We are planning to attend both admitted student events, but want to solicit anonymous opinions as what to expect/observe at each of the schools. I have searched the forum, but most comparisons are a bit dated or related to different majors.
DS is leaning toward U. Rochester, citing its “better” biology program hearsay from his friends. We understand that one of the main difference between the two schools are that Case is more urban and UoR is more rural, but his desire of being near a city has fell off his priority list since the initial school search. Things that he still cares the most, other than Bio / Neuroscience program, are:
Continue engaging in music (a skilled piano player), preferably toward a minor or major degree in music
Food. He enjoys food and can cook very well, hence is picky on campus food selections.
Stress. His current high school is very competitive that he had wished for a college with less pressure.
[From parent perspective] For an introvert, which of the schools offers better support for student connections or “nicer” more supportive culture?
He is also comparing a few UC schools (we are OOS), but I won’t digress unless someone has a strong opinion.
Interesting to hear that UoR students look happier. Does school shuttle run regularly to get back and forth between river campus and Eastman campus? CIM seems to be more walkable for CWRU students.
We are from northeastern, where we have similar weather. So weather is not really a concern.
I am a UR alum. The city of Rochester is not as large as Cleveland but it is a real city. There is nothing rural about the school. The River Campus is the main campus and is beautiful. I’m fairly certain they run bus service from River Campus to the Eastman School, but you should confirm. When I went to UR many you were able to take lessons at Eastman, but I’m not sure you could minor in music without some sort of process like an audition. Eastman is like Juiliard so it’s highly competitive. I’d give the school a call to find out.
UofR has a fairly extensive shuttle service between campuses, to downtown, Wegmans, Mall, etc.
In addition to Eastman there is the Satz school which is part of Arts and Sciences within UofR. They offer a music minor and students can take classes at Eastman. Eastman itself is a separate admissions process, is very performance oriented and very elite.
Already been covered, but I was just going to note that Rochester has a “normal” Department of Music in addition to Eastman, and one of the cool things about the Rochester curriculum structure is you can do what they call a cluster in Music, or upgrade it to a Minor or second Major depending on how far you end up wanting to go with it:
Case Western also offers majors (some explicitly designed to be combinable) and a minor in Music, and I believe the Music minor is non-auditioning. But they do not have the same cluster program, and they generally have a more standard distributional-type gen ed requirement:
I would also echo that I think of the City of Rochester as being a real city, and the River (Main) Campus is quite close to the city center, but also sort of enclosed–it is in a bend in the river and then the land side is mostly across from a large cemetery. Case Western is actually farther from the center of Cleveland, but it is obviously a bigger city overall, and their campus definitely feels more integrated into the urban landscape.
Otherwise, these are both popular options from our HS, and the reputation is Rochester is a nicer/more academicky college, and Case Western a little more individualistic/pre-professional. Obviously not a lot of people have a true basis for comparison, but I think that tracks enough commentary I have seen that it might have something to it.
In the end I think academically these are more similar than different, and visiting both seems like a very good idea. But I kinda think your kid does sound more like what we would think was a Rochester kid (mine too, by the way–he ultimately applied to Rochester but not Case Western, with an interest in Bio but also possibly Classics and a general desire to explore).
I came here to mention the clusters at UoR, and how the program and Eastman are really great for a music lover.
I have a son at UoR (different major) and he’s happy and has hit is stride. I think social life seems a bit subdued, but it’s likely what you make of it. You’ve already heard plenty of talk about the campus not being rural. One thing I will add is that (as a parent) safety is an ongoing concern… not enough to veto going there, but it is an issue. If your child is from an urban setting and used to late night street smarts, he should be ok. The crime statistics are artificially low because UoR doesn’t track off campus crime, only on-campus. But the surrounding area is where most kids live.
Could you elaborate “But the surrounding area is where most kids live.”? I thought students are living on-campus housing that is required for first two years and possibly all four years. How does the safety compare with CWRU?
TBH I am not convinced if my student is set on the majors and has thought much about post-graduation, but going to a graduate school is a likely path.
There is a price difference that CWRU offered a discount tuition in scholarship, but since we already have enough savings in his college fund, we tried not to use this to influence his decision unless there is not a clear winner.
That’s good, because there’s not much else you can do with a degree in neuroscience . Which you might know already if your username hails from Laboratory Rats | Charles River
If he does a research PhD, that would be fully funded with stipend, but the job market is poor for neuroscience PhDs. If he goes to med school, it’s ridiculously expensive and you should save as much money as you can on undergrad.
What are some other majors he’s considering?
I know it’s hard for a kid to predict this stuff, and so many change their minds. And college is more than preparation for employment, but these are some things you might ponder as you make decisions.
I can’t tell you how does safety compare with CWRU. My own perspective was that fears of safety were overblown, and that you’d hear that in any urban campus. I now think we underestimated those concerns, so just passing it along as a lesson learned. I don’t want to make too big a point of it, but we are going to breathe a sigh of relief when he’s done. Rochester is a tough place economically.
When I say surrounding area is where most kids live- yes, first and second years live on campus (east of the River if you look at a campus map). But residential housing for juniors and seniors is largely on the other side of the river (see the two buildings in the top left of campus map and anyone living there spends time walking around a more dangerous section. My son last year had a friend shot walking just a few blocks north of there (he is fine btw) and I was really surprised we never heard anything from UoR. When I pushed them they said crimes off campus are not tracked by them (even though it was 1.5 blocks from a dorm). UoR police confirmed that it’s a bad area and there are lots of calls they get all the time. Sorry if that sounds alarmist, I’m sure plenty of others have had better experiences.
. Which you might know already if your username hails from 
