A new 'ask a recent graduate your bucknell questions' thread

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bucknell University
1

<p>in an attempt to consolidate the questions ive been getting (for both my benefit and yours), please post any questions you have about bucknell here.</p>

<p>for more reading, see my two previous threads:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/bucknell-university/318545-recent-grad-back-take-more-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/bucknell-university/318545-recent-grad-back-take-more-questions.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/bucknell-university/172014-current-student-taking-questions.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/bucknell-university/172014-current-student-taking-questions.html</a></p>

2

<p>Ericatbucknell,</p>

<p>I posted this question on a separate thread before I saw that you started this thread for questions that might be helpful to everyone.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for taking the time to give such thorough and thoughtful answers to all the questions that come-up on this site! Your information has been very helpful to us. Below is my question: </p>

<p>My daughter is considering the "Choice" dorm option. She is an outgoing girl who is very friendly with every type of student in her HS; however, she does not spend much time on weekends with HS friends because most of the activities revolve around drinking and some drug use. She is not judgmental... just feels the drinking/drug scene is not for her. I have told her that living in the regular dorms she would surely find friends with similar interests and values... Frankly, I think her biggest concern is having a "wild and crazy" roommate. On the other hand, she doesn't want to alienate students who enjoy the "party scene". </p>

<p>Your insight would be greatly appreciated!</p>

3

<p>ericatbucknell:</p>

<p>I was recently admitted to UTexas Austin, UMass, UConn, Rensselaer, Stevens, and Bucknell. Unfortunately, I didn't get into my top schools(Columbia, Cornell, CMU). I really want to go to one of those schools(probably Columbia), so I'm thinking of trying to transfer after my freshman year. Let me prefix my questions by saying that I have a keen interest in CS(been doing research projects with a couple of profs already, have focused computer ECs, and I really love CS).</p>

<p>My problem with Bucknell lies not in the University as a whole, but in the CS dept. It looks (from their webpage) as if they do little research, and don't have advanced(read: graduate level) courses. I don't mean to come off as arrogant by saying this, but I've already taken a second-semester CS course at Cornell, and I've been programming for many years now, so I have a base of CS knowledge that I'm coming in with. My goal is to learn the specialized fields of CS(machine learning mostly, also operating systems and AI) wherever I go to school. It seems Bucknell does not offer this(correct me if I'm wrong). It also seems like the dept. is very small(18 graduates each year?). Is this picture of the CS dept.(or most depts.) accurate? Will I be able to do research? Will there be advanced courses?</p>

<p>My next area of concern lies with GPAs. Since I have the intention of transferring out after my first year, I need to get pretty much a 4.0 GPA(or damn close to it - 3.7 would be the bottom GPA I could get and still have some semblance of a shot at transferring). Is this easy to achieve at Bucknell? What are classes usually curved to? Is it easy to beat the curve? As someone with a 3.1UW GPA in high school(albeit in relatively hard classes like Calc III, AP Physics C, AP Psych, Chinese 2(I'm not Asian), etc.), I'm determined to improve my work ethic. Is an A easy to pull off in most classes if you sit down and study for an hour or two a day for each class? I know that my HS GPA was the major reason why I was rejected from my top schools, and I want to overcome this! In short, getting a GPA is VERY important.</p>

<p>Next, I am a bit concerned with recommendations. Since transfer apps are due on March 15th, I pretty much have a semester to get to know a faculty member well. Is this easily possible at Bucknell? This will especially be an important part of my app for me, since it will have to convey how passionate I am about CS.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

4

<p>kaleigh3,</p>

<p>the only thing i would really want someone to think about before choosing the 'choice' option is the kind of student who would also typically choose it. obviously, there are many reasons to want to live in substance-free housing, but most commonly students who choose 'choice' do so for religious reasons. sometimes theirs, sometimes their parents, but religious reasons nonetheless. this is fine, but the result is that a vegan environmentalist who chooses not to imbibe because of the damage it causes her body may not find her more conservative hallmates to be instant matches in terms of interests and personality. 'choice' students also tend to be a bit 'nerdier' than the typical bucknell student, which is something to think about in terms of hall social dynamics.</p>

<p>beyond that, i must say that i never really met many people who lived in harris, the 'choice' dorm. im not sure whether this was due to 'choice' students tending to stick together, not being as generally outgoing, not doing the same activies i did, not being forthcoming about where they lived for fear of sigmatization, or a mere function of statistical variance... but it was definitely something i noticed. my guess is that much of it was a result of the first two factors, but thats just a guess.</p>

