Case Western '10!

[mikey22]

haha thanks. does anyone know when we get our books? i noticed we have some homework for introduction week.

[TrashCat]

haha thanks. does anyone know when we get our books? i noticed we have some homework for introduction week.

I think during the 15-17 orientation we get split into sections and you will be assigned your classes/books then, im guessing thats the best time to get them.

[Floyd77803]

Does anybody know anything about the reliability/safety of the RTA buses?  Since i'm still on the waiting list for a parking pass they seem to be a good option.  From what I've read, undergrads automatically get a pass for unlimited rides and are charged $25 on their student accounts.  Is there any way for graduate students to get this pass?

[rhombot]

Does anybody know anything about the reliability/safety of the RTA buses?  Since i'm still on the waiting list for a parking pass they seem to be a good option.  From what I've read, undergrads automatically get a pass for unlimited rides and are charged $25 on their student accounts.  Is there any way for graduate students to get this pass?

i don't think grad students are eligible.

i've never had safety or reliability issues with the RTA. but some buses are just infrequent.

[myself]

Grad students are ineligible for the U-Pass, though I think grad student gov't is trying to work something out with RTA.  RTA isn't very inclined to do it, though, from what I hear - they know grad students are MUCH more likely to use it, and use it extensively, than undergrads.  Something like 1/4 of undergrad passes don't even get picked up, I think.

As a consequence of this, if you post something on the classifieds on Case Forum about it, sometimes you can buy one off an undergrad for some cash.  You want to use a Hotmail account and post anonymously.  They do have pictures, so you need to post something like "Wanted: U-pass for white caucasian male" or something like that.  Once in a very great while, some driver who's having a bad day might ask to actually compare your ID with the pass, but again, that's very rare.  In that situation, you can either just pay the 1.50 or whatnot, or make up some story about using a friend's, etc. 

Even if that happened once or twice a week, you still come out WAY ahead.  Parking is like 600-700, a monthly RTA pass is like 58 (times 8 full months plus 2 weeks on either end) so about 500ish.  The U-Pass, even if you pay 50 bucks for it, then 6 bucks a month in "oops" fees, is way cheaper.

[kipford]

Here's a head's up on financial aid:  If you go to http://laworientation.case.edu you can sign up for your Case ID (there is a yellow flier about this in the big packet that came from the Admission Dept. this week.)

Once you have that you can go to your briefCase (a name too cute by half if you ask me!) I found this hard to find so here is a direct link to the sign in page:  http://finaid.case.edu/CWRUfas.aspx?Menu

From there it should be easy to see (and accept) your financial aid award.

Be careful though-mine did not include my scholarship award so if you are going to accept it right away make sure it has everything correct.

Hope this helps!

[mt]

Hey, Kipford thanks for those links.  I'm an incoming 1L and new to the loan process.  Looking at my financial aid including my scholarships and federal standford loans on the case website, do I have to get a lender to receive those, or can I just accept the aid on the website and it will be disbursed out to me by case?

[kipford]

Hey, Kipford thanks for those links.  I'm an incoming 1L and new to the loan process.  Looking at my financial aid including my scholarships and federal standford loans on the case website, do I have to get a lender to receive those, or can I just accept the aid on the website and it will be disbursed out to me by case?

I'm not sure yet.  I need to read through the material that financial aid sent through the mail.  There was stuff in there about choosing a lender.  I'll probably do that tomorrow so if nobody replies before then I'll post what I find out.

[mikey22]

what is everyones impression of the employment prospects from case?

[myself]

Depends on what you're shooting for.  If you want biglaw, you need to be at the top, while I think on another board, a Case 2L was saying the top half would be "alright" and the bottom half can find it tough going. 

Case apparently does at least one kinda sleazy thing: according to that student, they'll employ people for like 2 weeks in the summer for "research" or something like that, if they don't have another job lined up, solely for the purpose of padding their employment stats.

That should probably be a bit of a red flag in and of itself, but from what I've heard, if you do well, you can probably find SOME kind of employment in the legal field.