s not the best. But it’s certainly not the worst or inedible. College food is just going to be bad and that’s a fact of life. But if Nitric doesn’t like the food or the meal plan options, or the lack of meal swipe options on the Quad I suggest he runs of USG or RHA and do something about it, like people did when I was a freshmen and they started "bag it". But of course it’s far easier to complain and play video games.</p>

<p>Also south side is awesome, I lived there for two years and I’d be there right now if it wasn’t for the new upperclassmen apartments, which are like nothing I’ve seen in at a college. Southside is much closer to the quad and the suites allow you to have a single and 5 roommates at once, you only have to share the bathroom with 5 other people you get to pick your roommates and the south side dining hall is bigger and the foods better.</p>

<p>Seriously dude if you hate it so much you should transfer and we can spread you scholarship money among those of us who like it here.</p>