2011-2012 Case Western Reserve University Application Thread

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Hey guys! I'm hoping someone can help me with a question about the "on hold" status. I realize this is a common question, but I still feel like I need clarification. This whole process is fraught with enough uncertainty as it is, right?
During my interview, Dr. Mehta told us that applicants put on hold could be accepted directly off the hold list once the interview season is complete. I thought that was that.

But then I read through last year's forum and posters were saying that there are no outright acceptances from the hold list and that applicants on hold will either be put on the waitlist or rejected come the conclusion of the interview season.

I then read this post from 2008:
Ginzo said:
^Case's hold just means that no final decision (yes, no, wait) has been rendered on you. According to a successful Case re-applicant on another thread, during the last cycle many people were accepted off the hold list before they generated the wait list, but very few people were taken off the actual wait list. However, each cycle is unique. It's hard to get a straight answer on typical wait list movement for any school. And, even if you did it's not really useful because things can and do change from cycle to cycle.
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So now I'm completely confused. I'm considering calling admissions but would rather not pester them if some knowledgeable student on SDN can help me out. If anyone does happen to understand the possible outcomes after being "on hold" and an approximate time frame for hearing about things (like a change of status after being "on hold"), I would be extremely grateful!
 
Tron11 said:
Hey guys! I'm hoping someone can help me with a question about the "on hold" status. I realize this is a common question, but I still feel like I need clarification. This whole process is fraught with enough uncertainty as it is, right?
During my interview, Dr. Mehta told us that applicants put on hold could be accepted directly off the hold list once the interview season is complete. I thought that was that.

But then I read through last year's forum and posters were saying that there are no outright acceptances from the hold list and that applicants on hold will either be put on the waitlist or rejected come the conclusion of the interview season.

I then read this post from 2008:


So now I'm completely confused. I'm considering calling admissions but would rather not pester them if some knowledgeable student on SDN can help me out. If anyone does happen to understand the possible outcomes after being "on hold" and an approximate time frame for hearing about things (like a change of status after being "on hold"), I would be extremely grateful!
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While it is certainly possible for an applicant to come off the hold list right at the end of the season (not very many), the vast majority of acceptances from the waitlist come after said list has been formed about a month after the end of the season.
 
Just got my II this morning. Late in the game but an interview's an interview. Any of you accepted have some advice?
 
Thanks! Good to know.

Myuu said:
While it is certainly possible for an applicant to come off the hold list right at the end of the season (not very many), the vast majority of acceptances from the waitlist come after said list has been formed about a month after the end of the season.
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akaul23 said:
Just got my II this morning. Late in the game but an interview's an interview. Any of you accepted have some advice?
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Congrats! 👍 I was very enthusiastic on my interview day. I made sure to show them how Case's curriculum is an excellent fit for me and my learning style, and that I truly do want to come to Case. Just be yourself and be excited. Case is an amazing place, but what is even better are the people. I have not experienced happier students and a more friendly and outgoing office of admissions than what I did at Case. Plus, Case's adcom is much more involved with their accepted students and applicants than all the schools I've had experience with. Their curriculum is very unique, so knowing about it and if you'd be a good fit is a great plan. I am very interested in being involved with some research during medical school even though I don't really want to be a research-heavy M.D. I made sure to get this across too.
 
Metallica1936 said:
Congrats! 👍 I was very enthusiastic on my interview day. I made sure to show them how Case's curriculum is an excellent fit for me and my learning style, and that I truly do want to come to Case. Just be yourself and be excited. Case is an amazing place, but what is even better are the people. I have not experienced happier students and a more friendly and outgoing office of admissions than what I did at Case. Plus, Case's adcom is much more involved with their accepted students and applicants than all the schools I've had experience with. Their curriculum is very unique, so knowing about it and if you'd be a good fit is a great plan. I am very interested in being involved with some research during medical school even though I don't really want to be a research-heavy M.D. I made sure to get this across too.
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Thanks so much for the advice! The WR2 curriculum is awesome and i have a friend who goes to case and he raves about the lifestyle of students and all the free time they have. I was on pre interview hold since 12/20, i sent a letter of update yesterday, got a personalized email from dr. mehta last night and the II this morning. So its been a pretty crazy 24 hours. :laugh:
 
