Hello, parents and students out there…
I am in search of some of your expert opinions. My son (we live in So Cal) has narrowed his choices down to UC Davis and Case Western - the options seem VERY different to me but I am curious about your opinion of which might be a better program. He is a Physics Major.
Thank you for any advice.
Whichever one you can afford and then which ever one he feels more comfortable at.
Obviously there are size and environmental differences - from being in Cleveland (close to the city) and weather vs. being in a bikeable burb.
Both are fine schools. CWRU is known for its academic flexibility - you can have several majors, etc.
What’s the end goal for they physics degree - i.e after graduation?
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He is certain he’ll be going on to graduate school so obviously Davis is significantly cheaper than Case. I am struggling with the thought Case is a more prestigious option (but am I making that up?) and therefore would be a better option - as far as research opportunities, smaller classes & more intimate experiences. I guess is Case seen in the engineering world as a better school than Davis?
Does he want to do engineering or physics?
I don’t think it’s at all obvious that Case would be perceived as a better or more prestigious school. I’m not an expert on physics undergraduate programs, but Davis is higher ranked at this point, both as an overall university, and in physics. It’s rapidly becoming more selective in terms of admission, as well.
(As an aside, I think it’s common for California families to think of Davis as a less prestigious university because we have so many great UCs, but it really is a very good school.)
Case would be a different experience, however, because it’s a smaller, private university. Is that more of what he’s looking for?
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Yes you are.
And even if it were, would that prestige be worth the financial delta - which is I don’t know how much - but let’s say it were $200K? Or $100K?
But I personally don’t think your thought is correct. I think the experience will be different though. But research can be had anywhere - literally - you just have to ask.
And now you are budgeting for more than four years - so that should play a role too in your decision.
Leaving aside whether this is true, does he want to be in the engineering world?
Because, CWRU has an ABET-accredited Engineering Physics major, and Davis does not.
But if he definitely doesn’t want engineering physics, and just wants a traditional physics major, then both schools will have more than enough opportunities and both have fine reputations; I’d choose based on other fit factors, and financials. Since you’re in-state for UCD, he would have had to get a pretty big merit award at Case to achieve cost parity. If Case is significantly more expensive, does he like it significantly better?
Do you think this is a factor? My son was considering Engineering Physics, and everyone told him that Eng Physics majors mostly go to graduate school rather than directly to industry (or use it as a double major alongside another engineering major), that ABET doesn’t matter for it, and it’s fairly interchangeable with a Physics degree.
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Thank you all. This has been helpful. We will be in Davis and Cleveland in the next weeks for admit day so I think he’ll have a better idea then…I hope.
interesting - thank you…something to talk to him about for sure…
meaning my son
All good points. I’m not sure whether the OP’s kid should want Engineering Physics - just pointing out that the availability of that option is a differentiator between the two schools. IMHO, if the student wants exposure to engineering while majoring in physics, the opportunity to do a concentration in an engineering field as part of their major could be an enhancement that wouldn’t be possible (at least I don’t think so) as a physics major at UCD. How that then positions you in terms of employability and/or grad school, as compared to a traditional physics major, I am not certain. (And a lot of physics majors would have no interest in an engineering concentration anyway, which is why I asked the OP about interest in engineering.)
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I agree, I am not certain either. It could be helpful if the student could arrange to talk with an advisor or professor, and other students at each school, about their academic, career and research interests.
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I think in terms of which one is better will largely depend on the student. The learning environments at the two schools I think will be pretty different. Introductory courses and GE’s in huge lecture halls at Davis versus a smaller environment at CWRU. I think the resources of the school at CWRU in terms of extracurricular opportunities will be less diluted by the smaller undergrad population than the ones at Davis. Getting denied classes because of space issues is likely not a thing at CWRU, at large institutions in CA it is.
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thats a great idea!
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I can see that educational experience helping a student to get clarity on what they want to do after undergrad, even if it would have been equally possible to do it without the undergrad engineering piece. 
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I am on the west coast so this colors my view, but the answer for me is no, it is not.
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When you visit Davis, please note the students’ faces and demeanor. These are supportive faces and smiles. Vastly different than what we saw when we visited Berkeley and UCSD. The students are helpful and accommodating to visitors. They’re willing to guide you to wherever you need to be.
Our daughter attended Davis and she never had an issue in the larger freshman courses. The way Davis does it is different than the 600+ student lectures at the other UCs.
They divide and conquer.
The professors apologize for having the large sections of students and they make jokes about how popular they must be. They introduce their graduate assistants at the first few lectures. They also provide free tutoring in each of the dorms nightly.
Although the university is large, physically, the way that they’ve planned their schedule makes it feel like a small campus.
Please note that there are 40,000 bikes on campus. You can get to anywhere in the city of Davis on your bike. They prefer bikes in town and have parking for bikes everywhere it’s a very green campus environmentally. Yes the professors bike into class.
(Our daughter’s roommates were Physics and engineering.)
The train comes directly to the center of town so if your child wants to go to Berkeley or into the city of San Francisco or to Sacramento the train is there.
Our daughter loved her time there.
Edited to add Davis gets a little bit of every seasonal weather, but I imagine it’s a lot milder than the Midwest. The only change she made was buying rain boots.
Also did I mention that Davis is a collaborative environment? The students work together to help themselves succeed. The cutthroat environment isn’t part of Davis.
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I forgot to mention that Davis is on the quarter system. Your child will have 10 weeks to be involved in lectures, take tests, and earn his grades.
If your child is on the quarter system at his high school, the transition won’t be that much different.
If your child isn’t exposed to a quarter system, the change takes a little getting used to. If he’s a procrastinator, that system will be a little harsh.
A number of the students really like the quarter system because the year seems to go by quickly. The variety of courses exposed to, in one year, helps a number of them. They like meeting new people every quarter.
If he keeps on top of his assignments from the get go, he’ll do well in 10 weeks.
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If my kid stays in CA it will be likely be the quarter system one way or another so he will need to get used to it, in some ways it is good for procrastinators, because you have no time to procrastinate. I like a lot of what I have heard about Davis, the only thing I don’t love is that for his major, the electives available in the major are relatively nonexistent (small department) so the electives you end up taking are in related engineering or science fields. Also there appears to be a large barricade of introductory science courses and the standard engineering math sequence before you can take major-related courses, it is not done like this everywhere (i.e. CalPoly, Berkeley, RPI).
We will be visiting in a couple of weeks, and it is possible that he will just love Davis over his other options and so issues with the curriculum will really be just small potatoes in the greater scheme of things. We will see. In terms of lectures does Irvine do similar things or do they just lump them all into 500+ lectures?
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same here with my daughter, Case (with scholarship) bring down the COA almost same to UCD. Bio major, from Bay area.