The Second University
Learning to Love and Learn
On the Case admissions website: “Ranking consistently among the top 40 private universities in the United States, Case Western Reserve University offers unlimited opportunities for motivated students. Our faculty balance, challenge, and support to help you flourish, and our partnerships with world-class cultural, educational, and scientific institutions ensure that your education extends beyond the classroom.” Throughout the American academic community, Case Western is known for its immersive learning experience and distinguished alumni. But what about the Case that lies underneath the academics?
Underneath the surface of the prestigious Case Western Reserve University lies another Case: one of great unrest. Our school was rated #19 on the Princeton Review list of “Least Happy Students,” and our quality of life is purportedly abysmal. My initial reaction to reading these statistics was outright denial, but after living at CWRU for a month I’ve begun to notice some unhappiness among students.
Case is located on an urban campus, with poor neighborhoods surrounding it on both sides. This urban campus prevents students from going to the movies, shopping, or just getting off campus without a car or taking the RTA. This can cause some students to feel trapped, enclosed on university grounds without anything to do but schoolwork. Boredom leads to complaints about the many smaller “road bumps” of college life: having to walk uphill to classes every morning, seeing the ugly and bizarre statues and sculptures on campus, waiting for hours at a bus stop due to the inefficient greenie system. I’ve heard all of these grievances in my month of being at Case, but only rarely have I heard about how a certain course is very difficult, how hard a class is; clearly, Case is a school for talented and intelligent students.
But why complain? Allow me to throw some numbers at you: of the 67% of applicants that are accepted to Case, only 20% enroll. This means to me that Case is a pretty competitive school, but most applicants use it as a backup in the event they don’t get into their first choice. In fact, out of the 32 residents on Sherman second floor, 10 say that Case Western was their second or third choice school. Since they weren’t accepted or didn’t receive a scholarship from the school of choice, these students settled for Case Western. Now it is clear why there is so much discontent at Case; when a person makes a choice on colleges that will directly affect the next four years of his/her life (and potentially the rest as well), he/she wants to be sure that it is the best choice available. The discontented student wants to be sure that, although Case wasn’t the first choice, it will turn out to be the best choice available.
Case Western was my first choice, and I have no complaints (but then, I haven’t experienced a winter in Cleveland yet). The entire “second” CWRU can’t be seeded with objection and discontent, because there is a 91% retention rate from freshman to sophomore year. If everyone were upset with the university, there would be many more transfers out. So Case, with its uphill walk to classes, ugly artwork and bad shuttle system, must be doing something right, and the students must be learning to love their college. Despite its urban setting it does maintain a distinct campus feel, and the university is ranked as one of the best research institutions and colleges in the Midwest. The second Case “underneath” the academic one is not of discontent, but rather another layer of learning. This university is about learning to live and love.
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