Case Western Reserve University vs. University of Pittsburgh (Honors) for neuroscience major on pre-med track. Do you have a child at Case or Pitt on a similar track? If so, please share your experiences/views and don’t hold back!!
Child is having a hard time making a decision. We visited during admitted student day and were impressed by both schools.
Both gave merit scholarships so cost is around the same at ~50K.
Both have urban campus and close proximity/ties to hospitals (e.g. research and shadowing opportunities), which are important to my child.
Pre-med support system/counseling is also important to my child.
Pitt’s neuroscience program has been around much longer. Case started to offer a neuroscience major only a few years ago.
Child was admitted to Pitt’s honors college which offers opportunities like priority class registration and research fellowships.
Case requires neuro majors to have one year of research in order to graduate so research should be pretty accessible.
Case is a smaller school with more diversity in the student body, while Pitt is about 3.5x larger but less diverse with about half of the students from the PA area.
Child will find balance between studies and having fun. So on campus and off campus activities are important (outside of Greek life and sports, which child does not care too much for).
Potential twist: Child is waitlisted at Duke and WashU and if accepted, should Duke or WashU trump Case or Pitt? I’m assuming we will not receive any merit so cost at Duke or WashU will be close to $90K per year (we don’t qualify for financial aid). If money is not an issue, is the Duke or WashU name/education worth it for undergrad since my child is planning to go to med school?
On the second, (other schools - no - but that’s not to say you shouldn’t choose them if it happen - but clear it out of your mind as they did not accept him.
If they come through, then worry - and if you can afford and are willing to pay the delta, sure. But will their names alone give you med school advantage - I highly doubt it - but a great MCAT will. But don’t even let your kid think about them. I don’t see last year’s CDS for WUSTL but the year prior they wait listed as many as they accepted. Duke doesn’t seem to offer one.
I don’t have a kid so I won’t answer which is better although you always hear great things of both and people love Case’s ability to double major and more.
What I was going to say is - neuro is a degree today dujour - flavor of the day - but because they didn’t have a degree, don’t assume they didn’t have the interdisciplinary courses or as a focus in a few of the majors or at least much of the content from it - so perhaps the packaging is new but likely not the education.
I can tell you that savvy pre-med families at our feederish HS often choose Case or Pitt, even when their kid would be competitive for colleges like Duke or WUSTL, precisely because they are excellent choices for pre-med but significantly less costly. Of course many people start but not finish pre-med, so it is well worth thinking about that scenario as well. And some families can comfortably afford the difference anyway. But I definitely do not think you would need to spend the extra money, and I would only consider it if you could comfortably afford it in light of possible med school costs.
As for Case versus Pitt (Honors), I don’t think you can go wrong either way. But I would suggest focusing on that Plan B question. What if your kid decides Neuroscience is not actually the major they want? What if they decide med school is not the next step they want? Where would they be happiest if that happened?
That may or may not be clarifying, but I think it is the most important question in circumstances like this.
I would choose Pitt or Case. I would also take medical school out of the picture right now and choose the one he/she likes better. They are both excellent schools.
FYI neither of my kids applied to Case Western, but we did visit Pitt 3 times and I was very impressed.
No wrong choice from an academic side, so it comes down to those intangibles. For example, which place could feel like ‘home’ for four years? Both places are relatively inexpensive for college kids to have fun outside of class.
Personally, for the same price I’d lean towards the private school vs a OOS public. In general, less bureaucracy, better advising and smaller intro classes. Moreover, research is built into CW’s undergrad program.
I agree with the other posters, and both are great schools. Pitt is better-known for neuro, but like @tsbna44 stated above, that’s not because Case isn’t strong in that field. The exact title of the program doesn’t matter and they’ve been teaching neuro content this whole time, even if there wasn’t a dedicated major. Neuro is niche and currently trendy as an undergrad major. I’m a neuro prof and know a number of profs that did/do work at Case – they’re great!
My kid (not a neuro major) was accepted to both and considered attending both. I think the biggest relevant difference between the two is that your kid will get more personal attention at Case (private $$$ school with more resources per student), whereas they’ll have to be more of a go-getter at Pitt.
This is relative, of course, since both schools are excellent and pre-meds have to be real go-getters regardless. I do think it will be a bit easier to slip through the cracks at Pitt. Not sure how good your kid is at being aggressive with seeking out opportunities for their own benefit… but that’s the biggest difference I noticed between the two schools. If my kid was trying to decide between the two for neuro, I’d have NO hesitation with them attending either, and I wouldn’t be worried at all about the newness of Case’s major.
The culture at both schools is quite different. Did your child feel more comfortable at one versus the other? I would make the decision more on personal fit. Your child will get excellent academic and research opportunities at either, but at which school is he or she more likely to find friends, study partners, and other city explorers (again, will find plenty of activities in both cities)?
From the little you have said, my hunch is that your child leans a bit more towards being a better fit at Case.
As I stated- we visited 3 times. My D had a scholarship and she interviewed for additional scholarships to cover room and board.
Pitt ranks up there as one of the most impressive universities I have ever seen. My daughter interviewed with a physics professor, met current applicants, and had opportunities to speak with current honors students.
The students she met were brilliant…and very, very accomplished. This is not an exaggeration.
We heard about research opportunities, volunteering etc. Honors will provide more individual attention. We also had a chance to explore the city…which I loved despite the bitter cold.
This is going to come down to fit. Your son will not go wrong with either school.
Both are great schools and good cities. Pitt has the edge for Neuro
I am biased. My S18 graduated from Pitt and he was in the honors dorm. Those kids on that Sutherland freshman hall were all brilliant and are still friends to this day. The honors dorm really was a tight knit crew and made a big difference at a large school.