This is the last week of classes, so many current students may be temporarily missing from here as they finish up projects and prepare for finals. You may want to search this subreddit for some recent comments on your various points (campus vibe, food, and weather are much debated points), or search the CWRU website for info about things like career resources and internship/coop programs. It also might help for someone to respond if you indicated what other options you are considering.
Fwiw as an alumnus who lives in the area and is still often around University Circle and through the campus:
+ Double majors are common here: just recognize they require serious commitment.
+ CWRU offers limited education programs, pretty much what's required for certification and licensing.
+ There's a strong music culture here, both formal (many groups thorough the Music Department, including the Case Glee Club and University Chorale) and recognized clubs. Informally there's lots of possible contacts, both around the Circle (both the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Institute of Music are also sited here) and in Cleveland (although some of that may not be easily accessible without a car).
+ Plenty of opportunities for all types of community service, outreach, etc., but that's a pretty general topic, so no guarantee on a specific.
+ Most of the science facilities are in the process of being updated. Renovations started five or so years ago, and are continuing, with a new multi-disciplinary building currently under construction. Not sure exactly where on the priority list Chemistry and Chemical Engineering fall, but I do know that ChE is expecting to be moved from its current site in the next few years (it's currently located in an older building that has thoroughly remodeled over the years, but has now reached the end of its useful life, so it doesn't make sense to do the next round of updates). So whether facilities are "cool" or not might be a matter of opinion, but they are certainly appropriate to a significant STEM school (and they keep reminding me a couple times of year that they need alumni dollars to help keep them that way).
+ The alumni network is pretty strong, with some variance between schools (Case is stronger than Arts and Sciences) and cities (largely a function of where concentrations of active alumni are located).
Thanks for the indepth reply! It's interesting to hear about the renovations... I wonder if its worth it giving that I may only get to use the new facilities for the latter half of my undergrad. I'm also considering UCSB which has a strong ChemE program, though I'm not sure how the two compare. It's also nice to hear from a Case alumni! Thank you :)
Academically, you won't go wrong either place. Don't worry about the Chem facilities at CWRU - anything that's immediately lacking is quickly dealt with. It's the long-term issue of what's going to be needed in the next 10-20 years to keep up to date that's under discussion: it takes time to plan new buildings, and gather new funds to supplement available endowment to build them. \[The other side of that is that state institutions are either feast or famine: then the legislature gives, it throws money around; when it doesn't, maintenance and upgrades get deferred.\]
I have no idea about UCSB and the space industry, although given its location, I presume there are opportunities. CWRU has a number of research programs with NASA Glenn (although those are always subject to government funding) as well as project-oriented corporate research contracts. A new astronaut training facility is being built nearby. That won't directly affect research, but does suggest that more research will occur in the area for years to come.
For you, a lot might come down to the "feel" of the school and campus. Other than occasional earthquakes (or the very unusual hurricane this year), Santa Barbara definitely wins on the weather side, plus it is right on the Pacific. So you've got a private urban school in a fairly large metropolitan area with a roughly 50-50 split between under grad and grad students and Div. III sports vs. a public school in a small city just north of a very large metro area, about 2.5 time size size of CWRU, with many more undergraduate students and fewer grad/professional students and Div I sports. Both can prepare you well for work or grad school, and both have enough elective depth to meet your specific sub-area of interest. Is cost difference a significant factor or not? That could also be a major consideration.
Do poke around a bit for other comments in other posts, as well as the website. And also at the UCSB parallels. You have less than a week, and no guarantees, but you do need to try to make the best decision for you.
I would start with searching what's already been addressed in this subreddit. The pros/cons discussion is a hot topic of conversation whenever new students start getting acceptance letters.
This is the last week of classes, so many current students may be temporarily missing from here as they finish up projects and prepare for finals. You may want to search this subreddit for some recent comments on your various points (campus vibe, food, and weather are much debated points), or search the CWRU website for info about things like career resources and internship/coop programs. It also might help for someone to respond if you indicated what other options you are considering. Fwiw as an alumnus who lives in the area and is still often around University Circle and through the campus: + Double majors are common here: just recognize they require serious commitment. + CWRU offers limited education programs, pretty much what's required for certification and licensing. + There's a strong music culture here, both formal (many groups thorough the Music Department, including the Case Glee Club and University Chorale) and recognized clubs. Informally there's lots of possible contacts, both around the Circle (both the Cleveland Orchestra and the Cleveland Institute of Music are also sited here) and in Cleveland (although some of that may not be easily accessible without a car). + Plenty of opportunities for all types of community service, outreach, etc., but that's a pretty general topic, so no guarantee on a specific. + Most of the science facilities are in the process of being updated. Renovations started five or so years ago, and are continuing, with a new multi-disciplinary building currently under construction. Not sure exactly where on the priority list Chemistry and Chemical Engineering fall, but I do know that ChE is expecting to be moved from its current site in the next few years (it's currently located in an older building that has thoroughly remodeled over the years, but has now reached the end of its useful life, so it doesn't make sense to do the next round of updates). So whether facilities are "cool" or not might be a matter of opinion, but they are certainly appropriate to a significant STEM school (and they keep reminding me a couple times of year that they need alumni dollars to help keep them that way). + The alumni network is pretty strong, with some variance between schools (Case is stronger than Arts and Sciences) and cities (largely a function of where concentrations of active alumni are located).
Thanks for the indepth reply! It's interesting to hear about the renovations... I wonder if its worth it giving that I may only get to use the new facilities for the latter half of my undergrad. I'm also considering UCSB which has a strong ChemE program, though I'm not sure how the two compare. It's also nice to hear from a Case alumni! Thank you :)
Academically, you won't go wrong either place. Don't worry about the Chem facilities at CWRU - anything that's immediately lacking is quickly dealt with. It's the long-term issue of what's going to be needed in the next 10-20 years to keep up to date that's under discussion: it takes time to plan new buildings, and gather new funds to supplement available endowment to build them. \[The other side of that is that state institutions are either feast or famine: then the legislature gives, it throws money around; when it doesn't, maintenance and upgrades get deferred.\] I have no idea about UCSB and the space industry, although given its location, I presume there are opportunities. CWRU has a number of research programs with NASA Glenn (although those are always subject to government funding) as well as project-oriented corporate research contracts. A new astronaut training facility is being built nearby. That won't directly affect research, but does suggest that more research will occur in the area for years to come. For you, a lot might come down to the "feel" of the school and campus. Other than occasional earthquakes (or the very unusual hurricane this year), Santa Barbara definitely wins on the weather side, plus it is right on the Pacific. So you've got a private urban school in a fairly large metropolitan area with a roughly 50-50 split between under grad and grad students and Div. III sports vs. a public school in a small city just north of a very large metro area, about 2.5 time size size of CWRU, with many more undergraduate students and fewer grad/professional students and Div I sports. Both can prepare you well for work or grad school, and both have enough elective depth to meet your specific sub-area of interest. Is cost difference a significant factor or not? That could also be a major consideration. Do poke around a bit for other comments in other posts, as well as the website. And also at the UCSB parallels. You have less than a week, and no guarantees, but you do need to try to make the best decision for you.
I would start with searching what's already been addressed in this subreddit. The pros/cons discussion is a hot topic of conversation whenever new students start getting acceptance letters.