What's the Big Deal With Case Western?

College Search & Selection
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<p>I'd never heard of the school until a little while after beginning my college search, so I was wondering why lately all I hear is about Case Western. I'm not saying it's not a good school, I'm just curious as to why all the hub-bub about it. Any takers?</p>

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<p>It has very good Business and Engineering programs</p>

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<p>Case Western meets quite a few criteria that many posters want. It’s a medium sized university close to a city, and good for engineering/business. It’s not extremely difficult to get into, but it still provides an excellent education. Additionally, it gives merit aid for higher stats kids which is a particular boon for the highly qualified upper middle class student that otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford the school.</p>

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<p>^Ah, so one of those underrated schools.</p>

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<p>I very rarely hear about CWRU tbh. However the reputation is that its an excellent Engineering and Pre-med school with a strong business program as well. Doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. Partially because it’s in god-forsaken Cleveland. (kidding)</p>

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<p>ehh you aren’t too far off on cleveland :)</p>

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<p>Case Western is known as a research powerhouse in the sciences. They have a great dental school as well. It’s a fine choice for students…a little pricey though</p>

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<p>CE527M</p>

<p>Case Western is hardly an unknown school, Just not an Ivy and not part of a major Academic Conference (Division III UAA) Though if you want top to bottom academic excellence in an athletic conference, UAA may be second only to the Ivy League (Other Schools in the league are U Chicago, Wash U, Emory, NYU, Brandeis, Carnegie Mellon and Rochester – which is a pretty impressive group of schools!!!</p>

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<p>I agree it often gets overlooked because of its location. Many people don’t look past the northeast, mid-Atlantic and west coast states. While I certainly knew it was a respected engineering school, it didn’t make it onto the first list of schools for my son because of the location. But after researching the campus and offerings more thoroughly and getting feedback from co-workers (engineers), we added it to our last college tour and we were glad we did. It is a great school.
At least half of the kids on our tour were pre-med, it is pretty popular for that. It has graduate schools for medicine, law, dentistry, and business, as well as engineering and arts/sciences.
The only down-side was some of the surrounding areas are not that great, typical of an urban environment though.</p>

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<p>They are very well-known in academic circles - just not so much in sports circles or those who only know Ivies and local schools.</p>

<p>In our area they are considered among the top of the top for Biomedical Engineering and very good for pre-med. They are also well-known for good aid for top kids.</p>

<p>Their location (both Cleveland and particular area in it) turn many off (including my guy - it was on his short list until then). He ended up at U Rochester since it had more of a “campus” which he preferred (and more in neuroscience too). Case is still a school I recommend often for those who don’t mind their urban setting. (URoc is still urban, but more of a campus bubble.) Kids I know who have gone to Case have liked it.</p>

11

<p>A lot of CC parents like Case Western because it gives out generous merit awards to high-stats applicants, though like many schools that give a lot of merit money, it doesn’t meet full need for those with need. Generally pretty STEM- and business-oriented, but its undergrad engineering program is ranked only #44 by US News, on a par with schools like Arizona State and Michigan State and well below such Midwestern engineering powerhouses as Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and quite a few notches below same-state rival Ohio State. I’d say the same is true in most science fields; Case Western is a solid performer but not a world-beater, with few if any top-25 departments. As a consequence, it’s easily overshadowed by the Big Ten science powerhouses in its own backyard, and doesn’t get the same recognition that coastal private schools get.</p>

<p>Case does, however, have some of the familiar advantages of a private university: lower student-faculty ratio (9:1), smaller classes, somewhat higher median student stats than Ohio State. Those things, combined with merit aid, can make it an attractive alternative and a good bargain for some students.</p>

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<p>^^^ A quick google search of biomedical engineering rankings has Case #8 for undergrad - above such “no-names” like U Penn and Stanford… and only U Mich (#6) ahead of them in the rankings in their general vicinity.</p>

<p>As I stated before, around here they are known as one of the top schools for Biomedical Engineering…</p>

13

<p>Stanford doesn’t have a major titled biomedical engineering. They have some interdisciplinary programs such bioengineering, biomechanical. [Undergraduate</a> Degree Programs | School of Engineering](<a href=“http://engineering.stanford.edu/education/undergraduate-degree-programs]Undergraduate”>Undergraduate Degree Programs | Stanford University School of Engineering)
CMU does not offer biomedical as an undergrad degree, but rather a double-major with electrical, mechanical etc.
Might skew some of the rankings.
However, I agree that Case is an excellent school that is too often overlooked :-)</p>