<p>on that note, is there a bit of a stigma? a bit, i guess. not enough that cant be overcome by domonstrating for fifteen minutes that you actually are cool and do like having a good time, though. certainly not enough for students to hide where they live!</p>

<p>a suggestion: if youre on the fence about 'choice' you may also want to consider the residential colleges, which tend to draw fewer hard partiers in addition to more academically-minded students, who usually are pretty outgoing. if theres one that fits, it would probably serve as a solid compromise.</p>

<p>a final, focused thought: if you do go the traditional housing route, really look at the housing survey and think about the descriptors someone intending to party is more likely to select. manipulating something like the preferred 'bed time' could have a pretty big impact.</p>

<p>and a final, general thought: really make sure you arent going to drink if you choose substance-free housing. i was pretty sure i wasnt going to drink in college. less than a month into the year, that cute girl i had my eyes on (who also didnt intend to drink) offered me a rum and coke. that was that!</p>

5

<p>mikeown-</p>

<p>first, please to not show up at ANY college campus next year with your current mindset. arriving on a campus in late august with an ingrained intention to transfer is a forecast for disaster. what will you tell the friends you make? what will you tell the professors with whom you want to do research? how are you going to wake up every morning ready to give your all at a place youve already decided you dont want to be?</p>

<p>so please, wherever you enroll, arrive with an open mind. if you eventually decide that you would rather be at columbia or cornell or anywhere else, feel free to think about it over winter break. until then, give the school a real chance. you may love it and, if not, you will have put yourself in the best possible position to transfer. that certainly wont be the case if, by being so focused on being somewhere else, you become depressed and finish the fall with a 2.4. </p>

<hr>

<p>re: the computer science department, rest assured that all bucknell faculty are actively involved in research projects. my suggestion to you in regard to any specific interests you may have is to look through the faculty list on the computer science departments web page. each members biography will list his or her research interests. if any are appealing to you, email the professor and inquire about potential opportunities.</p>

<p>in terms of courses, the cs website also maintains a full list of offerings [url=<a href="http://bucknell.edu/x3132.xml%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://bucknell.edu/x3132.xml]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;]. keep in mind that the 'topics' and independent study opportunities for upperclassmen will provide multiple additional advanced areas of study.</p>

<p>but yes, bucknell does graduate approximately 20 computer science majors per year. that obviously does not compare favorably with a tech school like rpi, but it is enough for there to be a critical mass of students actively involved in the department. and those students are actively involved in research as, unlike the other schools on your list, there are no graduate students at bucknell to serve at the primary 'assistants' of faculty in their research projects. it works, too. someone in my graduating class is now getting his phd in computer science at illinois, perhaps one of the top five computer science departments in the country. </p>

<hr>

<p>the difficulty of courses (and difficulty of grading, a somewhat different issue) at bucknell is going to vary. i took a history course first semester freshman year in which i worked incredibly hard and was awarded with the highest grade in the class, an A-. i was one of only two people in my calculus class to earn a full A. in contrast, probably two thirds of the people in my foundation seminar received an A or A- and the number was probably close to 50% for economics. so, its going to vary depending on how the chips fall. with four easier professors, a 4.0 is very possible is youre smart and work incredibly hard. land a few very demanding ones and all of a sudden that same hard work ethic might only translate to a 3.5. </p>

<hr>

<p>in terms of recommendations, if you DO ultimately decide to transfer (after following my advice above, of course!), you shouldnt have any major problems. in addition to taking a course from your academic advisor first semester freshman year, you will also get to know most of your other professors very well. this is the real advantage of a liberal arts college, actually, where faculty are hired and awarded tenure not just on their ability to perform research, but their dedication to undergraduate students both inside and outside the classroom, as well.</p>

<p>good luck! and remember, give whatever school you choose a real chance!</p>

6

<p>ericatbucknell: Thanks for your reply.</p>

<p>I see what you are saying about the "transferring mindset." Let me first start by saying that Bucknell as a whole seems like a great university. When I visited, I noted that there seemed to be a really strong, cohesive community among undergrads(almost everyone knew each other), and this definitely appealed to me. Additionally, I saw that classes were tiny(no big 300 person lecture halls), which I also liked. There were only three downsides I can think of:</p>

