The recent Admitted Students Days have reminded me of my own visit to Case Western Reserve University as a high school senior. I was enamored by the campus during the spring and could visualize myself as a CWRU student. However, many of my peers and I have noticed something as we have become upperclassmen. The number of students visiting CWRU is much higher, and the latest acceptance rate of 37% reflects this trend. CWRU was recently named a university on Forbes’ private ivy list alongside schools like Washington University in St. Louis, Carnegie Mellon University and Emory University. There is one stark difference between CWRU and the other schools on the list, though—it has a much higher acceptance rate.
In terms of other ranking systems, people may point to CWRU’s place on the recent TIME magazine rankings, where we ranked No. 25 among the World’s Top Universities of 2026, but I personally do not think this holds as much value as it appears to. TIME magazine is also in charge of the Person of the Year and makes many of its rankings based on its own definition of success for students. The U.S. News & World Report is known to have a pretty popular ranking system, and CWRU has dropped places in this source. Besides using rankings as a measure of college success, the effects of the decisions CWRU makes are evident in everyday college life.
Someone who is merely observing the sudden increase in the number of accepted students may suggest that it reflects CWRU’s mission to reach an enrollment goal, but I see a different goal that the school is trying to reach—an increase in profit. After all, more admitted and enrolled students mean more tuition payments. This can be seen with the current first-year students’ living conditions. Some live in Triangle Towers because there weren’t enough housing options within the North Residential Village.
Additionally, course registration is a problem. Last year there were not enough class spots for Organic Chemistry I (CHEM 223), which is a class several majors, such as biology, chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry and even biomedical engineering require. As of the time this article was written, spaces in the Introduction to Biochemistry: From Molecules to Medical Science (BIOC 307) are no longer available. These instances can be partly attributed to the greater number of students who are attending the school and competing for spots in classes.
As a result, campus resources and infrastructure are strained to support a greater number of students. Students end up paying high tuition for resources they were once promised, such as small class sizes and undergraduate experiences. Every so often, University Program Board will hold events with free merchandise such as sweatshirts, blankets or sweatpants. As an organization, though, they can only secure a limited amount of inventory for students, and even after waiting in long lines, some students do not get the university swag. It is ridiculous that students have to miss out on experiences like these, especially when we are paying such a high tuition.
A much higher acceptance rate also indicates less selectivity among applicants. More prestigious colleges with lower acceptance rates generally focus on picking applicants they believe would be a good fit for their school. By no means is a lower acceptance rate directly correlated to how good a college is, but increasing the number of admitted freshmen every year by such a significant amount makes it difficult for faculty and campus resources to keep up. I think CWRU should re-evaluate its role in higher education and remember its position as an innovative, research-oriented university instead of a money-hungry institution.