Launch

Bright Young Minds

Case Western Reserve’s incoming Class of 2017 arrived with the strongest academic credentials of any entering class in the university’s history. The 1,250 first-year students also are as accomplished as they are bright.

The incoming class boasts students who already have:

• earned a pilot’s license and flown solo across the country
• placed third in an international robotics competition
• raised seven grand champion calves
• canoed the Arctic Ocean
• developed a thermometer that plugs into an iPhone, takes temperatures of children—while entertaining them with video on the phone—and sends results to their doctors.

The first-year Spartans hail from 893 high schools, 45 states and 17 foreign countries. Nearly three-fourths are from outside Ohio, and almost 12 percent are from outside the United States.

Historically, the most common hometown for first-year students has been either Cleveland or Pittsburgh. This fall, Cleveland is second and Pittsburgh is fifth. The Class of 2017 is so global that Beijing, with 31 students, is the most common hometown, Shanghai is third and Seoul, South Korea, is tied for 10th.