Case Western Reserve University

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Biomedical Engineering (BME)
Minor: Physics
Student Self Identifies as: African-American with African Origin Heterosexual Male

Summary

I do a lot of social work. There’s an organization called CCEL on campus that helps you find volunteer work. I work with The African-American Society

Background

Gender Identity: Male
Race/Ethnicity: African-American with African Origin
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

High School Experience: Public high school in San Antonio, Texas with a graduating class of about 650. A lot of people didn’t go straight into a university.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Biomedical Engineering (BME)
Minor: Physics

Extracurricular Activities: I do a lot of social work. There’s an organization called CCEL on campus that helps you find volunteer work. I work with The African-American Society
(Afro-Am) and that’s more of a cultural focus trying to give a sense of community to African-American students on campus, even though Cleveland is a majority Black city. [The population of Cleveland, OH is 48.3% Black or African American.]
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
Particularly Afro-Am because I’m a very social person. From day one, I’ve been out there trying to make friends, talk to people, and network. I always felt out of place. Even though there are people who look like me, a lot of them don’t go to school with me. There is often only one other Black person in my classes, and that was hard at times. Finding an organization that has like-minded people who are there to support you was really important to me. I met one of my mentors through the National Society of Black Engineers chapter.

Academic Experience

Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
Freshman and sophomore year, you will have a decent amount of homework each week. A lot of classes typically have the lecture then give you practice problems. As you go further on with the BME classes, you don’t have that much homework. You’re learning a lot of material very quickly and you’re expected to keep up. You have to stay on top of it, and it’s easy to procrastinate when you don’t have homework.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
With BME, if you talk to your professors or advisors, they will help you and get you in touch with people who can get you in labs and interview opportunities. They’re not going to reach out to 500 students individually, but for those who show interest, they will show interest in you too.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s incredibly competitive, especially if you’re in one of the more popular STEM majors. The coursework can be challenging and a lot of classes will be graded on a curve. A lot of people don’t study together as much as they should, but once you get into that social group, everyone starts collaborating.
How was transitioning academically as a first-generation college student? Are there any resources that helped you adapt?
It was odd for me. Higher education was always an expectation for me, but when I finally got there, a lot of people come from different backgrounds and are more well-off or might have gone to better schools. You have to learn to accept that it’s all about what you make of your experience and if you find people who are going to support you, you’ll be fine. First CWRU is a first-generation organization that is helpful to a lot of students.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
I’d say I’m 70% happy, 30% not. That’s mainly because of how competitive the major can be. In BME, you’re competing with all these people who’re exceptionally smart and talented and sometimes you don’t feel like you’re up to it. Once you get into your track for BME, it’s so much better because I can focus on what I want to learn.

Reasons to Attend

1) The academic and career opportunities are excellent. There are so many lab opportunities for students, which is something Case needs to talk about more.
2) If you’re not a very social person, it’s a nice place because you can carve out a niche for yourself and make really close friends.
3) You meet a diverse group of people.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) The social scene is lacking.
2) There are specific boundaries between freshman and all the other classes. As a freshman, you live on North Side, so you’re only really interacting with freshmen. Even though the upperclassmen live on the North Side, they don’t want to talk to the freshman.
3) The workload can be somewhat suffocating at times.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Hitchcock with one roommate
Sophomore: Kusch House with six people
Junior: The Village with four people

Social Opportunities

What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
Depending on the weekend, I may go to a party. I’m not the biggest party person, so I may just hang out with my friends and play some video games. For me, it’s about finding that close group of friends that I hang out with and just chill.
If you were to go to a party, who hosts the events?
Usually one of the fraternities or maybe the football team.
As a guy not on a sports team or in a fraternity, how easy is it to get into the parties?
For me, it’s pretty easy because I’m pretty well known and have a prominent role on campus. I talk to a lot of people and it gets pretty easy to get in. For a lot of other people, you have to know somebody or go with a large group.
What’s an alternative to going to a party or a bar that you like for a night out?
At the start of the year, there are lots of events. Throughout the semester there are movie nights hosted by the Film Society.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
Sometimes not a lot of people show up to events, but I attribute that to the weather. Sometimes I wish people were more outgoing or that we had more options because we live in a somewhat isolated area without a whole lot to do in the direct area.

Campus Culture

How did you meet your closest friends?
They were the people I lived with during my freshman year. Some other people I met through friends of friends.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Case Western Reserve?
It’s lacking at times. Not everyone is going to be super social. You have to find the right people to interact with. Joining any of the fraternities, sororities, or organizations would help. A lot of people would rather stay at home with one or two people and not have the traditional party life.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
As an African-American on campus, you kind of have to mix with people who aren’t African-American because it’s such a small section of the population. We have a large Asian American population and a lot of Asian students will spend time around each other. A lot of Black and Hispanic students will do the same. Once you go outside of one of the cultural clubs, you’ll see a lot of people from different backgrounds interacting. It’s not bad, it’s just not ideal. [The undergraduate population is 43% White, 4% Black, 23% Asian American, 11% Hispanic, and 13% international.]
How would you describe the African-American community on campus? How strong is it?
It’s very strong because we’re incredibly supportive of each other. At the same time, it’s only about 4%, which is a staggering amount considering Cleveland is about [48%] Black. You hope more Black students will be admitted or would want to come to Case.
How do you like the size of Case Western Reserve in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 5,250] students?
I like it because I know so many of the people I see around. I say “Hi” to so many people. At the same time, when you’re going out and seeing the same people it can get boring at times and it puts you off, so I wish the population was a bit higher. I wouldn’t want it to go more than 7,000.
To what extent do people in Greek life and not in Greek life mix socially?
Everyone who is involved in Greek life actively tries to mix with everyone who’s not. When you’re involved in Greek life, you’ll primarily be around people in your fraternity or sorority, but when you have classes with people not involved in Greek life or other organizations you end up talking to them and form those relationships.

Careers

Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Yes actually. I spoke with an alum I met at an African-American Society event called Ebony Ball. He helped me get my job last summer by giving them my contact information, put in a good word, and wrote me a recommendation letter.
What have you used the career office for? How helpful have they been?
They do resume reviews, workshops, and they help you find job fairs and employment opportunities. In addition to that, they’re a good resource when it comes to figuring out if you want to do post-graduation.
Have you learned any computer programs or computer languages that will be helpful professionally?
You learn the basics of MATLAB for engineering purposes, and I’ve used a lot of Excel spreadsheets for data storage.

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
They are very responsive, but I would not say they’re the easiest to work with. It can take some time on occasion to settle any issues you have with them, but they are very invested in each individual student and trying to support your needs. They’re also very clear about what needs to be done. If you have a deadline, make sure you have it done by the deadline.