Update #2: Case Western Reserve.
Background: this is a reach for S25, and he was deferred during EA cycle. We had shown zero interest prior to this visit and his grades aren’t quite up to par so this was both last ditch effort to signal interest AND effort to generate interest (he had no preconceived notions about the school, really.)
Readers, we LOVED IT. And it was something like 10 degrees F when we started our tour this morning. Need to rest up for tomorrow but quick notes:
– Campus vibes actually reminded both me and S25 of Oberlin – expansive, integrated with surrounding neighborhood, architecturally diverse, vibrant.
– THIS school seems to have figured out how to integrate engineering and humanities – the kids we met who were studying engineering all seemed to be minoring in some humanity or other, and we also heard multiple stories about kids who started in science and migrated to art history (or actually vice versa – someone started in art history, joined the baja race team, switched to mechE.)
– They talked a lot about their “open door” admissions policy, which seems relevant – students are admitted to the university, not to any particular school or program – and all schools and programs are consequently open to all undergrads.
– The admissions presentation was one of the most engaging I’ve seen, skillfully weaving profiles of alumni to tell the story of the school. One got a sense of almost unlimited potential. The tour was COLD and fairly standard but as I mentioned, campus is interesting. S25 liked the dorms (probably especially the fridge/freezer in each room!) Apparently 80-90% of students live on campus.
–Campus is surrounded by museums, a botanical garden, the Cleveland Institute for Music. Students get weekly free admissions to any of the museums. The symphony hall is actually in the middle of campus. They make it so EASY to access cultural amenities.
–We had great Middle Eastern food at Sittoo’s (try the cauliflower!) and the breakfast at the Glidden House Hotel was delightful – not just the standard continental fare, but eggs, kielbasa, home fries, Belgian waffles tucked into wax paper sleeves, really fresh and yummy assorted scones, real bagels, greek yogurt, etc. (amazing tea, too) We were also able to leave our car in their lot until 4 PM, which simplified things.
–I strongly recommend the engineering tour if one’s kid is remotely interested. It’s not very long, and it ends with a tour of the Sears Maker Space, seven stories tall. Our tour guide talked a lot about how much she appreciated the collaborative nature of students at Case. The clubs and organizations are open to anyone (which is definitely not the case at a lot of reachier schools). She said she’d be hanging out working on a problem on the whiteboard and a random 3rd year would come up and offer to help. She talked about the public service she does, and the anthropology courses she takes, etc. We were smitten – all three of us, I think.
On our way back from the tour, S25 actually chatted with a girl (!) who was excited about studying aerospace engineering and minoring in CS. The whole thing felt super positive.
Pitt is off the list at this point (although they did email us and offer to reimburse up to $1000 of travel costs, which feels amazingly generous. I don’t think we have the chutzpah to take them up on the offer, however – especially given how hosed they are likely to be if the federal research funding cuts materialize.)
We set off for Rochester this afternoon under a “lake effect blizzard warning” but (knock on wood) the snow didn’t show. Checked into our hotel in the East End neighborhood (Inn At Broadway, kind of underpopulated but very comfortable); ate really underwhelming ramen at the boba tea place across the street (don’t go there), and lucked into a free jazz concert at Eastman just by wandering into a building (do go there!)
Tomorrow we see U of Rochester, attempt to go to the original(?) Wegmans, and drive to Troy, lord willing and the lake don’t blizz.