Case Western Reserve University has seen many large-scale improvements, including those to the undergraduate general education requirements. Most students, including me, dread having to take classes in which they have absolutely no interest, but are required to receive their degree. It can be especially hard for freshmen to adjust to the competitive, high intensity learning atmosphere at Case while lost in undergraduate classes with hundreds of other students. Starting fall 2005, all incoming students are enrolled in the SAGES curriculum, an undergraduate requirement program enabling students to make selections among diverse course choices, as well as enjoy close personal attention from professors in smaller classes sizes.
In
addition to the curriculum, the physical campus itself is getting a
major face-lift. Currently, Euclid Avenue, one of Cleveland's major
streets, cuts the campus in half, effectively dividing the undergraduate
population by a thirty-minute walk between North and South Residential
Villages. Work was completed summer 2005 to centralize the separate
residential areas in a massive complex on the North side of campus,
allowing classmates to more easily interact and creating a much more
cohesive atmosphere and culture on campus.
Location
When
considering which school to attend, location usually factors into the
final decision, so why pick Cleveland? There are no mountains, no
rolling green fields or glittering lakes flanked by glaciers, and no
antiquated academic buildings smothered in ivy, but there are myriad
other things of more value than stereotypical campus aesthetics. Case is
integrated into the city of Cleveland and located in the center of
University Circle, home to a multitude of excellent cultural
institutions, such as the Cleveland Museum of Art, Severance Hall, and
the Cleveland Institute of Art and Cleveland Institute of Music. A
massive medical complex is positioned in the center of campus, home to
university hospitals and the medical, dental, and nursing schools. The
famed Cleveland clinic is just blocks away.
The
architecture is as impressive as the culture, exemplified by the
sturdy, modern style of Kelvin Smith Library's spiral stairways and
flowing open spaces, and the eccentrically designed Peter B. Lewis
building, which looks, honestly, like a titanic soda can exploded and
warped the brick building on which it sits. While it may not be the most
classically picturesque campus to choose, it is absolutely jammed with
every type of institution possible and all within walking distance of
student housing.
Majors
Case
is known mainly as an engineering school, but within that blanket
reputation is a thriving liberal arts community. Case is about variety,
with its four undergraduate colleges (nursing, business management,
engineering, and arts and sciences), and offers students plenty of
opportunity to explore whichever options may be tugging at their
intellects. Sitting in an English class, you may be surprised to
discover that nearly half the students are electrical engineering
majors, some of whom are double-majoring in world literature, and others
who are pursuing a political science degree. At Case, there is no need
to stress over knowing exactly what subject to major in on the first day
because there is so much opportunity to try different educational
avenues. If you don't like the direction you've headed, or want to pick
up an extra major, then you are free to do exactly that. In fact, it's
encouraged; double majoring is far from uncommon. It's not unusual to
pass by a Japanese class and see a math major, or computer science
classes and spot several philosophy majors, because it's that type of
exploratory, open-minded mindset that Case cultivates.
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