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Excellent Science Programs at Case Western Reserve

Jared Hobson — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:23:48 +0000

On his recent trip across country, Mark stopped at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio to comment on its sciences and engineering programs. But Case Western has a whole lot more to offer than just the science, including excellent programs in music. And its location amidst the institutions of high culture in Cleveland make it attractive to any student seeking an excellent education in an urban setting.
Check out this short video on the high culture and urban environment of Case, or read the transcript that follows.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
***************
I’m here now on the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. And behind me you can see the famous Lewis Building with its undulating walls. This is a really great place for students who are interested in technical education, engineering, scientific fields, pre med – very well known in those fields. And in that regard, Case is often compared to Carnegie Melon in Pittsburgh – same kind of urban environment in a northern industrial city and both are trying very hard to attract more arts and humanity students. Like Carnegie Melon also the Cleveland Institute of Music is right near by sharing practically the same campus and you can do a dual degree in music and in the liberal arts and sciences over here at Case.
Something that makes Case distinctive, at least geographically, is that it shares a campus called University Circle with Severance Hall where the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra plays, the Botanic Gardens, the Institute of Art. Really for anybody who’s interested in culture and wants an urban environment that’s very close to some of the best in high culture, Case Western is really hard to beat. The campus itself is pretty urban. There are some nice green patches here, but then it’s also bisected by a very large street kind of in the middle. The medical campus is right nearby. It’s really a great option for that sort of medium-sized school that is technically oriented and that’s in an urban environment; hard to find in a university. This might be the place for you.

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Science at Small Liberal Arts Schools

Jared Hobson — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:02:56 +0000

After attending a presentation by Connecticut College, Knox College, Lawrence University, Lewis and Clark College and Occidental College, Katherine and Cara discuss the benefits of majoring in science at a small liberal arts institution. Watch the video below or read the summary for more information.

So, what are the benefits to studying science at a liberal arts college vs. a large research institution? Read below for the highlights of Cara and Katherine’s discussion.
Research Opportunities
Students who are thinking about going into the sciences, particularly those that want to be pre-med, traditionally think that they need to attend a large research institution in order to get the research experience experince they are looking for. But I think what we learned today is that there a lot of small liberal arts schools out there that really do provide the hands on research opportunities that students need. Also there is not a lot of competition at these schools for research opportunities so it really is available to a wide-variety of students who attend that school.
Excellent Professors
Professors often come from top research institutions to smaller liberal arts colleges to get that interaction with the undergraduates. They often want their offices right next to the research labs where their students are going to be working so that they can check in with them.
No Graduate Students
Another benefit is that often times at a small liberal arts school there are no graduate students. It is specifically an undergraduate focused education so that means you are not taught by graduate students, you are being taught directly from professors. You are also not competing with graduate students again for those hands-on research opportunities.
Katherine Price and Cara Ray

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Grinnell: A Global Liberal Arts College in Iowa

Jared Hobson — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:39:41 +0000

“Where the Hell is Grinnell?”

This question is emblazoned on all sorts of college paraphernalia at the Grinnell College bookstore.
Watch this short video and you’ll be asking yourself a slightly different question: “Why the hell have I never heard of Grinnell?”

**Correction: My buddy, Dan Jarrett, wrote in to show me the most recent IPEDS data: among non-sectarian, liberal arts colleges, Grinnell actually ranks #4 in per capita endowment resources, behind Pomona, Swarthmore, and Amherst. Wiliams ranks a close fifth. For more on how these figures can be pulled apart to reveal a real wealth disparity among American colleges and universities, see Dan’s post.

If you prefer, you can check out the transcript below.

Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant
*********************
I’m here now on the campus of Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, and as I walked by the bookstore. I saw these water bottles that say on them, “Where the hell is Grinnell?”

Grinnell is definitely is in, well, it’s in Iowa. There’s a lot of corn around it. But this is a cute, little town and an absolutely marvelous liberal arts college. It has everything going for it. It has got the highest per-capita endowment of any college in America, the facilities are second to none. The library right over here has been renovated a couple of times. Absolutely drop dead gorgeous study spaces for students, looking out the windows, it’s phenomenal.

The science center has been renovated twice in the last 15 years or so, fantastic facilities, and great science. The gym and the fitness center, oh, my gosh! I mean, I could go on and on. In the dormitories, we talked to one student and he was from Angola, okay. How did a student from Angola find Grinnell? I’m not sure, but this is a very international campus. Anyway, he was talking about the dormitories and saying, “I love my dorms!”

Look, if you are interested in a small, liberal arts college of the highest quality and all you’re thinking about is Williams and Amherst, think again. Think Iowa. Think Grinnell. Grinnell has fantastic resources for students, financial as well as human. I talked to a guy in a café downtown and he was a graduate of Grinnell and he said, “Oh, no, all the professors live here, they don’t live in Des Moines,” which is about an hour, hour-and-a-half away, “No, no, they all live in this community.” If you want tight relationships with your professors, Grinnell, my gosh, it’s really going to be hard to beat.

What else can I say about this place? Oh, again, international. This has one of the highest ratios of international students anywhere, here in Iowa. Why? Because people are looking for the highest quality education they can get in the United States. There are many other places, of course, and I don’t mean to suggest that other places aren’t equally good. But if you’re really looking for a top-notch school in America, think about Grinnell.

Another example, we were walking through the student center and a young man stopped us and said, “Can I help you?” And I said, “Well, we’re just looking around, but can I ask you a question, how’d you decide to come here?” And he said, “Well, I’m from Massachusetts and I was originally thinking of Williams and Amherst, but I needed money, I couldn’t afford those schools.” And Grinnell gave him a hefty merit package to come here and he said he has no regrets at all. People here are extremely passionate about whatever they’re interested in, and they are pretty laid back.

I mean, students who are willing to consider Iowa, they’re not as pretentious as some people who are looking necessarily for the name. They’re not looking for the geography of American education, they’re looking for the quality of American education. So you’re getting a slightly different tone here at Grinnell. Fabulous facilities, international campus, really bright student body, and it can be very affordable.

So if you haven’t figured out where the hell Grinnell is, you had better get it on your list.

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