Taylor
Case is the perfect size as it is, even though the administration seems to want to keep bringing in a larger number of freshmen each year. The higher-ups want to be prestigious, but are not very selective of who they admit.
When I first started telling people I went to Case, I always had to clarify with "Western Reserve University" and then with, "It is in Cleveland Ohio." I soon quickly changed "where" I went to school as just "in Cleveland."
On the actual campus itself, there really is no "college town" because of such an urban atmosphere. However, about a 5 minute drive will take you to Coventry Road which is exactly what I thought a college main drag should look like. It had bars, restaruants, little shops, music venues, housing, and more. Coventry is shared as the spot to go to by Case and nearby John Carroll University. It is really underused by the younger crowd, but seems to be the place to go to for the more extroverted group mentioned before.
The administration is too uptight about everything. They want control over everything and want to be like pseudo "helicopter parents" over the students so the actual parents at home have nothing to worry about.
School pride is a mixed bag. There are students who love to go to our sporting events and will attend many just because they love the sport and love Case. Others could not even tell you if we had athletics at Case. The Case Association of Student Athletes (CASA) which I am a part of, is aimed at bringing that school pride to everyone. We have initiated a program called "Blue CWRU" (pronounced Blue Crew") to get the student body aware of who we are. We have a card system that each student has an opportunity to get and have punched at each game they attend. After attending so many events, they receive prizes and the prizes work on a ladder system. At the end of the year, we collect the cards and put them all in a basket and pull out a name to determine who wins our end of the year prize, usually a TV or something similar. We are working to make the group bigger and better each year, but we still have a long way to go.
Peter
The size of Case is just right. It's the perfect balance between knowing everyone on campus and feeling like a stranger. It has a great surrounding area with restaurants, bars, and shops, and the proximity to downtown Cleveland is great for attending baseball and basketball games.
Two major downsides are the campus layout and the athletic attendance. The campus is not an inspiring or beautiful campus by any means. It has an occasional nice building, but those are often surrounded by eyesores. After a while, the campus doesn't really bother you, but when you visit other schools you recognize how bad Case's campus really is.
Another downside is the lack of attendance to athletic events. Traditionally, Case athletics has been nothing special. However, recently, the athletic teams have gained national recognition, being ranked top 10 in the country and winning conference championships. Despite this, students still rarely attend Case sporting events. For most people, it isn't that they don't enjoy going, most would actually love to go and heckle and be rambunctious. The problem is that they don't want to be the only ones, and Case hasn't figured out how to get everyone to attend the games. People want to go, but they are afraid they will be the only ones.