On Hold Status at Case

[nager105]

What are you guys doing next? Update letter, letter of interest, letter of intent? Hoping for the best? Do they usually put a lot of their on hold people on the waitlist? I heart Case.

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[mfrenkie]

Update and letter of intent are going out this week.... hopefully that will help but I think I bombed my faculty interview.

 

[stiffany]

Update and letter of intent are going out this week.... hopefully that will help but I think I bombed my faculty interview.

What went wrong with the faculty interview?

 

[mfrenkie]

Looking back on it I think that it was just really awkward. My student interview seemed to go well, but the faculty member and I just really didn't click and all our conversation was really forced. I later e-mailed him to express my interest in the school and he replied with a form letter that came off as really rude (I think it was a form letter at least). Sucks because I absolutely LOVED Case.

 

[YupGypsy]

forget about case

 

[Corndog67]

forget about case

Why all the animosity towards Case? Besides the fact that it's expensive. Did you get rejected from there or something?

 

[YupGypsy]

Why all the animosity towards Case? Besides the fact that it's expensive. Did you get rejected from there or something?

hehe, not yet, I've seen three new threads on Case waitlists/holds today alone. Case browses this site once in a while so maybe if we play hard to get, they'll want us.

 

[nighthawk3]

I will second what was implied above about Case. I am an undergrad there, did not apply to Case, and got into my first choice. In other words, I'm not bitter at all about the med school.

I am, however, quite realistic about what Case is like. I went there extremely enthusiastic about the school, and feel overwhelmingly disappointed with the experience I've had. Do not let appearances deceive you. The surrounding area is so, so ghetto, the city has little culture besides getting drunk with rednecks, the weather sucks and Case really isn't what it's cracked up to be unless you like working with antisocial people and living in a lab.

I know someone will jump on me for my negativity, but I am not alone by any means. At least for undergrad, the school has one of the poorest retention rates of any school ranked so highly (and its market is much more regional than comparable schools, making this stat even more significant) and student satisfaction is always at the very bottom of the list compiled by the Princeton Review. I know people who like Case more than I do, but I don't know any non-art education majors who actually like it.

I don't expect you to cross Case off your list now, but I really urge everyone to look into its negatives a little bit more. There's a reason why it has such a bad reputation and it's not something you should ignore. Good luck to all!

 

[maestro1625]

I will second what was implied above about Case. I am an undergrad there, did not apply to Case, and got into my first choice. In other words, I'm not bitter at all about the med school.

I am, however, quite realistic about what Case is like. I went there extremely enthusiastic about the school, and feel overwhelmingly disappointed with the experience I've had. Do not let appearances deceive you. The surrounding area is so, so ghetto, the city has little culture besides getting drunk with rednecks, the weather sucks and Case really isn't what it's cracked up to be unless you like working with antisocial people and living in a lab.

I know someone will jump on me for my negativity, but I am not alone by any means. At least for undergrad, the school has one of the poorest retention rates of any school ranked so highly (and its market is much more regional than comparable schools, making this stat even more significant) and student satisfaction is always at the very bottom of the list compiled by the Princeton Review. I know people who like Case more than I do, but I don't know any non-art education majors who actually like it.

I don't expect you to cross Case off your list now, but I really urge everyone to look into its negatives a little bit more. There's a reason why it has such a bad reputation and it's not something you should ignore. Good luck to all!

hmm, ghetto location... already live in one, but with less culture

antisocial people living in a lab... kinda comes with the territory.

where are you originally from? biases need to be recognized.

 

[nighthawk3]

Please realize that Cleveland is the poorest city in the United States. When I say ghetto, I mean ghetto, and you can never escape it without a 20+ minute drive (and then you're in the middle of nowhere).

As far as antisocial people and living in labs, I have done research at other universities and yes, while it does come with the territory, it is worse at Case.

I know people at Case from California, Florida, Korea, Cleveland, etc., and the overwhelming majority agree that Case is not nearly as good as they thought it would be.

