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

<p>How generous is Bucknell regarding financial aid to international students? I am interested in engineering and was wondering about the quality and prestige of a Bucknell engineering degree (But Fin. Aid is the most important factor). What are the stats of international undergrad students in Bucknell?</p>

<p>I'm looking into double majoring at Bucknell in International Relations and Theater. First of all, is that possible? Second of all, how good is the Theater program at Bucknell? I know that they work with professionals and work at the Weis Center for the Performing Arts. Basically, I want to get a BA in Theater then go into only performing arts as a graduate. I also like International Relations, and I feel like if I don't make it as an actor, atleast I'll have a good academic background in International Relations.</p>

<p>sorry for the delay in responding. ive been quite busy!</p>

<p>baalest- i would recommend that you try to find a document called the 'common data set' for all of the schools you are considering. within its financial aid section, schools publish the number of international students receiving financial aid as well as the average award.</p>

<p>in the case of bucknell, relatively few internationals are awarded financial aid every year, but those who do receive very generous aid packages. (you can look up the exact numbers.) something to think about, though, is the competition you will face for aid as an international applicant. for example, though bucknell awards aid to fewer internationals than lafayette, it also receives applications from fewer international applicants (precisely because it awards less aid.) i dont know the net impact of this phenomenon at bucknell vis-a-vis lafayette, but it is something i would consider as more internationals are applying in significant numbers to those schools offering the most international aid. the less competitive school might actually be the new way to go.</p>

<p>in terms of engineering, i would strongly recommend it. 'prestige' is difficult to quantify, but starting salaries serve as a decent proxy. and there bucknell does pretty well. (you can find data on the schools post-graduate report on bucknells website.) one interesting fact: recently graduated chemical engineers from my graduating class (2006) had a higher average starting salary than those from mit.</p>

<p>last, in terms of stats, i have no idea.</p>

<hr>

<p>a20emr-</p>

<p>you can certainly double major in theatre and ir at bucknell. </p>

<p>im not sure i am qualified to comment on the strength of the program, however. i didnt know any theatre majors at bucknell and dont know any of the professors within the department. that said, bucknell does collect pretty comprehensive data on its graduates, which it organizes by major. i will try to track down a theatre major link for you in the next day; it should give you an idea of how many graduates are currently in the field.</p>

<p>Hi Erica,
I'm a senior from San Francisco, CA and am fairly certain that I will be applying early to Bucknell. I was looking to see who the admissions rep for the western part of the U.S. is, but unfortunately the online directory does not show geographic assignments. I don't intend to "suck up" to this representative, but I just felt that it would be beneficial to gain some familiarity considering he or she will likely be the first to read my application. If you could somehow access who that may be, I wuold really appreciate it. Good luck in your post-graduate life.</p>

<p>hi, eric.</p>

<p>i recently began considering bucknell as a college choice. i had heard of it before, but didn't know too much about it. i've looked at the typical college guide books and such, and one thing i noticed was the percentage of minority students (17%), specifically the percentage of african-american students (3%). i'm african-american and i go to a predominantly white school, and have all of my life, but i was wondering if there appeared to be any issues/difficulties for the african-american students that you may have noticed. i'm not implying that bucknell has these issues, i was just curious as to the state of the student relations across races.</p>

<p>thanks!</p>

<p>This is a good thread. Is it going to expire because no one has posted on it in awhile.? I guess I just did!</p>

<p>I see that Bucknell wants you to pick your major on the application and that the acceptance rate is different for different majors. I'm really torn between Chemistry and English. I am considering putting down Chemistry but what if I get there and it's not a good match?<br>
I know of someone who was turned down at College of NJ because he wanted to be a Biology major but he could have been accepted for a different major. If I am up in the air, should I just pick the major that seems the best fit or should I be applying to a different college, even tho Bucknell seems to be a good choice?</p>

<p>You can apply as undecided if you can't choose. If you do decide to put down Chemistry as your major, are admitted, and feel like Chemistry is not suited for you, you can switch majors. I think the only tough majors to switch into are Engineering and Management, which doesn't apply to your situation.</p>

<p>My D got in as an undecided. She is a first year student now.</p>

<p>Hi- My daughter has applied ED to Bucknell. Her SATs have been sent (700 Math, 640 Verbal). Do you think she should have her ACT sent also (29)?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Hi- My daughter has applied ED to Bucknell. Her SATs have been sent (700 Math, 640 Verbal). Do you think she should have her ACT sent also (29)?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>no need. a 1340 is better than a 29. </p>

<hr>

<p>on declaring a major, dont worry too much about it. at least historically, qualified students not accepted into controlled majors (for freshmen, that basically means business) have been admitted as regular, non-declared students. that said, the admissions does need to make sure that it is accepting a healthy mix of students within the liberal arts. so at the end of the process a prospective chem major might have an advantage over a prospective english major if acceptance targets for science-types have not been met. however, it is more or less as likely that the targets for humanities-types will not have been met. as a result, one cant really game the system.</p>

<p>with that in mind, my suggestion for those who are truly torn is to start with the more technical major, with the possible exception being business (if attending bucknell is more important than being a business major). it will ensure that you get into the necessary classes as a first semester student and, should it not prove to be the correct choice, transitioning out would be relatively painless. trying to catch up in a heavily-sequenced curriculum is not always fun.</p>

<p>Eric-
Do you have any idea about the number of ED applicants this fall? Was there an increase or decrease from previous years?</p>

<p>Are pets allowed in Bucknell dorms? i.e. small rabbits? </p>

<p>Also, how is the animal behavior undergrad major?</p>

<p>belle123: pets other than non-carnivorous fish and service animals are not allowed. I'm not an animal behavior major myself, but I have heard great things about the program here. Animal behavior majors can even take advantage of our monkey house/"primate laboratory."</p>

<p>eric, </p>

<p>it looks like your being swamped with questions so i'm sorry to add another one on your plate. How does bucknell weigh EC's compared to grades?. I have fairly low grades (3.17) and 4.17 weighted but I'm the president of the class and i have a bunch of other extra curriculars.</p>

<p>hey eric,</p>

<p>i'm a freshman at bucknell this year and i was wondering when we would officially be notified of our semester grades? I know that grades are officially due by teachers on the 30th and there's the 'unofficial transcript' section under the students tab on MyBucknell, but nothing shows up yet. Most of my teachers have put our final grades up on blackboard, but i'm still waiting on one. Also, i'm kind of confused about the grading system... is an A a 4.0, an A- a 3.67, a B+ a 3.33, a B a 3.0, and a B- a 2.67? I've been using an online GPA calculator on the prehealth webpage, but is there any way you can calculate for sure what your gpa will be?</p>

<p>Also.. kinda random.. but i'm really worried about my gpa this semester. It's probably going to be around a 3.28 or 3.35(if my grading scale above is correct). I was hoping on a 3.5 or higher, and since i'm premed i'm really worried this will screw up my cumulative gpa. Overall, do you think it's really bad for a freshmen first semester premed gpa or that I can still get it up to a 3.55ish or higher overall by senior year?</p>

<p>Sorry for all the questions! hope you have a great break! Thank you :)</p>