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

<p>There are quite a few residential colleges and I think each would attract very a different student. Currently: arts, environmental, global, humanities, social justice, society & tech. For next year there is a new one: languages & cultures. My daughter has heard "Smith" is a good dorm. Any idea which of the res colleges might be in Smith? Also, any idea WHY she heard Smith is the place to live. I am afraid it might be one of the party dorms.</p>

<p>...to quickly finish my post on the humanities:</p>

<p>the rest of the humanities departments at bucknell (and any top liberal arts college) are going to be strong for the same reason the history department is strong. tenure-track jobs in these fields are hard to snag, especially at the highly selective universities where most humanities graduates want to teach. </p>

<p>there is a real strength in both poetry and creative writing, though, as bucknell is home to both the stadler center for poetry (with a prestigious poet-in-residence program) and the prestigious creative writing residency, sponsored by alum philip roth.</p>

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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.

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<p>to address the faculty question first, bucknell, which has a professional, audition-based music program (based in a beautiful new building), is definitely going to have faculty qualified to help your daughter further her musical studies.</p>

<p>in terms of opportunities, bucknell has a traditional symphonic band, orchestra and several formal choirs, in addition to smaller instrumental and formal vocal ensembles and a capella groups. as far as i know, all groups are open to non-music majors, though that may not be true of some of the smaller (more selective) formal groups, like chamber ensembles.</p>

<p>in terms of the quality of these groups vis-a-vis other liberal arts colleges, i cant definitively say. however, i would have to think that bucknells larger size and the presence of a moderately selective music program would put it ahead of many smaller schools. </p>

<p>anecdotally, my freshman roommate (an engineer) was involved in both symphonic band and the pep band his freshman year. he left the symphonic band after fall semester as it did require a moderate time commitment he no longer wanted to make, but stayed in the very informal (and i mean VERY informal) pep band all four years. further, several of my friends were involved in various choral and a capella groups. time commitment there seemed to be moderate, but i can say that they loved being involved in their a capella groups. members tend to become really good friends.</p>

<p>if you do have any more specific questions, i wouldnt be afraid to send an email to dr william kenny at <a href="mailto:bands@bucknell.edu">bands@bucknell.edu</a>.</p>

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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.... Your D should look into it..........Eric, do you agree??

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<p>woohoo, someone got my name correct! (yes, my name is ERIC.)</p>

<p>anyway, of course i agree! i made the same suggestion in my original reply.</p>

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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.

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<p>but to clarify my point, i really wouldnt be worried about some sort of stigma attached to 'choice' residents. as i said, thats not to say that there isnt one, but rather that its not big enough to justify not living in substance-free housing. </p>

<p>again, what i would consider are potential hallmates (and roommates). 'choice' students often are going to be there for religious reasons and often are going to be a bit 'nerdier' than the average bucknellian. as a bit of a nerd myself, theres nothing wrong with that. and not everyone in 'choice' housing is going to be religious or a nerd. its just something to think about in the context of someones overall social preferences, especially when ones thinks about how many first year friends typically are made on the freshman hall.</p>

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My daughter has heard "Smith" is a good dorm. Any idea which of the res colleges might be in Smith? Also, any idea WHY she heard Smith is the place to live. I am afraid it might be one of the party dorms.

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<p>smith is a good dorm, probably the second best freshman dorm on campus. im not sure its a party dorm, however, as, unless things have changed, freshmen dont have any input in the dorm selection process.</p>

<p>i will say, however, that the smith TRIPLES, the largest freshmen rooms on campus, DO tend to be the site of more than their share of parties. that tends to be true of all triples on campus, though. so if someone is hesitant about living in party central, he or she would be advised to not indicate preference for a triple on the housing survey.</p>

<p>one2go - </p>

<p>Residential College students live with other students from their college in either Smith Hall (located on Seventh Street) or in McDonnell Hall (located next to Swartz Hall). </p>

<p>Students who enroll in the Global, Environmental, Social Justice and Society & Technology Colleges will live in Smith Hall. Students who enroll in the Languages and Cultures, Humanties and Arts Colleges will live in the McDonnell Hall.</p>

<p>I currently live in Smith and also lived there during my freshman year. Eric is right about the triples/quads being party centers but that also depends on the people who live there. Based on that, doubles can get noisy too. Each floor of Smith is divided into 4 wings = A,B,C,D. So the first floor has 4 halls = Smith 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D, and so on for the 2nd and 3rd floor. Some halls are noisier than others - my freshman year, 3D was the noisiest one on the 3rd floor, 3C, where i lived - not so much. </p>

<p>A lot of people who live in Smith turn out to be engineering majors (who have more studying to do) so its not uncommon to find people walking about at 2 am or so like its mid-day. Anyone who does party also has to study hard. </p>

<p>Smith has a computer lab, and all dorms don't have that - i don't think mcdonnell does. the rooms and bathrooms are nice. Rooms are all air-conditioned and relatively big. Smith is definitely one of the best places to live. the only thing is that for engineering majors, it's a bit far from classes and that entails a walk uphill during the morning for 8 am classes. on the otherhand, Smith is closer to off-campus restaurants and shops, than for example Mcdonnell.</p>

<p>One more thing - I wouldn't generalize Smith as a party dorm. sometimes some halls are noisy, or some rooms are noisy and sometimes halls and rooms are quiet. its not really different from other dorms in that respect.</p>

<p>JustaMom - the first year schedule for a 5-year eng-mgmt student in chemical engineering looks like this:</p>

<p>First semester = ENGR 100, MATH 201, PHYS 211, First year english course.</p>

<p>Second semester = CHEM 221, CHEM.ENG 101 (No credit), MATH 202, ENGR 240, ENGR 215(half credit), elective. </p>