<ol>
<li>The CompSci dept. I understand that there are (almost) no PhD students to be assistants, but does significant research REALLY get done here(i.e. NSF grants etc.)? I don't know what I'll do after school(grad school for compsci and business school are my primary two thoughts at the moment), but I know that for grad school, you need to have done research(as this is much more important than grades, since that's the focus of a PhD program). Will I be able to do serious research at Bucknell? Also, is funding available for research? Considering that Bucknell is relatively small place, which doesn't have an emphasis on CompSci, I would think the resources would be scarce. I guess the question is, more specifically, if I come up with a good research idea that would cost, say, $5000 to do, will profs be able to find funding? Are the profs experienced publishers?</li>
</ol>

<p>Another issue that was of concern to me was the number of courses offered. I see that there are a lot of courses such as "Computer Science Honors Thesis," "Individual Study in Computer Science," "Topics in Computer Science," "Senior Design," and "Capstone Computer Science Design." There really aren't any courses like machine learning or artificial intelligence(two areas I am interested in, because of their connection to finance). Can you elaborate on what these vague, upper-level courses are? Are the instructors here savvy enough to posses in depth knowledge of topics such as machine learning/AI?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The options of what I can do when I graduate with a CompSci major. As of now (this could always change) I'm pretty sure I don't want to do CompSci for the rest of my life(i.e. being a code monkey at Microsoft or Apple). Right now (again, tentatively) I'm thinking of going into finance(becoming a quant). I'm a bit concerned about where I'll be able to go after graduation. While I(myself) don't care so much about prestige, it is my understanding that the finance world is obsessed with it, and let's face it: Bucknell is primarily a liberal arts college and isn't known for CompSci. Do a significant number of students proceed into finance after graduation?</p></li>
<li><p>Bucknell's proximity to cities. What do kids typically do on weekends? Doesn't it get a little boring being in rural(relatively) Lewisburg?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Can you elaborate on these?</p>

<p>Thanks,
Mike</p>

7

<p>Here's a list of career paths of Computer Science & Engineering graduates. <a href="http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/CDC/Comp.%20science%20and%20Comp.%20engineeering.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/CDC/Comp.%20science%20and%20Comp.%20engineeering.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

8

<p>...and regular Computer Science. <a href="http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/CDC/Computer%20Science.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/CDC/Computer%20Science.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

9

<p>Does Bucknell have a five year program for Computer Engineering to earn a master's degree?</p>

10

<p>No. The five year masters program only applies to mechanical, civil, electrical, and chemical engineering.</p>

11

<p>I know that CE is a new program there. Do you know if they are planning to add it in the next couple of years?</p>

12

<p>Hi Eric, I just finished reading your old posts and have to complement you on a job well done. What a wealth of information! </p>

<p>D will be attending BU in the fall and has been accepted to the (relatively new) Engineering Management program. I am curious as to how she will know what courses to register for when the time comes. This is a 5 year program and I haven't seen the usual "course sequence" that you would normally see for a 4 year engineering degree. Any comments on how Bucknell is in guiding incoming freshmen in their first semester course selection?</p>

<p>Also - if there are any other Bucknellians reading who may have some comments about the Eng-Mgt program, please feel free!</p>

<p>Thanks again for your great posts!!</p>

13

<p>collegemom16 - It's hard to say whether or not the Master's program will be extended to CE. It seems as though only the engineering majors with large enrollments have the Master's program. </p>

<p>JustaMom5465 - I've copied the following text from page 152 of the 2008-2009 course catalog (you should receive a copy of the catalog over the summer): "All University degree requirements, including the Common Learning Agenda, must be fulfilled along with the following eight BSBA course requirements: MGMT101 Introduction to Organizations and Management; MGMT 160 Foundations of Accounting and Financial Management I or MGMT 161 Foundations of Accounting and Financial Management II; MGMT 220 Business Law; MGMT 370 Corporate Finance; MGMT 380 Marketing; MGMT 312 Business, Government and Society; MGMT 319 Business Strategy; and a 300-level management elective. Students in this program may satisfy one of the management courses through transfer of credit from a non-Bucknell program, with prior approval of the management department. Suggested course sequences for the program and detailed information are available from the department of management or the Office of the Dean of Engineering."</p>

<p>Last Fall when I was an incoming first-year engineer(non-management), 3 of the 4 courses I was to take were already registered for me (PHYS 211, MATH 202, and ENGR100). This required set of three courses is true for all entering engineers. The math requirement is flexible depending on transferable college credit(s). All I had to decide on was an elective (which was done online). Be aware that when choosing this elective, you must fulfill both an English literature and composition requirement as well as a writing requirement (called a W1) within the first year. After first semester, you will meet with your adviser, who will most likely be a faculty member of your chosen major. So I assume that your daughter will not have to worry about considering what courses to take until second semester.</p>