 

[UChopefully]

Please realize that Cleveland is the poorest city in the United States. When I say ghetto, I mean ghetto, and you can never escape it without a 20+ minute drive (and then you're in the middle of nowhere).

As far as antisocial people and living in labs, I have done research at other universities and yes, while it does come with the territory, it is worse at Case.

I know people at Case from California, Florida, Korea, Cleveland, etc., and the overwhelming majority agree that Case is not nearly as good as they thought it would be.

Thanks buddy but I was impressed with the school. As for the socio-economic level of the area, makes for great experiences. And I know your witty rebutle came already about the lack of outspoken people at the school but, you can find friends anywhere and everywhere, that is unless you yourself are one of those "antisocial" people you have been ranting about. Its medical school not a YMCA, I say I can suck it up for the quality of the education.

 

[pomdemonium]

Also, I think nighthawk was talking about his experience as a Case undergrad. I'm not sure how much this applies to the med school--I've attended or worked at several different universities, and the undergrad experience is often vastly different from the grad/professional school experience. I'm not jumping on you, nighthawk, it's just that sometimes there are different viewpoints depending on your vantage point. And I'm serious--thank you for your input--it's always useful to hear others' opinions. This may have just been my experience, but the 2 dozen or so current med students I met at Case seemed really nice and friendly (so much so, that one of my fellow interviewees didn't think she fit in because she said she wasn't friendly ).

As for the "ghetto" aspect, that's one of the reasons I loved Case--there are fantastic clinical opportunities at MetroHealth and the VA as a result of this. I'm not denying that Cleveland is socioeconomically depressed, but this allows students the chance to experience lots of different levels of medical necessity (and often help out, with lots of independence, if desired).

Cleveland does have crappy weather, but I'm from an area that doesn't have great weather, either, and I lived in Pittsburgh for a few years, so that part doesn't bother me, personally. One of the med students I talked with did miss the weather of his undergrad days, but said that he just deals with it, and he felt that Case was worth it. (Of course, he could just have been saying this because I was a prospective, but I don't think the free coffee was enough of an incentive for him to lie about this.)

And as for culture--well, I guess that wasn't really much of an issue for me, though I could see where this might be important for some people. I'm not the type of person who hangs out at museums and operas all the time (and isn't Cleveland's symphony or something supposed to be one of the best in the country?). I'm much happier with pizza and a silly movie or just hanging out with friends. But everyone has their own preferences--it's a good thing that there's lots of med schools out there, if you're lucky enough to have a choice!

 

[nager105]

Please realize that Cleveland is the poorest city in the United States. When I say ghetto, I mean ghetto, and you can never escape it without a 20+ minute drive (and then you're in the middle of nowhere).

As far as antisocial people and living in labs, I have done research at other universities and yes, while it does come with the territory, it is worse at Case.

I know people at Case from California, Florida, Korea, Cleveland, etc., and the overwhelming majority agree that Case is not nearly as good as they thought it would be.

Why did you go to Case for undergrad then? You must have done some research about the area before deciding on the school. And I agree with the other posters about going to medical school in an underserved area, all the more experiences you get to see as a student. If you can learn what practicing medicine is like in an impoverished area, you'll be set to practice medicine anywhere once you have that MD.

Oh and my undergrad wasn't in a ghetto and it still sucked so...

 

[desidr]

Why did you go to Case for undergrad then? You must have done some research about the area before deciding on the school. And I agree with the other posters about going to medical school in an underserved area, all the more experiences you get to see as a student. If you can learn what practicing medicine is like in an impoverished area, you'll be set to practice medicine anywhere once you have that MD.

Oh and my undergrad wasn't in a ghetto and it still sucked so...

in the US maybe...

 

[nighthawk3]

I'm too lazy to quote any of the above posts, but whoever asked why I went to undergrad at Case provides a good starting point for me. The biggest reason why I posted the above is because it is very common for people to visit Case and be impressed and then gradually begin hating the place over four years. I visited it twice and thought it was great, thought the education would be worth the negative aspects and thought the negatives weren't so bad anyway, and I turned out to be dead wrong about all three. I'm not saying you're all going to hate it, but I'm saying that the arguments you're making are the same ones a lot of us undergrads made three and a half years ago, and most of us would agree that we were wrong.