<p>For the 1st year, you have four 1-credit courses each. ENG 100 is the big seminar one- basically, within ENGR 100, you are allowed to try 3 sub-courses in 3 different majors with the goal of helping you to make up your mind about which type of engineering you want to do. My 3 seminars were in Electrical, Mechanical and Civil engineering - i am now studying electrical. Engineering students have to declare their major at the end of 1st semester freshman year = so that's what ENGR 100 is for. The engineering major that you come in with to Bucknell is usually easily changeable if you want to, when you're declaring at the end of 1st semester. </p>

<p>One thing to note is that if your daughter enrolls in a Res. college, the res. college seminar will replace the english course for the 1st semester. I was in a res.college myself so i took the english course my second semester. But i do know someone who is taking english his 1st semester of sophomore year. So i would still recommend taking mgmt 101 2nd semester , freshman year as the elective. The english course could probably be pushed back to sophomore year, if your daughter does join a res. college. Her advisors would probably understand that her scheduling needs more consideration than a normal 4-year student's. </p>

<p>Scheduling the management and engineering classes for the 5-year students have been an issue, according to my advisor.</p>

<p>for the 5-year engr-mgmt program, you basically get 8 extra electives (1 extra year = 4 courses each semester, 8 courses total = 8 extra electives) in addition to your engineering schedule. the course schedule for the 5-year program lists eight more electives in the engineering schedule, which has been expanded to 5 years. you know which 8 courses you have to take for the mgmt degree and you work them into your electives as you go along. </p>

<p>MGMT 160 (accounting), MGMT 101, MGMT 220 (law) have no prerequisites.
MGMT 370 needs MGMT 160 first. MGMT 312 and 380 needs MGMT 101 first. MGMT 319 needs MGMT 370 and 380 first. remember that unless you do 101, you can't do 380, and so can't do 319. the eighth course is the elective and that depends on what you want to take. </p>

<p>I thought a business-engineering degree would definitely be worth it in today's technology-driven industry, so i went for it. you have both skill sets this way and expanded employment opportunities i would think. the work load has been OK so far, but the real test will be my junior year which is supposed to be toughest for EEs. its a more vocational degree , and since i want to work after graduation and not try for grad. school straightaway, it seemed good to me.</p>

<p>New question:
What is the bank most kids use? And, debit cards, credit cards or checks?</p>

<p>Sovereign Bank or M&T Bank. They have a common on-campus ATM (M&T owns it and lets Sovereign people use it at no charge). </p>

<p>Debit cards which will also function as ATM cards are most common .</p>

<p>your bank will probably give you a few free starter checks when you open your account (6 in case of Sovereign), and you order more when you need them.</p>

<p>Thanks! Looks like M&T has free checking and no min balance. Sounds good</p>

<p>Thanks to Eric's insight and additional comments from several of you, my daughter is very seriously considering the Res Colleges. We have a couple more questions:
1. What is the coed living arrangement for the residential college students. We were under the impression that Bucknell Freshman housing was coed by floor or wing and that all dorm bathrooms were single-sex. Is that the case for the Res College students?</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Are Foundation Seminar's required for all Freshman or just the Res College students?</p></li>
<li><p>Do Res College students stick together "too much" or do they branch out and have meals and social time with other friends?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>my financial aid offer was really, really low. is there any negotiating in this area? my family doesn't have any means of income at this point. my father is terminally ill and in a vegetative state and will not be (and has not been for the past 4 months) financially supporting my education. my parents are also going through a divorce right now, so my mom (who would solely be paying for my college education) has enormous attorney bills every month. the divorce also means that a lot of my family's money and assets are tied up in a trust that has yet to be divided between my parents and cannot be touched until the divorce is final.</p>

<p>bucknell is my first choice school and i'm really worried that with such a low offer i won't be able to go...</p>

<p>any advice? i'm visiting campus next week; maybe i could meet with some financial aid advisors there?</p>

<p>kaleigh3 - </p>

<p>1) Yes, res. college students have coed dorm halls and single sex bathrooms in the dorms. Res college freshman live in Smith or Mcdonnell and might have non-res college people living in their hall as well (i did). As far as living arrangements go, you can think of res colleges as a good way to get into Smith or Mcdonnell (the best freshman dorms). Res college housing is just like normal freshman housing except that you're guaranteed very good housing. </p>

<p>2) Res college students take a foundation seminar from the res college that they belong to. that is particular to them. its just like another course with a joint project at the end. besides that, engineering students have a seminar of their own (ENGR 100), management students have MGMT 101. the res college seminar will likely fulfill a social science/humanities requirement and a writing requirement as well. </p>

<p>3) Res college students will likely find things in common with other res college students and become good friends. BUT they definitely do branch out and meet other people/have other friends, etc. As you would expect, that depends on the person in question. its very easy enough to make friends outside of your res college.</p>

<p>Sadly, that's the bum rap on BU. Stats show it's pretty much merited. Unless you're destitute or already a candidate for the Rhodes, best git your finances in order.</p>

<p>Current students: have any of you had any luck purchasing textbooks online? I've seen several threads saying this is a great way to save some $$. Just wondering if it is something that is possible or if you are pretty much tied to the bookstore. I'd imagine that you'd need to know the books needed prior to start of semester.</p>

<p>after the 1st semester, you can email the professors you'll have classes with the next semester, before that semester starts. you'll be able to know which professors you'll have when you register for classes at the end of the 1st semester. the profs. will give you the ISBN if you ask for it, you can go to the bookstore website, find the book for the course (the bookstore site does not display the ISBN though, but you find it by searching for that course) and compare prices for New, Used (25% off) versions of the book on the bookstore site with the price of the book on Amazon, for example. if sufficiently cheaper, you can go for Amazon. or whichever online merchant you prefer.</p>