akaul23 said:
Thanks so much for the advice! The WR2 curriculum is awesome and i have a friend who goes to case and he raves about the lifestyle of students and all the free time they have. I was on pre interview hold since 12/20, i sent a letter of update yesterday, got a personalized email from dr. mehta last night and the II this morning. So its been a pretty crazy 24 hours. :laugh:
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Wow! Good for you! That's awesome. Best of luck. I was absolutely blown away by Case. The medical school building is a bit old, but it's still nice and comfortable. They are planning on building a new one, but I think that is in the very early stages of planning (based on twitter posts). I couldn't stop smiling on my interview day. Everything just felt right! And for the money, it is! Case's average indebtness is very competitive compared to most schools.
 
Case people, help me out here:

Tuition+Living = ~72k/year (MSAR)
Average Indebtedness = $142k (MSAR)

How so?
 
Atherosclerosis said:
Case people, help me out here:

Tuition+Living = ~72k/year (MSAR)
Average Indebtedness = $142k (MSAR)

How so?
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+1

I've been wondering the same thing. Some Case-insider insight would be greatly appreciated!

Also, the handouts that we got on interview day have a little newer numbers. I forgot the tuition+living (maybe 76k??), but I do remember that average indebtness for the class of 2011 is around $155k.
 
Metallica1936 said:
+1

I've been wondering the same thing. Some Case-insider insight would be greatly appreciated!

Also, the handouts that we got on interview day have a little newer numbers. I forgot the tuition+living (maybe 76k??), but I do remember that average indebtness for the class of 2011 is around $155k.
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+2

I wonder if the average is skewed by a few people who do not need to take out loans, or take out minimal loans due to family resources. The information I got made it sound like they don't have a whole lot of institutional aid to utilize. Obviously it would be great if this turned out not to be the case.
 
bucks2010 said:
+2

I wonder if the average is skewed by a few people who do not need to take out loans, or take out minimal loans due to family resources. The information I got made it sound like they don't have a whole lot of institutional aid to utilize. Obviously it would be great if this turned out not to be the case.
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Could the data be skewed by Lerner students who don't pay tuition and thus don't have to take on debt to finance their education?
 
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Atherosclerosis said:
This is a good thought. Could we get some insight from Case people?
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My thought on this is that it gives the Case student debt load a bimodal distribution. Eliminating them would probably raise the average debt load carried by a student by a couple thousand.
 
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Atherosclerosis said:
This is a good thought. Could we get some insight from Case people?
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As far as we students are concerned, financial aid is a magical box staffed by very nice people who email twice a year to tell us that the cashier's office is holding the golden ticket, which, post-deposit, we can use to buy the chocolate bar of our choice, Willy Wonka or otherwise.
 
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Dartmouth2005 said:
Could the data be skewed by Lerner students who don't pay tuition and thus don't have to take on debt to finance their education?
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I don't know. Something about that sounds slightly shady. I don't think Case would include CCLMR's in their average indebtness statistics that they hand out directly to U-Track candidates. 😕:shrug:
 
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Myuu said:
As far as we students are concerned, financial aid is a magical box staffed by very nice people who email twice a year to tell us that the cashier's office is holding the golden ticket, which, post-deposit, we can use to buy the chocolate bar of our choice, Willy Wonka or otherwise.
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🤣🤣
 
I'm so excited to start school at Case!!! The more I think about it, the more excited I get!

😍:highfive::clap::horns::soexcited::woot::corny::biglove::boom::zip:
 
Myuu said:
Bring your ice skates!😀
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Oh boy... I haven't gone ice skating in years. I might have to break some new ones out then!

I know a lot of people put stock in the U.S. News Rankings, BUT if the people actually accrediting American medical schools (the Liaison Committee on Medical Education) were to release rankings, Case would be in a three-way tie for first in the nation 😀😀😀
 
Metallica1936 said:
I know a lot of people put stock in the U.S. News Rankings, BUT if the people actually accrediting American medical schools (the Liaison Committee on Medical Education) were to release rankings, Case would be in a three-way tie for first in the nation
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What does this mean?
 
Metallica1936 said:
Oh boy... I haven't gone ice skating in years. I might have to break some new ones out then!

I know a lot of people put stock in the U.S. News Rankings, BUT if the people actually accrediting American medical schools (the Liaison Committee on Medical Education) were to release rankings, Case would be in a three-way tie for first in the nation 😀😀😀
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I too am curious as to what this means?
 
