Case Western Reserve University Top Questions

I can only speak from a science background. It is competitive here at CWRU, but only in the sense that most students are serious about their education. If you share the same seriousness as most of your classmates, you will find classes to be challenging, but not impossible. My favorite classes are biochemistry, cell biology, and histology. My professors genuinely care about the student's learning experience and the material they teach. While these classes are challenging, they can be very fun. If you love learning, you will love it here.

Professors at Case are extremely helpful when it comes to classes. If you are in a large class, with over 100 people, it is less likely that the professor will know everyone by name. However, many professors have an open-door policy, where a student can stop by the their offices whenever they want and can come on in. In addition, students at Case study quite a bit, and often form study groups to work on homework together. Class participation is very common, and many students on campus are fairly outgoing and easy to get to know.

Socially, I really enjoyed my freshman year. Academically, I did not enjoy it much at all. I had to take a ton of classes that I just didn't care about at all. Two semesters of chemistry for a computer science major? So annoying! To make it worse, freshman classes are pretty big. Granted, I've heard that some state schools have lectures with 500+ students, so maybe it's not so bad. I think our biggest lecture hall holds around 300 people. You can expect to take chemistry and maybe physics there. I, and many of my smart friends, found the professors for the first year to be pretty terrible. We'd get little out of lecture and the homework would frequently be really, really long and annoying. But Case does offer the SI sessions that are led by students who did well the previous year. They can be pretty useful, so if you're struggling in one of the big classes, it's very likely that it'll have SI sessions where you can go and ask for help. It's more relaxed than a lecture but it can be very useful. The first two semesters of chem, physics, math and I believe biology have SIs. I've made it sound pretty bad. The good news is that sophomore year is so much better. One of my 300 level math classes has 10 kids in it. It's very relaxed and the professor is very approachable. My computer science class is relatively big (if you took CS in HS you can take this class freshman year...) and has about 50 kids in it. But realistically, only about 25 or 30 show up, so it's pretty good. The professor is also pretty approachable. I'm not liking my differential equations class very much (MATH224) but I guess it's alright. It's small, but the professor is just not very good. Oh well. Homework: it's long, but the key is to just get started early. Physics homework for freshman could sometimes take 5-8 hours to do. Yeah, if you leave that all for a day (like I would usually do...) it's pretty miserable. But if you do a bit every day, then it's not so bad at all. The key is simply doing a little bit of all your homework every day. But yeah, there's a rumor that has been going around campus for a while that claims we get the 2nd most homework in the country behind MIT. True or not, the homework is pretty annoying and sometimes ridiculous. But manageable.

I'll take this space to issue a warning about academics at Case. For many big name schools, one of the biggest hurdles is just getting in. Case is not this way. In fact, it's fairly easy to get in. However, do not let that dupe you into an unmerited sense of security. I've seen several friends get accepted, matriculate, and slam into that 30 ksi reinforced concrete wall that is Case academics.

Students at Case are very competitive. Most students coming from a background that has allowed them to attain high levels of education is the reason for this. Most of the majors are very high demanding, especially engineering, sciences, nursing, and mathematics. Something that I have done to relieve some pressure at times was taking a course that would be interesting and easy to pass (the social sciences). Something that Case has to offer is the job connections that can be made through career fairs and other great groups on campus that makes it easier for students.

Professors all get to know students by name and are always available by email or in person for extra help.

Academics is impressive. The professors can be a little impersonal, but they're generally good. Math professors are incredibly smart, but can be difficult to learn from. Case's classes are generally difficult, but not impossible. Education, at least in engineering, prepares you excellently for the real thing.

It is tough...... No matter what major you are, Case is NO JOKE!!! But you'll appreciate all your hard work, GUARANTEED!!! Students are crazy competitive in the sciences and engineering.... its pretty annoying how competitive students are in those subjects. Some are willing to go out their way to make sure that you do worse than them.

The basic engineering classes are 200 plus so there is no hope for the professors to know your name unless you ask an ungodly amount of questions. And if you do that, a couple of students are bound to glare at you everytime you ask one. Case has a great job placement record. It also looks good on transcripts if you are trying to get into med school or grad school. Case has a reputation and that name brings in a lot of companies look for the best and brightest. Even a mediocre student at Case can trump students from other schools because the academics at Case are so rigorous. Not as bad as MIT and definitely doable.

Even though Case has a larger graduate population than undergraduate population, all the professors are definitely interested in their undergrads. Professors work really hard to learn students names, even in 300 student lectures. And that's the biggest they come: 300. You're way more likely to see yourself in a 30 person classroom having a debate about oil prices and the state of the U.S. economy (okay, maybe you're more likely to have a debate about one of the laws of physics or the dissection of a cat... the Case student body is still highly made up of science and engineering students). The work is hard and there's a lot of it, to be honest. Students spend a LOT of time studying, but we also know how to take breaks and have fun. There is one Gen Ed requirement that you'll either love or hate: SAGES. The Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship is a series of seminar-based classes of 17 students or less that all students must take. The upside: you can take classes from outside of your major to get a more well-rounded academic experience. The (potential) downside: you'll be asked to do a lot of writing, participation, and presentation. It sounds great, but many science and engineering students would rather swallow mercury than write a 10-page research paper. This fact is what gives SAGES its bad reputation.