Case Western Reserve University

[CNDSoc]

Well, I received my first acceptance with a great financial package. Does anyone have any experience/know of someone who has experience with Case Western?

What about the city of Cleveland?

Much appreciated!

Edit: I did a quick search on this forum and found a former Case Western student who complained about how awful Cleveland is. Is it true? I can handle the winter ..

Edited March 16, 2011 by sararuwani

[going crazy]

Well, I received my first acceptance with a great financial package. Does anyone have any experience/know of someone who has experience with Case Western?

What about the city of Cleveland?

Much appreciated!

Edit: I did a quick search on this forum and found a former Case Western student who complained about how awful Cleveland is. Is it true? I can handle the winter ..

First, congrats on your acceptance and your funding package!

What follows is my meager two cents. As a former Ohio native, Cleveland is a pretty dreary place. Not a lot of great things about it. However, if you can see yourself in the program and the funding package is that good, that may outweigh the cold climate and post-industrial feel of the city. Also, I don't know your interests, but if you are into studying urban decay and struggling economies, it might be just the place! Besides, are you going to turn down an offer with a great funding package and potentially wait another year to apply because it's not a very fun city? Gotta consider that. Just my thoughts.

Again, congrats!

[Owlie]

Well, I received my first acceptance with a great financial package. Does anyone have any experience/know of someone who has experience with Case Western?

What about the city of Cleveland?

Much appreciated!

Edit: I did a quick search on this forum and found a former Case Western student who complained about how awful Cleveland is. Is it true? I can handle the winter ..

I'm not in your field, but if you haven't made your decision, I can give you some input on Cleveland. (I did my undergrad at Case.)

It does have some things going for it. You can get by without a car within a certain radius of the university. It's very walkable and the public transport system is decent, though it has been cut back a bit due to budget woes. Campus is also pretty walkable--don't bother with the shuttles.

Living here is pretty cheap.

Winter is long, cold and snowy--I'm not going to cover that up. Depending on where you live, the sidewalks may or may not be impassable some days. (The area immediately around campus is fine, though.) I'd invest in a pair of hiking boots.

Edit--I see you're in Toronto, so you've got the weather thing down. Coming from there, I can see why you might find Cleveland boring, but there certainly are things to do and some good restaurants. Can they put you in touch with some current grad students?

Edited March 23, 2011 by Owlie

[CNDSoc]

Thanks for your responses!

I grew up in Ontario, so I'm not worried about the winter. I have a parka and snow boots

I am a bit worried about the city. Is it grimy? My housemate said "Cleveland is similar to Hamilton" and that worried me quite a bit! Is there a nice area surrounding the campus? Is it safe to walk around at night?

[Owlie]

Thanks for your responses!

I grew up in Ontario, so I'm not worried about the winter. I have a parka and snow boots

I am a bit worried about the city. Is it grimy? My housemate said "Cleveland is similar to Hamilton" and that worried me quite a bit! Is there a nice area surrounding the campus? Is it safe to walk around at night?

I know very little about Ontario, despite having family up there.

Anyway: Parts of Cleveland are a bit grimy, but not where you're probably going to be living. The campus itself is in sort of a "cultural" area--the art and natural history museums are

almost immediately off the part of campus you're going to be concerned with, as is Severance Hall (Cleveland orchestra's home). I didn't make a habit of walking around at night, but I never had a problem doing so if I needed. They've been improving police presence recently, which has certainly helped. (Granted, this was in response to quite a serious incident, but we've been getting fewer security alerts since.) Just use common sense and you should be okay. There are also free evening shuttles to take you around campus and to some of the surrounding areas, so you can avoid walking if you want to.

Surrounding campus: If you go off the southern end of campus, you'll be in Cleveland Heights (where I'm living at the moment). It's pretty safe. Little Italy is also pretty safe, and lots of restaurants if you like Italian food. (Also, gelato. This is in fact a major selling point!) Cleveland Heights also has "Coventry", actually a segment of Coventry Rd that has a ton of affordable bars and restaurants, plus some odd little shops.

There are some sketchy spots near campus, but there's nothing of interest there. There's also a bit of a buffer zone in the form of Little Italy and undergrad dorms (so lots of cops) on one side, and a school/Children's museum on the other.

Feel free to ask if you've got any more questions!

[CNDSoc]

Thanks! I'm heading there this Sunday so we'll see how it goes.

I know very little about Ontario, despite having family up there.

Anyway: Parts of Cleveland are a bit grimy, but not where you're probably going to be living. The campus itself is in sort of a "cultural" area--the art and natural history museums are

almost immediately off the part of campus you're going to be concerned with, as is Severance Hall (Cleveland orchestra's home). I didn't make a habit of walking around at night, but I never had a problem doing so if I needed. They've been improving police presence recently, which has certainly helped. (Granted, this was in response to quite a serious incident, but we've been getting fewer security alerts since.) Just use common sense and you should be okay. There are also free evening shuttles to take you around campus and to some of the surrounding areas, so you can avoid walking if you want to.

Surrounding campus: If you go off the southern end of campus, you'll be in Cleveland Heights (where I'm living at the moment). It's pretty safe. Little Italy is also pretty safe, and lots of restaurants if you like Italian food. (Also, gelato. This is in fact a major selling point!) Cleveland Heights also has "Coventry", actually a segment of Coventry Rd that has a ton of affordable bars and restaurants, plus some odd little shops.

There are some sketchy spots near campus, but there's nothing of interest there. There's also a bit of a buffer zone in the form of Little Italy and undergrad dorms (so lots of cops) on one side, and a school/Children's museum on the other.

Feel free to ask if you've got any more questions!

[CNDSoc]

In case anyone comes across this post in the future:

I visited Cleveland over the weekend and it was much better than I expected! I heard a lot of terrible things about Cleveland before visiting ("It's a sh** hole, it's just like Hamilton", etc.), but it's actually quite nice! The downtown area is exceptionally clean and feels safe (cleaner than Toronto, though I'd say it's probably just as safe). Case Western campus was nice. There are good theaters, a great symphony, and a lot of other cultural activities to enjoy. The surrounding suburbs were great, and some were stunning! I visited the East suburb (i.e. the rough area of the city), just to see what all the fuss is about, and I really have seen worse (i.e. more ghetto) areas in the UK.

Overall, a decent city!

[Owlie]

I'm glad you liked it!

[CNDSoc]

I'm glad you liked it!

Thanks! Haven't decided what I'll do with the offer though