Case Western

[Anonymous]

Cleveland native here. One positive is that the cost of living is very low compared to DC, especially if he moves off campus at some point. His rent and food costs will be cheaper than in many other large cities with colleges.

[Anonymous]

If he's pretty sure he's pre-med and if the scholarship means less debt. (or more $ available for med school), Case might be the best option. Great research opportunities, well-known in the field. Merit money suggests he has exceptional stats compared to average in the entering class (which bodes well for college GPA). One risk of super-selective undergrad schools is that kids come in as pre-meds and drop out because they don't feel competitive with the rest of the pre-med cohort (and/or hate the cutthroat vibe of that group). The goal should be to find the school where he'll thrive/excel rather than choose the hardest school he can get into.

This. I wish more people got this really important point.

[Anonymous]

What about for the humanities and social sciences?

[Anonymous]

Field/career objective?

Not a place I'd send an undergrad who hopes to get a PhD in a humanities or soc sci field (though there may be exceptions to that generalization depending on (sub)specialty). But, realistically, how many undergrads are planning on that?

Here's a list of departments -- if you click on ones that might interest your DC, you'll find links to course offerings.

http://artsci.case.edu/departments-programs-centers/

[Anonymous]

for pre-med, he needs to find the school where he'll get the highest UG gpa (MCAT is something he can train regardless of where he is at school).

That means finding the school with the most grade inflation, lowest stress, most support, least amount of gunners.

case is notorious for grade deflation. unless he has been accepted into case's bs/md early entry program, not sure if i would pick case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about for the humanities and social sciences?

When picking a school for humanities and social science, it is less about the quality of the school and more about the network/oci/job placement.

Case has quality departments in social sciences but it isn't the greatest network for boswash jobs.