From Case's website:

"In 2002, the School of Medicine became only the third medical school in history to receive the best review possible from the Liaison Committee on National Education, the national body responsible for accrediting the medical schools."

:highfive:
 
bucks2010 said:
I wonder if the average is skewed by a few people who do not need to take out loans, or take out minimal loans due to family resources.
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Yes. See below.

Dartmouth2005 said:
Could the data be skewed by Lerner students who don't pay tuition and thus don't have to take on debt to finance their education?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if CCLCM students are included or not, because our tuition funding comes from a different source. (The Cleveland Clinic pays tuition for CCLCM students.) On the other hand, CCLCM students are also Case students, so it's not completely unreasonable that our indebtedness would be included. It would certainly muddy the water though.

Dartmouth2005 said:
My thought on this is that it gives the Case student debt load a bimodal distribution.
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I agree that this is the most likely explanation. Most students probably do not take out exactly the average amount of loans. On one end, you have a decent number of people who get full merit scholarships or need-based grants, or whose families can afford to put them through school, and they take out no loans. On the other end, you have people who take out full loans for everything and get no institutional support of any kind. Average them together, and you get the average.

What would be more helpful than knowing the mean loan amount would be knowing the median. We already know that the range is from zero to full COA, so it would be nice to have a better idea of how the distribution is skewed. If I had to guess, I'd guess that more people take out loans above the average, and you have a significant minority of people with zero loans to balance them out. But I'm totally guessing about this.
 
Thanks for the reply, CCLCMer. I figured that number was a but too good too be true. I'm not really holding out for need-based grants, and I am confident I will be above that average.

Does anyone know the timeline for financial aid application? AKA, when do learn if we qualify for merit-based aid? Thanks all.
 
Atherosclerosis said:
Thanks for the reply, CCLCMer. I figured that number was a but too good too be true. I'm not really holding out for need-based grants, and I am confident I will be above that average.

Does anyone know the timeline for financial aid application? AKA, when do learn if we qualify for merit-based aid? Thanks all.
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The application for merit-based aid comes with the acceptance letter.
 
Oh come now, childrens. Did nobody read "sad story, I know"? The self-derision was palpable. Obviously I'm thrilled with an acceptance.
 
Metallica1936 said:
All kidding aside, unless we spend our money foolishly (i.e. live like a doctor while in medical school), we won't have too much trouble paying off our debt in the long run.
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You won't be living like a doctor in medical school unless you're coming in already independently wealthy. You won't even be living like a doctor in residency even though at that point you ARE a doctor. Some of my fellow interns who are $300,000 in debt are really suffering now that those loans are coming due. Yes, you do have to start paying loans back during residency. The grace period is only six months. And if you want to live like a doctor after you finish residency, you will minimize your med school loans as much as humanly possible, and you will pay back as much of the principle during residency as you can reasonably afford. So live with roommates, suck up to your parents, sell a kidney, whatever, but don't take out a single dollar more than you need to. The average student is going to pay back $2 or $3 for every dollar you borrow, and that adds up quickly.

There is no law saying that you have to borrow the full COA, incidentally. If you're frugal enough, and especially if you keep your living expenses low, you may be able to get away with taking out less.
 
I Interviewed in November for the college program and just curious why the delay in posting our status updates
 
AfricanBoi said:
I Interviewed in November for the college program and just curious why the delay in posting our status updates
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Unless you were in the 1/2 of the class accepted in December, you wouldn't have heard anything. I think the second and last round of decisions will go out mid February, at which time you should definitely hear something.
 
CCLCMer said:
You won't be living like a doctor in medical school unless you're coming in already independently wealthy. You won't even be living like a doctor in residency even though at that point you ARE a doctor. Some of my fellow interns who are $300,000 in debt are really suffering now that those loans are coming due. Yes, you do have to start paying loans back during residency. The grace period is only six months. And if you want to live like a doctor after you finish residency, you will minimize your med school loans as much as humanly possible, and you will pay back as much of the principle during residency as you can reasonably afford. So live with roommates, suck up to your parents, sell a kidney, whatever, but don't take out a single dollar more than you need to. The average student is going to pay back $2 or $3 for every dollar you borrow, and that adds up quickly.

