Case Western Reserve University School of Law 2011 Forum

[ChiCity22]

15k a year this morning so Case Western is in play, its gonna be a difficult decision to make this cycle . Has anybody decided there committed to Case yet?

[rubaiyatsongs]

15k a year this morning so Case Western is in play, its gonna be a difficult decision to make this cycle . Has anybody decided there committed to Case yet?

I'm like 95% sure I'm going there.

[ringo9]

Has anyone gotten a decision rendered and notice on ASO page that says email sent on the same day but has yet to actually receive the email?

[zonto]

Have any of you lived in, or visited, Cleveland? What are your thoughts on the city itself and Case as an institution?

[ran12]

Have any of you lived in, or visited, Cleveland? What are your thoughts on the city itself and Case as an institution?

I visited Cleveland a couple years ago. It's boring but not as dead as people may say. If you're into sports or music it's a pretty good city to be in. Case is pretty well respected. I went for a fraternity convention hosted by the Case chapter and the kids there seemed pretty cool.

[TommyK]

Have any of you lived in, or visited, Cleveland? What are your thoughts on the city itself and Case as an institution?

I've visited Cleveland. Have some friends out there. There are parts of town that are cool and very young, but overall, the region depresses the hell out of me.

If you haven't seen the Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Videos, I'd suggest you check it out. There's just enough truth in them to say, "oooh, that hurts"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjju ... re=related

"it could be worse - at least we're not Detroit"

[zonto]

That's part of the reason I asked; my wife showed me those videos a week or two ago. I also checked a few quality-of-life sites today and it looks like unemployment and crime are through the roof (especially compared to where I'm from).

This is really the first time I've worried about moving to a city/region based on statistics, especially considering kids are definitely a possibility before I finish my third year.

[TommyK]

That's part of the reason I asked; my wife showed me those videos a week or two ago. I also checked a few quality-of-life sites today and it looks like unemployment and crime are through the roof (especially compared to where I'm from).

This is really the first time I've worried about moving to a city/region based on statistics, especially considering kids are definitely a possibility before I finish my third year.

The nice part is that you really can buy a house for dirt cheap. One of my friends bought a house for $80k. It was in pretty good shape, in a nice neighborhood, and was around 2k square feet. It's struggling like a lot of cities that had manufacturing as its main industry.

Some nice things about Cleveland:

-You can always get wicked cheap baseball tickets since there isn't much of a demand and there's a good chance you'll see next year's cy young winner before Cleveland trades him
-There is a surplus of Dennis Kucinich jokes about aliens
(btw, way to go DK -
-They're building a casino in Cleveland so if you can't get a legal job, you can always be a blackjack dealer

[ioftendreamoftrains]

That's part of the reason I asked; my wife showed me those videos a week or two ago. I also checked a few quality-of-life sites today and it looks like unemployment and crime are through the roof (especially compared to where I'm from).

This is really the first time I've worried about moving to a city/region based on statistics, especially considering kids are definitely a possibility before I finish my third year.

As a native Clevelander who lives out of state but goes back frequently, I'm curious as to what you mean when you say "quality of life sites." If they're anything like some of the forums I've encountered while doing research related to urban development issues, I'd advise you to take the information with a grain of salt. A lot of the discussion about crime, for instance, seems to be generated by people who have what I'd call a militia mindset (one memorable post urged someone moving to Beachwood, a very safe and affluent suburb about 35 minutes east of Cleveland, to reinforce his home with bars, steel plates etc to protect his family from roving hordes of "thugs"). Personally, I think it's a great albeit troubled town with a lot of good food, a still-proud spirit, many interesting and affordable neighborhoods, and some great public school systems (yes, still). If you're seriously considering CWRU, the best thing to do is to visit. That's really the only way you're going to allay your fears (or have them confirmed).

[ioftendreamoftrains]

PS - I should clarify that I'm speaking about an area that includes inner ring suburbs as well as the actual city limits.

[snowpeach06]

I will say Cleveland isn't the safest city in the world. One block can be normal and a block later is the ghetto. We will occasionally get crime reports about a bank being robbed or someone getting mugged. That said, if you aren't retarded and walking alone at night through the ghetto, you'll be fine. Case in particular takes great strides to make sure the campus is safe. Three different police forces patrol the area (at all times of night too, I've woken up at 4am, looked out my window and saw a cop car watching the dorm area). The area between Little Italy and Coventry (where almost all of the law students live) is primarily a student area, and also quite safe.

If you move here, life is actually quite pleasant. But, plan for a primarily suburban lifestyle. I know a few people who came here assuming they would be living the city lifestyle. That isn't how it is. While case is technically in the city, it's closer to the suburbs than downtown. People drive or walk, they don't take public transportation (which I'll be honest, sketches me out.) There are a million amazing restaurants, a fantastic music scene, plenty of bars nears campus and plenty of museums and sports teams. In Cleveland, there is always something to do, if you take the time to look, but, you do have to take the time. I think so long as your expectations are realistic, you'll actually enjoy or at least tolerate life here. A bonus is that it's absurdly cheap. Living here is easily 10k less then living somewhere else. Which you should take into account along with your scholarship offers.

[ran12]

Granted it's true that it seems to never be sunny in Cleveland and it is a dying town as people all move to the suburbs but it's not as bad as the youtube videos indicate. Plus, Case isn't even in downtown Cleveland, it's closer to the suburbs and the Case area is a lot like most college towns.