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<p>Evidently both have enough for US News to consider them top ranking worthy in the field. It’s their ranking. </p>

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<p>[Biomedical</a> | Rankings | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-biological-biomedical]Biomedical”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/engineering-doctorate-biological-biomedical)</p>

<p>I’m not up at all on Stanford as our school just doesn’t send students there (though one has applied this year and might head there - not for Biomedical), but Case is well known for Biomedical Engineering.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your input, I appreciate it. </p>

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<p>I would say that while it’s not unknown, it’s not as well known as some schools. Yes, the Ivies and top schools get more publicity, but in general, I think it’s one of those schools that is underrated–good school, good merit money, but with the location (I live in Virginia, so Cleveland is pretty far away, and is pretty far away from most people, tucked way up north) a lot of people haven’t heard of it. That is an impressive group of schools it is with.</p>

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<p>LOL, your coastal bias is showing. Did you know that from Washington, DC, it’s about a 6 hour drive to Cleveland—shorter than from Washington to Boston (7.5 hours) or Amherst (just under 7), and about the same as to Cornell (about 6).</p>

<p>As for being “far away from most people,” are you aware that Cleveland lies near the center of what geographers define as the Great Lakes Megalopolis, with a combined population of about 59 million, including nearly 10 million in greater Chicago, 5.7 million in metro Toronto, 5.3 million in greater Detroit, nearly 4 million in greater Montreal, 3.5 million in Minneapolis-St.Paul, nearly 3 million apiece in the Cleveland and St. Louis metro areas, 2.5 million in greater Pittsburgh, and roughly 2 million apiece in the Cincinnati, Kansas City, Columbus, and Milwaukee metro areas, with another half dozen population centers in the 1 to 1.5 million range, and another 10 or so in the 400,000 to 1 million range? </p>

<p>That’s actually more people than live in the Northeast Megalopolis from Virginia to Boston and beyond (about 50 million).</p>

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<p>Ha, hardly, my dad is from Ohio, I have traveled many times to and from Ohio and have attended many Cleveland Indian games.</p>

<p>I just meant that seeing as how it’s way up there (<a href=“http://www.world-guides.com/images/ohio_oh/ohio_oh_state_map.jpg[/url]”>http://www.world-guides.com/images/ohio_oh/ohio_oh_state_map.jpg&lt;/a&gt;), it’s not the ideal location for many, and many probably haven’t heard of it, because while 59 million might live in the Great Lakes Megalopolis, that’s only a fraction of the total U.S. population. It’s not as likely those in the South and West have heard of it as those in the Northeast-Midwest states.</p>

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<p>case western is an amazing school, and is for real students.</p>

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<p>I’m an undergrad at Case. It’s an incredible school. Though it may lack the popularity schools like NYU and UCLA have, those who need to recognize the school (employers/grad school) LOVE case and heavily recruit from campus. </p>

<p>Case is almost like a hidden gem. It’s comparable to schools like CMU and WashU but much less difficult to get into (plus merit aid). This is why it’s so popular. </p>

<p>I’d hands down recommend this school. It’s tough, but it’s pays off bigtime post graduation.</p>

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<p>Return on Investment. Case rewards top students with generous merit aid. Son was accepted and Case was not initially on list for college tour of accepted schools because it was 8 hours away. But convinced hubby to take the trip since they offered over 30K of free $. Just to give you a perspective, daughter went to Cornell and got $0. In these recessionary times, with students coming out with huge debt and not being able to get jobs; you have to consider whether its worth it to spend over $200K on top colleges. Although majoring in a STEM major definitely gives up an upper edge.</p>

<p>Upon visiting campus, we were really impressed. Coming from NYC, comparing it to NYU, it is not urban at all. Lots of space, great teacher/student ratio 9:1, lots of green space, great StEM rep. and not too big where you can get lost in crowd. We were surprised with ethnic diversity. Weatherwise, it’s better than Upstate NY i.e., Cornell, Syracuse, Rochester, RPI, Binghamton, Albany, etc. </p>

<p>As far as “bad” next door neighborhoods, have you been to Columbia, Yale, Johns Hopkins (where we were escorted from parking lot to building on Open Admission day by cops on bikes - makes you wonder why), RPI, etc.</p>