As far as learning in an underserved area, that may be the case. I have not researched the med school at all, but I can't imagine the opportunities are really any better than in other cities. Most of the teaching occurs at the Clinic or at UH as far as I know, and you certainly don't get stream of poor patients there. However, you'd probably know better than me.

You all may be very happy at Case and I know a lot of former Case undergrads who say the med school experience is better than undergrad. What I'm saying though, is a lot of the visiting experiences you've all had and the arguments you're making are identical to the ones I and many others used to justify going to Case, and it burned us. Hopefully, if you all go there, it will work out better. If any of you come back to visit, I would be happy to show you guys around some day if you send me a PM.

 

[nager105]

Sorry, I shouldn't assume that everyone ends up practicing in the states, but I would say (as someone without numbers to back it up) that the majority of people who go to med school in the US practice in the US.

 

[maestro1625]

double post.

 

[maestro1625]

Please realize that Cleveland is the poorest city in the United States. When I say ghetto, I mean ghetto, and you can never escape it without a 20+ minute drive (and then you're in the middle of nowhere).

As far as antisocial people and living in labs, I have done research at other universities and yes, while it does come with the territory, it is worse at Case.

I know people at Case from California, Florida, Korea, Cleveland, etc., and the overwhelming majority agree that Case is not nearly as good as they thought it would be.

pfff, I went to HS in flint... all the ghetto, none of the social life. Sorry that we can't all go to school in happy sprawl suburbia... You still haven't said where you're from. The neighborhood certainly wasnt as bad as people bitch about... all I've heard on these boards is how Case is in an awful area... well, not really, the area seemed fine.

 

[pomdemonium]

As far as learning in an underserved area, that may be the case. I have not researched the med school at all, but I can't imagine the opportunities are really any better than in other cities. Most of the teaching occurs at the Clinic or at UH as far as I know, and you certainly don't get stream of poor patients there. However, you'd probably know better than me.

Thank you for your thoughtful posts, nighthawk! I appreciate the time you've taken to tell us about your experiences, since most of us haven't lived in Cleveland. It's good to consider the possible negatives of any place where we might be spending 4 years. And your offer to show us around is very sweet.

Just to clarify (and to see if others have heard differently--I'm going by stuff from last year and the website, which shows info for Class of 2010), I think with the new curriculum (unless they've changed it again), we can choose 1 of 3 sites for each clinical block: the Clinic, UH/VA (combined in one block), or MetroHealth. And yes, other cities will also have their share of underserved patients--I won't try to claim that Case is better in that regard to all other schools. I'm just looking at it in a positive light--it may not be as fun to live there (I'm a fuddy-duddy anyway ), but I'm hoping to gain beneficial clinical experiences there.

 

[TSK]

It pains me to see all of the complaints on this site about schools in the "ghetto". Plenty of excellent schools are in urban areas. I attended 2 separate Ivies for my undergraduate and post-bac education, both of which were in areas that some ppl may label the "ghetto". Nonetheless, I received an excellent education and experiences at each.

I was accepted to Case in October. Loved the school, but I'll admit that I didn't see much of the area and was slightly discouraged by the location b/c it seemed kinda in the middle of nowhere. But heaven forbid you should have to have your clinical experiences with or eventually treat, GASP, the socioeconomically disadvantaged!!

 

[geekOCD]

Just wanted to throw in a couple of responses to NightHawk as a case med student. The undergrad experience, from what I can gather from those in my class who went to undergrad here, is VERY different from the med school. Everyone accepts that Case undergrad pretty much sucks - Case is a university that's really dominated by it's grad programs (except maybe the engineering school). Case undergrad does not equal Case Grad or Case Med.

