<p>Ummm . . . because it’s in Cleveland? Frankly, no one outside Ohio sees Cleveland as a desirable location.</p>
<p>As for the comparison group, US News ranks Case Western BELOW every one of the schools the OP names—Chicago, Wash U, Emory, Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, NYU. In fact, Case Western ranks as pretty much the bottom of the private universities in the top 50 US News ranking, which makes it a safety for a lot of applicants who think private is inherently better, but most of them will get into better schools and decide accordingly. As for Ohioans, most calculate that Ohio State or one of the other Ohio publics is more attractive and a better deal. So there you are: Case Western is a school without a natural market. not surprising that it comes out on the short end of the stick at admissions time.</p>