Pros of CRWU: great school for pre-med, perfect computer science BA major for pre-med students that has only a few computer science classes and the rest are open electives, surrounded by Cleveland Clinic and other hospitals (so lots of opportunities to volunteer and research), highly known and ranked school
Cons of CWRU: Cleveland’s weather, distance from home (I live in Portland, Oregon), hard to get a good GPA here
Pros on UP: I’m a very family orientated person (way more than the norm) so being close to/in home sounds perfect, beautiful campus and weather, could volunteer and research at OHSU or nearby hospitals, would pay 6-7K less than at CWRU
Cons: not as highly ranked as Case, would probably have to major full fledged in computer science so it might be hard (they have a CS minor but don’t have much info on that)
As you can tell, my ultimate undergraduate goal is to get into medical school. I’m aware that I’m a hard worker and people can go to any college and still get into medical school. I know I will work hard no matter which one of these colleges I go to. However, Case is logically a better school. But it feels right to go to UP, obviously because I’m being led by my emotions.
I would love to hear as many opinions as possible on what y’all think I should. ;
One could make a case that it would be better to be a big fish in a little pond…if you were awesome you could stand out more at UP. It might be easier to get a good GPA. You would like being near home.
But one could make the case that you might be better off surrounded by your academic peers and the ability to volunteer at top notch hospitals.
Also think about what would you do if you decided pre-med was not for you? Which college gives you the most options?
I am not familiar with U of Portland, or the city of Portland, beyond a few visits to Corvallis where I drove through Portland. I can tell you a lot about Case Western, as my son attends there. As you point out, its a very FLEXIBLE school.So for instance, if you want to do a general engineering degree, you can, almost any minor, you can do it, if you want to major in music, work at Cleveland Clinic and have a minor in biochem, you can do that too. Cleveland has one thing in common with your home city, CLOUDS and RAIN. So that may make you feel at home? I do think the ability to do research in medical fields in phenomenal. Also there is a nursing college so you could even minor in nursing and get a very practical sort of education. Case has a solid business college too, with a finance major, and so you cannot go wrong as long as you don’t need to save money for medical school. If you feel you need to save, call Case Western, and tell them about your scholarship at U of Portland. See if they can give you more money. Case awards alumni scholarships to current juniors and seniors, by the way, so my son was able to win more scholarships after arriving at Case and doing well for two years. I do think you may be challenged to grow and learn more by leaving the comfort of your home city. Cleveland is a classic east coast style city, very different from the west coast. It boasts the Lake Erie waterfront, Little Italy near campus, indoor gardens, very friendly midwestern students, and lots of academic opportunities, with medicine as a common thread. My son is working with an economist who studies prescription drug prices, for instance. A lot of computer science majors combine a biology or medical focus. You should be able to look up the medical school admission rate for each school. Good luck with your decision.
Although I could get a computer science degree at UP and probably get a job in four years, Case most definitely has the most options. And yup, those two cases are basically what I’m going back and forth on.
Thank you so much for your reply. :-*
They have awarded me 25K per year, so I’m not sure if they would give more. Yup leaving the comfort of my home city is most definitely the issue.
Only you can decide whether leaving your comfort zone is going to be worth the tradeoff for a vastly superior academic experience. Good luck whichever you decide!
