Case Western Reserve University Top Questions

Research everything about your serious choices. Visit the school, try an overnight stay.

I would suggest finding a school that feels like it could be home. Look beyond just the academics and what's on paper, and don't really pay attention to rankings and such. Visit the school; meet the students, faculty, and staff. Pick up a campus publication and truly get a feel of the place. try and imagine yourself there as a student. This is most important for the STUDENT to feel at home, it really is the student?s choice and life that is starting. Make sure that the school you choose has what the student wants, and make sure the student chooses the school for more than just one program. It's hard to imagine as a high school student, but changing majors is really common and you don't always know as a teenager what you want to do for the rest of your life.

visit the school and explore on your own, don't take the school's word for fact, see what the students have to say and take it as fact, because students know best what is going on at their school. make the choice you want to make, not based entirely on financial aid, or what your parents think is right, but what YOU feel is right for YOU.

Visit the school before you choose it. You'll get the right vibe from the right school. MAKE FRIENDS, appreciate your social life over academics, but still, don't screw up.

First of all, when deciding on college, I hear too many kids saying that they are basing their decisions on money. This is a little sad to hear. If you really want to go to a certain college, but do not think that you can afford it, don't let that deter you from going to that college. Work with the financial aid office and find every outside scholarship for which you are eligible. Finances should not be the reason you don't attend your first choice college. Secondly, when you get to college, find a job right away and get involved in a student activity in which you are interested. Don't wait on either of these. It's much easier to find a job your first year if you don't wait for a job fair. It's also easier to get involved in student activities at the beginning of the year when people are still meeting everyone and just starting to make friends.

The advice I would give parents and students about finding the right college is to focus on the most important ideals for the family, but especially for the student. I highly recommend that the parents allow the student to make their own choice of career or path of study. In the end, things always have a way of working out. When the student is pressured to choose the course of their next four years, and possibly their entire life, under the influence of the parents, life becomes stressful, difficult, and intolerable on multiple levels for all members of the family. Making the most of the college experience means that the student becomes involved, finds their convictions through meeting different people and exposure to as much novelty as possible. This is how one grows. It means giving as much as you wish to receive, whether in terms of time or effort. College doesn't always mean moving on to the rest of your life with a degree certifying you or recommending you to employers. The most important part, as most students find out, is the connections they make. The individuals you meet and references you are vital for a succesful future.

Be careful and take your time to search and truly discover what you like and what you're looking for. VISIT THE CAMPUS!! Everything looks good on paper but you want to see it for yourself. IF you can visit during a time when the university DOESN'T have a planned weekend. When they host parent and family weekends, things are usually scheduled to go very pristinely in order to make the best impression, but if you want to see how things really are, you need to be there when there isn't a university scheduled orientation or tour or anything of the sort. Just ask to be matched up with a campus student if you're coming alone. If coming with parents, still ask for someone to help you. Universities are usually in abundance of students who are willing to show newcomers around so take full advantage of that opportunity. Search hard to find your best fit, and then stick with it. This is the next four years of your life and a degree that you carry with you for the rest of your life, make good of it

A Balance between school work and social life