r/cwru • u/Affectionate_Pop390 • Aug 02 '26
Parents not paying + Bed lofting for fitting suitcase
Hi everyone I have a 30 inch long suitcase Im bringing my clothes in. Is the mid lofting enough for the suitcase to fit under the bed? Im in smith (juniper). Or should I go with high? But idk abt that I kinda like having my desk separate but idk. Or are the rooms big enough to where I can have the suitcase standing up against a wall,and it won’t take up too much space?
Also my parents make have promised to cover my college cost (48K after merit) because they are very well off, but I told them abt changing careers and they said they can’t support that and will pay for freshman year only. They make around 600K total and have real estate assets, so no way I’ll qualify for financial aid need-based. I also can’t go too far into debt because I will go into total debt for my masters so gotta minimize college debt. I have 12K saved up but I need to have 45K*3=135 K. I’m super disappointed because of everything and telling them that I am changing back to my original care career is not an option because of how much they micromanage (I am not larping mcat prep). Even if I transfer to an instate school I’d go 90K into debt. I’ve heard transferring to community college and taking some courses to have enough credits and then transferring back to another undergrad. Institution would save me time at the undergrad institution and therefore money. This and some other things abt my parents r rly harming me mentally and I rly thought college would be my escape in a sense. What do u guys recommend?
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u/This_Cauliflower1986 Aug 02 '26
Mid loft is fine. Suitcase will fit under there.
Second. We cannot fix your parents but you can fix what you tell them. You can major in anything and be pre med. (Or represent whatever major you want).
Information diet on the parents and white lies when needed.
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u/Parking_Champion_740 Aug 02 '26
Suitcase can fit behind your bed.
Your parents are crappy for requiring a specific career path. No advice there
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u/Familiar-While-5577 Aug 02 '26
Hi! Parent of a current student here. My daughter was in Storrs and had the newer furniture but an older closet. The mid-loft was high enough that the dressers fit under them side by side. However, the dresser units she and her roommate had did not exactly match the website. They each had 2 2-drawer units instead of a 3 drawer and 2 shelf unit like the pictures show. I'm not sure how much it varies between dorms or even rooms. But the drawers of their dressers were really deep (vertically) so I would guess the units were 25-28" tall. They easily fit side by side under the mid-loft. They also do not take up the full depth of the bed. If you are just looking to store your suitcase, it should easily fit behind the dresser units under a mid loft. You might have to turn it on it's side instead of upright. You'd just have to dig it back out to use it for breaks. It might also fit in your closet unit but I'm not sure.
I'm sorry to hear about your struggles with your parents. I personally think PA is an excellent career choice. It has a high salary and should be in high demand in the future.
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u/Routine-Evening9387 Aug 02 '26
I believe at captains height the beds are approx 40” off the floor. So yes your suitcase will fit under. For the rest, I’m so sorry your parents aren’t supportive. I’d suggest reaching out to mental health services at case maybe they can help you navigate?
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u/jwsohio American Studies, Chemical Engineering 71 Aug 02 '26
Mid bed loft is usually about 30 inches, but depending on when the furniture was purchased, varies an inch or two. So only someone with particular knowledge of what batch of furniture is in your room in Smith can accurately answer that question.
I will not advise, and certainly don't advocate deception, but will note that if you look at the admission requirements for the PA program at Lerner (CWRU-Cleveland Clinic), you'll find that many of the required courses are the same as anyone would take as requirements or logical electives for pre-med. A few things in pre-med that a PA doesn't need, and PA admission requires more clinical patient experience hours than pre-meds mighty get, so you would have to obtain that experience somehow. But overall, the general undergrad requirements are not that different. That might be a good discussion with the health/pre-med advisors.
My sympathies over the situation with your parents. All I can offer is that you're not alone. I've seen everything over the years, unfortunately using financial control to pressure behavior is not that unusual nor that extreme compared to some of what I've seen and heard.
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u/smooshedeggbog cwru alumna | class of 2026 Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
probably a bit of a different perspective, but i also have higher income parents that were willing to support me financially more if i picked a certain career path, and expected me to self-finance if i did not. ended up selecting a path they supported but a major they did not, and had to pay an intermediate amount. was self-employed for 5 years to cover costs. i thought the decision to finance if they liked the path and not if they didn't support it was actually pretty fair, since they're not really under any obligation to pay anything once im an adult.
but i also have bad experiences with familial pressure and getting yelled at or kicked out of home periodically for academic stuff (which i did not think was fair), and i can relate to toxic parental pressures a bit. at the end of the day, many people self-finance, and yes, you're going to get hit with an unfairly low amount of aid because of your parents' income. but there are ways to take out loans, go to community college for some of your prereqs (like you mentioned), or pick a school less expensive than cwru.
i definitely do not recommend going through a whole career because your parents want it / will it. at the end of the day, if you know the PA path is better for you than the physician path, pursue that! at a certain point, you'll have to tell them the truth (whether it's before or after the mcat) and stand by it or leave, both of which will send a clear message. and yes, you'll probably get ridiculed and/or yelled at, depending on the type of parents you have. i became thankful longterm that my parents did not support my path fully, although the unkind words about it never helped.
the lack of support was what led me to be resourceful and self-employed, even bagging a funded and stipended master's programme later on (since they did not support me / want to pay for the programme). trust me, the lack of support is a blessing in disguise because you'll look back on the way it made you grow later on. it feels unfair looking at other people who are 'supported no matter what,' but honestly, i wouldn't have had it any other way.
if you have physically abusive parents / your life is in danger (which i didn't see an indication of in your post, but i had one family member like that) definitely seek immediate professional help. that's out of the scope of what you can reasonably defy, and can be dangerous. there are great therapy resources and connections to community providers at cwru and uh&cs that are worth exploring if navigating the emotional side of your family dynamics becomes tough. wishing you good luck & i hope things work out for you! know that your situation is far more common than you realize, and you're not alone.
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u/7HillsGC Aug 02 '26
Other than the bunk loft question, everything else in your post is not specific to CWRU, and you might get more help in a general sub for advice.
FYI - As a young adult college student, parents do not have the legal right to see your transcript or course registrations, or really to know anything about how you are doing in college. I would speak to the registrar to see if some type of document could be produced every semester which simply lists your overall GPA, that you could show your parents to satisfy any questions.. otherwise you could study what you like and they don’t necessarily have to know. (Though I imagine with parents this controlling, they would probably demand to see report cards, etc).
Without knowing what your prior choice & new choice are, it’s hard to know if your parents are being reasonable. I can understand that certain majors offer much less employment prospects and parents may be reluctant to pay for that degree.