Student Profile
Stephen
- Class: Junior
- Major: Economics
- Gender: M
- High School: Shaker Heights High School
- Transfer Student: N
Big Picture
I think that the best thing about Case is that it lets you be who you want to be and to figure out who that is. If I was to change something, I'd say that I personally wish that we had more faculty in poetry (as writers, rather than lit professors) and DMLL (Department of Modern Languages and Literatures). I think the school is just big enough that you don't have to see people you don't like all the time, but small enough that you'll still see a lot of people you're fond of. When people hear I'm going to Case they're either 1) impressed, if they're from Ohio, because it's the best school in the state or 2) "Oh. I couldn't go there--too close to home" if they're from my high school, which is about three miles from campus. It's certainly not what you could call a "college town", but we often refer to it as the "Case bubble" and we mean that pejoratively, meaning that there's enough for people to do on campus that they often forget that they live in a city and that there's a lot of other stuff to do outside of campus (especially if you have a car). As far as the most frequent student complaints...Case students complain about everything. Maybe it's the awful Cleveland weather that gets people going, maybe it's because people stress themselves out too much, but whatever it is people complain a lot, and sometimes make it seem worse than it is. I think the most frequent complaint is about SAGES the mandatory seminar class requirement, but even that isn't as bad as the volume of complaints would suggest.
Academic Life
Since I study Economics and International Studies, with a minor in Spanish I often feel that I attend a small liberal arts school within a bigger university--I've never had any of the huge lecture classes that other students talk about, and I like that. Many professors know me by name because I've taken more than one of their classes, or because I work for them, or because my classes were just small enough that the professor knows all the students. I know that this isn't the reality for all students but I think it can be if you put a little effort into it--even people in big lecture classes can get to know their professors if they go to see them in their office hours enough. Many students are very competitive, although I can't say that I am.
Student Body
Different types of students interact to a limited extent, but as with everywhere else in the world people divide based on differences. Particularly early on freshman year, people make a lot of friends that are different from them, people from different countries, rural and urban, black, white and Asian mix a lot early on, but start to separate more later. The people that seem to self-segregate the most seem to be African American students and foreign students, who tend to keep to their own more. Most students wear pretty casual clothing to class, with sweat pants, jeans and sweatshirts being pretty common, but there are some people that dress differently too. It seems like most Case students are either from the Midwest or Asia, or both (as odd a combination as that might that seem). We have students from all around the country though, that just seems to be the majority.
The Best Things
You can discover yourself and change in your mind if you want to--many diverse opportunities.
The Worst Things
People complain too much.