[AVBucks4239]

Cleveland is an extremely affordable city with a legal market that punches way above its belt. Little Italy and Coventry (where most of the students live) are really nice areas of town with a great student population. A downtown with three pro sports teams and a good choice of great restaurants is just a few minutes down the road. Sounds like a pretty good place to be a law student to me.


Edit: And like all big cities, there are areas better than others. Just don't be a dumbass and you won't have a problem.

[beidoun]

Whats Case's employment prospects, I have heard they out perform their ranking?


Also, did anyone else get a call for an interview?

[Ersatz Haderach]

It's sunny right now and is comparable to any northern US city in terms of sunshine hours. The difference is that when it's cloudy, it is frequently raining or snowing, for which you can thank Lake Erie. Our friend in the summer, our enemy in the winter. It's frozen now so it's not creating a lot of extra snow at this point. This past summer was gorgeous and it seemed like it was sunny forever, and this was after I'd moved back from living in a desert region.

I have mixed feelings about Cleveland that reflect the nature of any rust belt city, particularly one that's suffered from bad government. It is a nice place to live and raise a family, but I would think twice about living in the City of Cleveland itself to do that. There is crime, and 'undesirables' and whatever else suburbanites are afraid of. What Cleveland (downtown) really lacks is people - hundreds of thousands moved to the suburbs decades ago, although now is there a slight trickle back into the city in areas like the near west side, detroit-shoreway, and tremont, which is probably the star of revived neighborhoods. But the near suburbs, especially Cleveland Heights, are pretty good...and that's the one that matters for CWRU students. But I absolutely do not agree the city is dying.

The area immediately around campus is great. Museums, the rest of CWRU campus, hospitals, and they're building a bunch of new stuff right on Euclid, one minute from the law school. More development is planned around the University Circle area. Really, most of the stuff that's going to affect your library+class+apartment centric life is good and very affordable.

[kartal]

What is the reason some people getting phone interviews? Is this for pure admission reason or scholarship award reason?

[kartal]

How easy is it to negotiate scholarship with Case? What are the people's experience?

[ran12]

How easy is it to negotiate scholarship with Case? What are the people's experience?

I sent them an email to negotiate using a peer school giving me a full ride and stipend as leverage but they told me that they don't have extra funds and to email back after first deposit.

[Claudius]

What is the reason some people getting phone interviews? Is this for pure admission reason or scholarship award reason?

Borderline candidates and potential yield protection. The auto-admits are still auto-admits. Everyone that agrees to do the interview appears to get accepted. Everyone that refuses the interview appears to get rejected.

I had an interview and I was accepted. I was not offered a scholarship.

[kartal]

What is the reason some people getting phone interviews? Is this for pure admission reason or scholarship award reason?

Borderline candidates and potential yield protection. The auto-admits are still auto-admits. Everyone that agrees to do the interview appears to get accepted. Everyone that refuses the interview appears to get rejected.

I had an interview and I was accepted. I was not offered a scholarship.

Thanks for the clarification. Are you considering to attend Case without any scholarship? It is about $180K total cost. It is a T2 school that may break into T1 any point. Is Case worth to pay the sticker price?

[Claudius]

Thanks for the clarification. Are you considering to attend Case without any scholarship? It is about $180K total cost. It is a T2 school that may break into T1 any point. Is Case worth to pay the sticker price?

I'm permanently in Cleveland so it's a tough call. Case is the only TT whereas Cleveland Marshall and Akron are both TTT. On the other hand, CM and Akron are much, much cheaper. I don't know if I can justify that kind of debt.

[TommyK]

Thanks for the clarification. Are you considering to attend Case without any scholarship? It is about $180K total cost. It is a T2 school that may break into T1 any point. Is Case worth to pay the sticker price?

I'm permanently in Cleveland so it's a tough call. Case is the only TT whereas Cleveland Marshall and Akron are both TTT. On the other hand, CM and Akron are much, much cheaper. I don't know if I can justify that kind of debt.

I'm not trying to hate on Case since it's probably the most well-respected school in Cleveland, but yowza, that's a lot of debt. I'd probably choose Akron - even if you lose Akron's scholarship (and it's tough to hang onto given their curve and reqs), it's still half the price of Case.

[Claudius]

I'm not trying to hate on Case since it's probably the most well-respected school in Cleveland, but yowza, that's a lot of debt. I'd probably choose Akron - even if you lose Akron's scholarship (and it's tough to hang onto given their curve and reqs), it's still half the price of Case.

It's a tough call right now. If I were independently wealthy there wouldn't be any question - I'd be going to Case.

[snowpeach06]

Thanks for the clarification. Are you considering to attend Case without any scholarship? It is about $180K total cost. It is a T2 school that may break into T1 any point. Is Case worth to pay the sticker price?

I'm permanently in Cleveland so it's a tough call. Case is the only TT whereas Cleveland Marshall and Akron are both TTT. On the other hand, CM and Akron are much, much cheaper. I don't know if I can justify that kind of debt.

If your staying in Cleveland, I think Marshall is a good bet. Those kids always get the Cleveland big law jobs. Probably because the case kids are more likely to leave. It's quite well respected here though, and there is a huge alumni base. That said, if you ever want to leave Cleveland, go with case.

[Claudius]

If your staying in Cleveland, I think Marshall is a good bet. Those kids always get the Cleveland big law jobs. Probably because the case kids are more likely to leave. It's quite well respected here though, and there is a huge alumni base. That said, if you ever want to leave Cleveland, go with case.

Unfortunately, I think I'm going to be rejected from CM. That leaves Akron.