Case Western Reserve University

Date: Apr 07 2011
Major: Electrical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
Case is a unique experience- it is far from being nondescript. The campus is unlike any other that I visited, the campus culture is vastly different, and the student body is a very eclectic mix. I believe that this polarizes students' views to a certain extent- people either hate it or love it here. I fall firmly in the latter category. The majority of bad experiences here are probably due to people not knowing what to expect, and finding that they chose a school that did not match their interests and personality. I would advise anyone looking at colleges to be cognizant of the differences in people's values and perceptions. This is not the right school for everyone, but it certainly is the right school for some.

Case has several traits that distinguish it from most universities. It is one of very few smaller schools that have strong preprofessional programs and a strong liberal arts track. It has two medical schools, one through University Hospitals and one through the Cleveland Clinic. It sits on a variety of boundaries-it is on the edge of the inner city, stuck between some of the richest suburbs in the country and some of the poorest urban neighborhoods. The school has a unique past as a merging of a tech school and a liberal arts university, and today it still has the feel of a conglomerate of sorts. There are some very beautiful parts of campus, and some parts that seem out of place or poorly contrived. What is certain is that the school is very distinct. It has unique strengths and unique faults.

The key to having a good experience here is to take initiative, and to make goals and work towards them. It is possibly to fall very far behind very quickly here- there is a great deal of work involved, and your professors, classmates, coaches, and everyone else will expect you to put in serious effort into everything you do. This enviroment forces you to get yourself together. Once you have learned to manage your time and set priorities, however, there are incredible opportunities. There are not that many undergraduates here, and there are many faculty. This means that you will have an abundance of opportunities to talk to, learn from and even work for almost anyone on campus. People here are as intense about their interests as they are about grades, so any club, team, or group you join will be an engaging, rewarding experience. People who cannot find things to do are those who cannot be bothered to look around them.