14

<p>hi erica:</p>

<p>how is BU in the humanities? For example, history is a bread-and-butter degree at most LACs but it appears to be rather small at BU. How about study abroad?</p>

15

<p>JustaMom5465- </p>

<p>I am also doing the 5-year engineering management program, though i couldn't apply into it directly when i came in. The 8 courses listed by ilmor are the ones that you have to satisfy to get the management for engineers degree. Anyway, for the program, you get a management advisor as well as an engineering advisor and both of them can help you through it, though its really quite straight-forward. Just one thing to keep in mind: make sure that your daughter takes MGMT 101 (the time-consuming management seminar, company set-up practice course) in her second semester (first semester she'll have ENGR 100 as the big seminar class) of freshman year. It's not a good idea to delay taking MGMT 101. It's a prerequisite for MGMT 380, 319, and 312 which she'll also have to take later on, and as you go up to your sophomore year or so, the engineering classes (most are fixed/predetermined) will give you less and less flexibility. The courses that don't have 101 as a prerequisite are 160 or 161, 220 and 370. (and your elective, depending on what it is). </p>

<p>Has your daughter decided on what type of engineering she wants to do? There is a suggested course schedule for the 5-year program for each engineering discipline .</p>

16

<p>Hi. My D was accepted at Bucknell and is very interested in the performing arts opportunities and particiapting in performing ensembles, band/wind ensemble, choir, etc. She is an All-State instrumentalist and an All-East/All-State vocalist. What is available at Bucknell? How would you "rate" the ensembles/faculty as compared to other similar-sized liberal arts colleges? Can anyone participate or do you need to be a music major?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>CollegeMom08</p>

17

<p>Satn, thanks! She has pretty much decided on ChemE. What are your thoughts on the Eng-Mgt program? Worth the extra year? Worth the extra work?</p>

<p>Good to know about the Mgt 101 course though as it looks to have an effect on the rest of her scheduling. Does that mean she would probably just have the standard engineering sequence courses for the first semester (ie, no Mgt classes 1st semester?)</p>

<p>CollegeMom - my D is also interested in the music ensembles. She would like to continue to play flute - not as a music major, but just for fun. Can anyone comment on how competitive it is to get in to PepBand, or an ensemble for a non-music major, and the time committment involved in belonging?</p>

18

<p>okay, mike, now were getting somewhere.</p>

<p>
[quote]
1. The CompSci dept...

[/quote]

bucknell has no phd students, period. it also has no masters students in computer science. so when research is being conducted (and all faculty ARE active researchers), on-site help HAS to be provided by undergraduates and undergraduates only. now, is as much research being conducted in the bucknell computer science department as at a larger research university? no. is the research that is being done significant? yes. people with phds from top programs like carnegie mellon (stephen guattery) and illinois (daniel hyde) typically dont perform insignificant research. is necessarily highly significant? no. but mit and cmu dont only put out highly significant research research, either.</p>

<p>and you are correct that research is an important part of a graduate school application. however, what graduate programs look for is someone who has been actively involved in the research process, who understands how research really works. in other words, an applicant with significant roles in perhaps less 'important' or 'expensive' research will be viewed favorably in the process to someone with less significant roles in more 'important' or 'expensive' projects. (obviously, being brilliant and getting important experience in a major project is preferable to both.) there will be opportunities for valuable experience at all of the schools you are considering. its the less valuable experience in larger projects and small chance of valuable experience in larger projects that you wont find as often at a liberal arts college. </p>

<p>on the theme of research, also keep in mind the opportunities for summer research experiences for undergraduates (reus). funded by the nsf, theyre a way for undergraduates to become further involved in the research process and are taken by students at lacs and large universities alike. there are programs in many fields, including specific topics like machine learning.</p>

<p>anyway, this is why i mentioned the graduate student at illinois in my previous post. if bucknell did not provide a strong undergraduate education in computer science, it simply would not have been possible for a bucknell computer science major to get into one of the top phd programs in the world two years ago. (the new usnews graduate school peer assessment rankings put illinois at 5, ahead of cornell, princeton, washington and georgia tech.)</p>

<p>last, on your funding issue, its going to be pretty difficult for you to get $5,000 to conduct research at any school. nsf grant moneys are typically pretty tightly controlled and as a result $5,000 in university cash would be difficult to procure (without acquiring grant funds of your own) even as a graduate student. some funds are available for undergraduate research at bucknell, however. </p>