Secondly, there are some ghettos near Case, but there are some REALLY nice neighborhoods nearby as well, which is where most of the Case Med students live. Little Italy is a 5 min. walk away and is super cute with cobblestone streets, restaurants, and galleries. Cleveland Heights is one of the nicest neighborhoods in all of cleveland and is a 10 min. walk from the medical school. I've lived in big cities all my life and Cleveland Heights is def. one of the prettiest, greenest residential neighborhoods I've ever seen in the middle of a city.

Lastly, I can't believe you would say Cleveland has no culture! The West side of cleveland has one of the biggest Puerto Rican populations in the country. There's also a large immigrant population on the West side. The East side is split between large White and African American populations. Cleveland has an excellent music and theater scene. There's a ton of big art museums but I haven't been to them yet so I can't talk too much about them, but the museum of fine arts had a recent Dali & Impressionism exhibit that some of my friends went to and really liked.

Cleveland and Case certainly have theirs cons, like any city & school do, but please at least know what you're talking about if you're going to criticise!

 

[nighthawk3]

I agree that the Case med program is vastly different from the undergrad program. However, none of my chief complaints is really about Case, but rather with the area it's in. In my opinion, it all depends on how you look at it. I think Cleveland Heights is, for the most part, quite average. I live there, and it hasn't improved my experience at all.

As for the culture: yes, you are right that there are theaters and a lot of nice things in Cleveland. The sports stadiums are fantastic, the Rock Hall is cool, and it has a lot of nice museums, but how many times in four years are you really going to go to a museum or the Rock Hall? As far as living there on a daily basis, it is not a city with culture. The RTA is overrun with beggars, the city is pretty trashy and the people generally lack class. There are some good parts to the city, but in my opinion, if you use them to justify Cleveland's being a decent place to live, you're grasping at straws.

Everyone's opinion is quite different I'm sure, but I know for a fact that the majority of undergrads would agree with me about my complaints. The number of Case undergrads who actually want to go to Case Med and who are not pre-profs is quite low for this reason. I know a bunch of people who love Cleveland and I honestly think they would be happy living in Iraq, because they're just the types who make the best out of any situation.

And, seriously, saying I don't know what I'm talking about is ridiculous. I know quite a lot about Cleveland and find most of it disgusting. It's a trashy, low class, low rent city that absolutely lives up to its reputation as a poor man's Detroit.

 

[maestro1625]

I agree that the Case med program is vastly different from the undergrad program. However, none of my chief complaints is really about Case, but rather with the area it's in. In my opinion, it all depends on how you look at it. I think Cleveland Heights is, for the most part, quite average. I live there, and it hasn't improved my experience at all.

As for the culture: yes, you are right that there are theaters and a lot of nice things in Cleveland. The sports stadiums are fantastic, the Rock Hall is cool, and it has a lot of nice museums, but how many times in four years are you really going to go to a museum or the Rock Hall? As far as living there on a daily basis, it is not a city with culture. The RTA is overrun with beggars, the city is pretty trashy and the people generally lack class. There are some good parts to the city, but in my opinion, if you use them to justify Cleveland's being a decent place to live, you're grasping at straws.

Everyone's opinion is quite different I'm sure, but I know for a fact that the majority of undergrads would agree with me about my complaints. The number of Case undergrads who actually want to go to Case Med and who are not pre-profs is quite low for this reason. I know a bunch of people who love Cleveland and I honestly think they would be happy living in Iraq, because they're just the types who make the best out of any situation.

And, seriously, saying I don't know what I'm talking about is ridiculous. I know quite a lot about Cleveland and find most of it disgusting. It's a trashy, low class, low rent city that absolutely lives up to its reputation as a poor man's Detroit.

again I will ask... where are you originally from? you have yet to answer my question to put your bitching into context.

 

[nighthawk3]

In case you didn't notice, I don't want to tell you where I'm from. Case is a small school and I know a few people at the university read these boards, and any information about where I am from is likely to reveal my identity. I will say that it is nicer than Cleveland, and it is not a suburban area. It's another major U.S. city.

 

[szhao]

i wish i was on hold at least they would tell me what is going on hehe.