Every school uses cases for a lot of classes, how they mix it and what subjects use it varies by professor and by school. HBS and Darden use only cases in all classes as far as I know. Some schools use a more balanced approach with experiential, case, and lecture. Its a matter of knowing what you want and finding a school that is tailored to how you like it. Case classes have a reputation of requiring lots of prep compared to lectures and other teaching methods.
As far as knowing the culture you can really get an idea by visiting and talking to students/alums. A place like Kellogg isnt necessarily have an better school/life balance than someplace like Wharton or GSB which are considered very academically challenging schools while Kellogg is no walk in the park its not considered quant jock territory like some finance power houses (that said you can take all turbo classes and make it into that if you want). However, the level of student involvement outside of the classroom (class projects) seems to be much higher than at most other schools from what I have heard and seen. Students are in every part of the school from curriculum committees to future planning, these arent necessarily class related but they are part of being in the school and are time consuming and keep you away from your home life.
Personally since I am married I would consider my wife's enjoyment of my school experience a very important aspect of choosing a school. At DAK a lot of the students I met preferred Kellogg over GSB (seemed to be a bunch of folks who were deciding between the two or had decided last year) not because of industry or quality of education because both are top notch schools but because of the "culture." In reality its not a knock of GSB's culture but I think it boils down to at Kellogg 90%+ of students live right in downtown evanston all in an area of about 12 square blocks, while at GSB they are spread all over Chicago, the term commuter school was being used by a lot of folks. This definitely wasnt as big an issue to the single folks as it was with the ones that were bringing someone with them...heck some people might prefer living in downtown chicago.
If you are married and you are moving a wife to the area or you want her to be involved its much easier to be at a school where there are 50 other students and their significant others living in the same apartment building. I think there were some admits that were still choosing between Kellogg and other schools but pretty much every single significant other was 100% set on that being their vote. This isnt exclusive to one school though since there are plenty of schools that have concetrated populations and tight knit communitees but if thats important then you better look for it. However, if you are staying in the same city and your wife is settled and doesnt need to create a new instant network then that may not have the same appeal. In reality you will make great friends at school where ever you go and will really enjoy it but only you can decide whats right for you. I know if I got into and went to MIT my wife wouldnt have cared what the school was like for spouses since she has tons of friends in Boston already, they could ban spouses from everthing and it wouldnt phase her since she would have been involved with stuff outside the school, but moving to Chicago I think kellogg was her top choice because of the tight knit community of significant others.
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Kellogg Class of 2010...still active and willing to help. However, I do not do profile reviews, don't offer predictions on chances and am far to busy to review essays, so save the energy of writing me a PM seeking help for these. If I don't respond to a PM that is not one of the previously mentioned trash can destined messages, please don't take it personally I get so many messages I have a hard to responding to most. The more interesting, compelling, or humorous you message the more likely I am to respond.