<hr>

<p>on the issue of spcific faculty knowledge areas, beyond my previous suggestion, youre going to need to email someone within the department and ask. i simply dont know how much knowledge any of the faculty have in ai. </p>

<p>in terms of courses, many of the things listed are research-based projects that you would complete as an upperclassmen. 'individual study' is individual study in a specific field (typically of your choice) with a professor. 'topics' courses are advanced courses with focii as chosen by the faculty, and are sometimes taught as an extension of a professors current research.</p>

<p>what i do know about machine learning is that an undergraduate course in the subject is going to be of somewhat limited utility because few undergraduates are going to have the mathematical background to make sufficient (or at least practical) use of the specific processes involved, as not only does one need a solid background in logic and statistics, but solid fundamental knowledge in computational and algorithmic theory as well. so if you think youre truly going to have both the computer science and mathematical necessities out of the way by your junior year, you may want to consider a school with available graduate courses for undergraduates. however, that is going to be the exception far more then the rule.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The options of what I can do when I graduate with a CompSci major.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>if you want to go into quantitative finance, its not going going to happen with a bachelors degree from computer science from ANY college or university. simply going into finance is a different issue, but the fact is that most computer science majors do not want to work in finance, and as such, few do. you fill find some bucknell computer science majors in finance at goldman sachs and others if you look through the link ilmor provided, however. so it does happen.</p>

<p>if quantitative finance is your goal, though, your best bet would probably be a phd in applied mathematics from a top graduate program. second to that, youre going to want a phd in quantitative finance, operations research, focused computer science (such as the cmu machine learning program) et cetera. a 'third best' option would be one of the many math department-based masters programs in financial math/financial engineering/etc that are popping up at top schools around the country. that bucknell graduates get into top graduate programs means that a bucknell degree is respected in the academic community, and as such, can get you where you need to go for graduate school.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Bucknell's proximity to cities.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>in my experience, bucknell students do pretty much the same things for fun that students going to colleges in cities do for fun. they hang out, go to parties, go out to eat, attend concerts, et cetera. they just happen to not pay city prices to do so. the only other difference is the lack of high-cost shopping, if thats your thing.</p>

<p>does it get a bit old after a while? sure, youll have your moments. but people in cities tend to get sick of not being able to breath clean air, or see stars, or actually drive somewhere. so it tends to even out. some leave ready to take a job in the big city and others (like a good friend of mine) transfer in from nyu. either way, i know most bucknell alumni wouldnt trade their experiences for anything.</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
I know that CE is a new program there. Do you know if they are planning to add it in the next couple of years?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>i would be surprised if a masters program were established that quickly. a program needs to be pretty solidly established to support a masters option, and since the strength of the undergraduate department is going to come first, i just dont see a brand new department being in a position for gravy (a masters program) within a few years.</p>

<hr>

<p>thanks, ilmor and satn, for jumping in on the engineering management (and other) questions. the more input on any question, the better, so please jump in whenever you have a thought. </p>

<hr>

<p>
[quote]
how is BU in the humanities? For example, history is a bread-and-butter degree at most LACs but it appears to be rather small at BU. How about study abroad?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>its somewhat difficult to compare the size of history departments at various schools because its a field where dual-appointments and cross-departmental teaching is common. as such, one school could claim a faculty twice the size of another but provide the same opportunities.</p>

<p>in terms of the number of students in bucknells history department, it compares favorably with most top lacs, graduating more history majors than schools like amherst, swarthmore, pomona, haverford, wesleyan, grinnell, claremont mckenna and hamilton. in terms of absolute opporfunities, im not in a position to comment, but i can say that bucknells history faculty, like most history faculties (since there are so many history phds and so few jobs) is extremely stong. the best (and hardest) course i took at bucknell was taught by a now-retired history professor and current faculty like julian bourg, john enyeart, james goodale, martha verbugge and richard weller come very highly recommended.</p>

<hr>

<p>i have to actually do something now, so comments on the rest of humanities, travel abroad, fine arts and whatnot (hopefully) later tonight.</p>

20

<p>In response to Kaleigh's question about Choice dorms, we had a family member with similar thoughts on drinking, etc at Bucknell and she chose to live in a Residential College. She was concerned about the negative labelling related to the choice program and somebody she met at her overnight suggested that res colleges offered a type of compromise because those kids are usually academic and have level heads on their shoulders--not huge partiers. She didn't have any issues with noise from partying, etc and met a super group of kids with similar interests. They seem to do a good job with the res college program. Your D should look into it..........Eric, do you agree??</p>