Hi,
So I’m highly considering Case, and I have like 2 more weeks to decide on a college. I’ve heard that it is a really really high pressure school, and the students are Ivy-league level students. I’m most definitely not Ivy league material, not at all. But i still got into Case, and I’m just worried about feeling really inferior and being swamped with work (i don’t work well under high pressure).
Is it also true that Case is more difficult than Cornell??
Thanks!
We have a joke at Case, that our students are ivy league level students that failed their interviews because they had no social skills. This is reasonably accurate.
What’s your major? Some are harder then others. Many case students are swamped with work and feel inferior, but that’s due to opting into antagonistic environments via their major. Also our counselling services aren’t very good if that’s of concern to you.
I do not believe that Case is more difficult than Cornell. (my son is at Case and I know a lot of grads from Cornell,and familiar with the pressures at Cornell) I know a female student at Case, there in the finance/business track and she is doing fine and not working that hard. She had Bs in high school. Case has a variety of students, some do work very hard, others join a sorority and have fun. What is your intended major and other college choices? The other girl I know at Case also joined a sorority, but is working hard and got into a PhD program in polymer sciences at U of Michigan. So there are all types of students at Case is my sense about it. Accounting majors or Spanish majors are working a lot less hard than aerospace engineering majors or BMEs.
At any college, your major will determine how hard you have to work to get through it.
@marbles321 are the students really that antisocial? My major is cognitive science/neuroscience, would that be really difficult?
@Coloradomama That makes me feel a lot better! haha thanks! My major is Cognitive Science/ Neuroscience, how high pressure do you think that would be?
My other colleges are Rutgers Honors Program and UPitt Honors Program.
This is fair and true to a large extent. I had a number of professors who either went to Ivy Leagues or taught there and they said Case students are on par with Ivy leaguers. They noted that the students often times don’t know it though, which is good, because they aren’t as arrogant.
@Missimperfect I happen to be from New Jersey originally. I lived at the Piscataway apartments, for Rutgers for three summers, while I worked for ATT Bell Labs, and my impression of Rutgers is very positive , for engineering, what I did. I do not know your field, so hard to comment on that at any of these schools. And I have visited Carnegie Mellon last year, and saw the area around Pitt. I think that both of the larger state schools you can choose from will be more lively, potentially but at Case you may be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. It really depends on you, what you want out of college.
There will be a lot of very accomplished students at both Rutgers and Pitt. You may actually have an easier time finding professors to talk with and work for at Case, if you are shy. I think the smaller school has some subtle advantages for shy students.
Also, what about the size of the three departments? So you may get more attention at the smallest department
so you could look that up. It may not be Case, if Pitt or Rutgers has a small cognitive science program.
I picked my major in college because it was a small department, materials science, only about 40 kids in my upper level classes.
It worked out well for me to be in smaller classes.
Also, Honors programs may not really give you much, all depends on the school. So for instance at Arizona State,
its a full separate campus and faculty! At U of Colorado, its a living group for freshman year and many students forgo the extra “capstone” and drop out of it. . At Georgia Tech, a living group, with perks like registration earlier than the masses at GT!
So don’t focus too much on Honors programs, but good you got into them, rather focus on the curriculum, and research and opportunities.
Clearly there could be a lot of great research in your field at all these schools. You should compare them, if you are looking to do research work, and compare the curriculums. Can you get the courses you want and need? Are you premed? Case would be really good for premeds because of all the medical related research. I don’t know about Rutgers or Pitt for that.
Case has the two medical schools, in close proximity, if you are premed, this may be helpful for you.
@Missimperfect - my daughter is also weighing CWRU for cognitive science - premed and having a hard time deciding for about the same reason. She’s worried that the work will be too overwhelming and that it’ll come at the expense of a social life. She is smart and a hard worker but also is a happy kid who enjoys life and makes friends easily. She really likes the school but is just in the fence. Her other choice is Syracuse honors program. If you both go I assume you’ll be in classes together and you would probably get along well!!!
@myjanda That’s awesome! If she goes and Case (and if I go) I would love to get to know her! Yeah I’m also having a really difficult time deciding on a college, Case is also more expensive than the other school I’m considering (by about $10,000)
What is your opinion of the cognitive science curriculum and department?
@Coloradomama Thank you!!! yeah the honors program at pitt didn’t give as much as rutgers, and i haven’t been able to look at the rutgers cognitive sci program (its unclear if its offered as a major or minor), but i can easily get to rutgers to see it. it seems like its in the psychology department, rather than its own department like Case