There is no law saying that you have to borrow the full COA, incidentally. If you're frugal enough, and especially if you keep your living expenses low, you may be able to get away with taking out less.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the insight! I have lived very frugal in the past, and i don't plan on changing that in medical school.
 
CCLCMer said:
You won't be living like a doctor in medical school unless you're coming in already independently wealthy. You won't even be living like a doctor in residency even though at that point you ARE a doctor. Some of my fellow interns who are $300,000 in debt are really suffering now that those loans are coming due. Yes, you do have to start paying loans back during residency. The grace period is only six months. And if you want to live like a doctor after you finish residency, you will minimize your med school loans as much as humanly possible, and you will pay back as much of the principle during residency as you can reasonably afford. So live with roommates, suck up to your parents, sell a kidney, whatever, but don't take out a single dollar more than you need to. The average student is going to pay back $2 or $3 for every dollar you borrow, and that adds up quickly.

There is no law saying that you have to borrow the full COA, incidentally. If you're frugal enough, and especially if you keep your living expenses low, you may be able to get away with taking out less.
Click to expand...

Student loans are different now than they were just a few years ago. We now have GradPLUS and IBR. This means you can borrow the full COA from the government and can defer payment on the loans.

If you put the loans on IBR, then you don't have to pay them back during residency. Indeed, if your monthly IBR payment does not cover the interest that accrues on your loans each month, the government will pay your unpaid accrued interest on your Subsidized Stafford Loans (either Direct Loan or FFEL) for up to three consecutive years from the date you began repaying your loans under IBR.

See http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRPlan.jsp

Also, if you can work at a 501(c)(3) or a government agency and if you can qualify for IBR for 10 years, your student loans are forgiven.
 
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Dartmouth2005 said:
Student loans are different now than they were just a few years ago. We now have GradPLUS and IBR. This means you can borrow the full COA from the government and can defer payment on the loans.

If you put the loans on IBR, then you don't have to pay them back during residency. Indeed, if your monthly IBR payment does not cover the interest that accrues on your loans each month, the government will pay your unpaid accrued interest on your Subsidized Stafford Loans (either Direct Loan or FFEL) for up to three consecutive years from the date you began repaying your loans under IBR.

See http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRPlan.jsp

Also, if you can work at a 501(c)(3) or a government agency and if you can qualify for IBR for 10 years, your student loans are forgiven.
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Graduate students no longer qualify for subsidized loans though. 🙁
 
All quiet on the (Case) Western front (please tell me somebody can make that connection :laugh:)
 
The curious Case (Western) of Benjamin Button.

Wait, I don't think i get the game.
 
Visited Case last week, I think I'm in love - I can't get it off my mind! I felt a little wonky/overtired during my interviews, so I don't know how they went, but oh gooooodness how I love that place. Hopefully my undying affection and excitement for the school shone through my sleepy demeanour.

Regardless of how it went for me, Case guys, cheers to you for having an amazing place to learn medicine!
 
Sorry, I couldn't help myself. :banana::banana:


I have a question for current/former Case students though. How are the study rooms and/or available library(ies) available for individual study at Case in terms of availability, how nice they are, how quiet they are, etc? I don't remember ever seeing/looking at any during my visit. Also, are any of them open 24/7. I enjoy burning the midnight oil 😎.

Thanks! 👍
 
Metallica1936 said:
Sorry, I couldn't help myself. :banana::banana:


I have a question for current/former Case students though. How are the study rooms and/or available library(ies) available for individual study at Case in terms of availability, how nice they are, how quiet they are, etc? I don't remember ever seeing/looking at any during my visit. Also, are any of them open 24/7. I enjoy burning the midnight oil 😎.

Thanks! 👍
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The study rooms are nice, I think, though they are a bit dark for me so I tend to go to the window lounge instead. Unless there's an impending exam, IQ rooms are usually pretty easy to snag. However, since they've been pre-reserving IQ rooms for interviews, they are a little harder to come by. The health sciences library (the one attached to school), is not open 24hrs, but school is. A not-often considered option is the undergraduate library across Euclid, the Kelvin Smith Library, is open 24/7 and is pretty sweet. It's where I like to hole up when I like to study. Both HSL and KSL have group rooms that can be co-opted by studious individuals, though KSL recently changed its policy on occupancy (I've no idea what they did).

KSL😍
 
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