<p>My daughter’s college list up 'til now has consisted of safety/match LACs. With the flood of post-PSAT mail and e-mails, she wants to expand her list and American and Case have caught her eye. Based on her PSATs, these schools will probably be reach-y (we anticipate SATs in the [old] 1200-1300 range; 1800ish for the new). However, when she took the ACT in middle school, her verbal was a 34 (can’t remember the math/science composite), so she will definitely be taking the ACTs. </p>
<p>I’m trying to get a better feel for American and Case. I’ve searched through CC, but many of the posts are from kids who use American and Case as safeties and downplay the schools because they’re not “Prestigious School X”. The whole prestige game is pretty alien to us, and my daughter wants to go to a school with kids who are happy with their choice. Does anyone have a sense of these schools that is NOT centered around whether they’re as prestigious as Georgetown or RPI?</p>
<p>Oh, for what it’s worth…my daughter is looking to double major with a B.A. in music (with a performance emphasis) and political science and/or communications. At American, she’s looking at Public Communications as a possibility rather than political science. Thanks for any insights…</p>
<p>mezzo - others will have specific insights into American and Case (if you search threads for those words, you will see several discussions (favorable ones that I recall) on both.</p>
<p>My point is focused on whether they are “reach-y” for your D. My S had similar SATs to your expectation for your D (1310 was his best). He applied to two schools which are considered similar to Case by Education Trust; he considered them both matches, not reaches and he did, in fact, get into both. His grades/recs/essay were certainly more outstanding than his SATs. Don’t know how your D is on these other measures, but I would think beyond SAT, from my experience, in determining whether match/reach/safety.</p>
<p>Good luck and have fun with all this (in between the obsession part).</p>
<p>Another point: 34 on ACT is excellent, no? Do many/most of her schools accept ACT instead of SAT? Might consider going that route (also some threads which have been discussing this recently).</p>
<p>My D applied to Case as part of a dual degree program with Cleveland Institute of Music. We just did a very informal visit to Case, and she had an audition trip to CIM. She got in, and got a pretty good merit award from Case. I thought Case sounded pretty impressive. I’m personally not a big Cleveland fan, although I thought the area around Case was fine. Does Case have a BA in Music program or do you go to CIM for classes? D ranked the CIM/Case program ahead of BU and liked it better (for her) than Oberlin. She ultimately chose Rice.</p>
<p>We are going to visit American this weekend. My daughter got a 1410 on her SAT (old, 1st time she took it), has a 3.8 unweighted GPA with mostly honors and AP classes. She has her fair share of ECs and has gotten correspondence from many schools, from local state schools to Stanford and everything in between. She DOES NOT consider American to be a safety school. We are visiting because she has a real interest in going there. She is looking do double major in poly sci and journalism/communications and loves what American has to offer. She also likes the diverse student body and the things available to her being in DC.
She plans on applying to 8 other schools, but American is on or near the top of the list.
I can let you know what we think when we get back, if you’d like.
BTW…she can care less about the prestige factor, if she likes a school and they offer what she wants, she could care less what anyone else thinks about it.</p>
<p>Case is very good for sciences and engineering. At one point, my son was interested in it. He was interested in an urban location like Cleveland.</p>
<p>One thing to consider, it is likely her score will go higher each time she takes it, esp. w/ some prep work. By November of SR year, she might suddenly be a candidate for a higher tier school; so put some dream schools on the list now to apply to also.</p>
<p>Case actually is rated highly but it’s predominantly a graduate school and not a party school. So its for a serious undergrad. Agreed CWRU and Cleveland do not carry high “prestige”, nor does CWRU have a low acceptance rate, but it does offer about tremendous merit awards. </p>
<p>Case does not offer a pure music performance degree, but does offer “general musicianship” or music education degrees. Otherwise, you would need to look into programs to dual enroll w/ CIM (which is essentially on the same campus). Case enthusiastically supports dual majors. When evaluating the “presitigious” schools, remember that at Case the Cleveland Symphony is next door supplying performance faculty.</p>
<p>You should bring your questions to the Case CC area:</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about American. Schools similar to Case are URochester and Carnegie Mellon (both have high end music programs). Susquehanna & Syracuse are also worth considering for music, political science, and communications; both offer merit awards. Syracuse has a lot of music scholarships, the Maxwell school of government and the Newhouse school of communications. You have to visit Susquehanna to understand how underrated it is.</p>
<p>Jmmom: Thanks for the words of encouragement. I was actually quite pleasantly surprised by my daughter’s PSAT scores as she is generally allegic to standardized tests. The ACT in middle school was another huge surprise, but given the different emphases of the tests (ACT v SAT), maybe it shouldn’t have been. I’d love for her to just focus on the ACTs, but she can’t take them during the April test dates (assuming she makes it to States for solo & ensemble, which is a reasonable expectation) so will be taking them in June. If she waits for those scores, it will mean taking the SATs her senior year, and she is hoping to be done with all the tests before then. So she’ll end up taking both…</p>
<p>MomofWC: Case’s BA in music program is through Case but private music study is with CIM faculty. My daughter had looked at CIM early on when she was still thinking in terms of a BM and a conservatory, and she was favorably impressed. So it would be like having your cake and eating it too! Cleveland is not a problem for her; I’m originally from that area so she’s heard many a [tall?] tale about my idyllic childhood. I find it interesting that she is more open to Cleveland than to Oberlin, but I think it’s the more urban environment which is appealing. And as midwesterners, we don’t have the same <em>oh no, not Cleveland</em> reaction as someone from the East or West coast might.</p>
<p>Yankeegirl: Please do report on your trip to American. I suspect that if my daughter does end up applying there, it is the one school on her ever-changing list which we won’t be able to visit until after we hear if she’s been accepted. So any firsthand descriptions would be greatly appreciated. It’s good to hear that your daughter is focused on her needs and what works for her. I tend to develop a form of CC-induced paranoia if I spend too much time reading the student threads; the abundance of over-achievers with Ivy dreams is not something we see in our neck of the woods. It’s helpful to be reminded that kids like mine (a BWRK according to the other thread) will find their place too.</p>
<p>A 34 English score in middle school is huge! A composite 34 ACT is about a 1540 SAT, to get that in middle school is impressive. Although, there’s a lot of grammary stuff in the English test which many schools emphasize in middle school, then put less emphasis on in high school. I don’t know what Case and American want, but if she can repeat that 34, even with lower 30s on the other subsets, she’ll be above the 1300 number. I guess this is why some recommend at least trying both tests.</p>
<p>Since you may not be able to visit American until after admission, and although I have not been on the campus in years, I grew up around there and it is in a nice section of DC. Northwest DC is a great area for an urban-oriented kid.</p>
<p>American is one of the best deals in the country for location, reputation, programs offered, campus, price. Yes, it is a pricey private, but the financial and merit awards are up there, and its sticker price is a good $5-10K lower than comparable schools. Because of GW and GT, it tends to be considered “an also ran” but I think that for name value, it is unbeatable for its selectivity. I would definitely check out this school. I have recommended to many people including a good friend of mine for her D next year.</p>
<p>With a score like that, your D could get merit aid at AU. </p>
<p>“BTW…she can care less about the prestige factor, if she likes a school and they offer what she wants, she could care less what anyone else thinks about it.”</p>
<p>It’s so great to hear another kid besides my S say that.</p>
<p>I know one family where the boys went to Case and the girls went to American.</p>
<p>These are my impressions: Case has a serious student body, lots of hard-working pre-professionals who seem to graduate with a plan in mind. Case grads don’t muck about. The campus is in a nice part of Cleveland–but it is still Cleveland. Not the most exciting city. Not the best weather. Research “the lake effect”. Recommend that D goes into Greek system if she is shy. Social scene not that obvious at Case.</p>
<p>American is more of a mixed student body. It has one of the best IR/Political Science programs and it is well-located in one of the most interesting American cities. American U. students get to know Washington inside and out. It is theri backyard. American also has a superb study abroad/internship/grad placement program. They use their Washington connections to the hilt. For a student with political interests, you cannot beat a Washington location.</p>
<p>Cheers: I’m laughing here, because I’m actually more concerned about the DC weather (My family is from Cleveland, so I’m quite familiar with the lake effect.) I’ve only been to DC in the summer, and I thought it was incredibly unpleasant (the weather, not the city). What’s it like in less muggy seasons?</p>
<p>Consider myself an unmitigated expert on DC summer weather (after all, I lived there before air conditioning). Summer weather is humid, humid, humid (I think there are worse places outside of Florida, but not sure-St. Louis?). But this is not an issue until June, really. Spring is wonderful and can include parts of February. I wouldn’t let weather deter me and I still enjoy being there in summer. This being the modern era, they now do have AC. I’d want to be check whether the dorms have AC, I guess.</p>
<p>LadyBird Johnson’s beautification campaign left a lasting and wonderful legacy in the city. Tulip-laden circles, etc. Nostalgia is wafting over me.</p>
<p>My son transferred to AU as a sophomore and is quite happy there. The university is definitely upgrading, with a new Arts Center scheduled to open later in 2005. The campus, though it has a “60s-70s” feel, is well maintained and comfortable. There’s a diverse and active student body, and for those interested in political science and government, there’s nothing like being in Washington DC. Though AU is in a more quiet residential area, DC public transportation is quite good to access downtown and the rest of the DC metro area. </p>
<p>I lived in DC many years back, and agree with jmmom, the worst weather doesn’t start until mid-May/early June, and the dorms are air-conditioned.</p>
(My family is from Cleveland, so I’m quite familiar with the lake effect.) I’ve only been to DC in the summer, and I thought it was incredibly unpleasant (the weather, not the city). What’s it like in less muggy seasons?</p>