Any recent track alums/parents out there

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bucknell University
1

<p>Hello:</p>

<p>I’m a mom and my son is looking at several schools as well as Bucknell. My son is interested in running track and is a solid performer in Michigan at a large high school as a sprinter and middle distances (went to states, etc). </p>

<p>Does anyone out there know about the track program at Bucknell, it looks good on the web but what is coach really like, what is his philosophy and how does rate with his athletes (especially the solid but not “star” type).</p>

<p>I heard from another Mom that he is "difficult”, favors the women and expects track to come first (before academics, etc) instead of the balance that the Patriot league stresses, is this true?</p>

2

<p>My son was also very interested in running track and cross country for Bucknell. He contacted the coach during the spring of his junior year, but never really heard from him until December of his senior year. The coach called him and told him that he was interested in recruiting him and invited him to an official visit.</p>

<p>The visit was very well organized and consisted of about an hour speech from the coach. Our impression of him was that he said things exactly like they were, and we appreciated his honesty. He met with my son, myself, and my husband privately, where he told my son that while he had a 50-50 shot at the management program, he really wouldn't have a problem as far as getting into bucknell went.</p>

<p>A kid currently on the team described him as "socially awkward" but a good coach to my son.</p>

<p>In march the coach called my son and told him that his application needed some help (it was rated a 2 out of 4-"uncertain"), and in order for the coach to fight for my son with admissions, my son would have to give a commitment. My son thought it over for a few days and (very reluctantly) called the coach back and committed.</p>

<p>We did not hear from the coach again, even though he said he would call back if something was wrong. Finally, on April 1st (after he had gotten all of his letters from the other colleges!!), he received a letter from Bucknell telling him he was on the waitlist. My son called the coach, who told him that he didn't know about his waitlist status until the day before, and that was why he "had to recruit a lot of kids, because some don't work out." My son was pretty angry at this remark because he thought that college was supposed to be about HIM and not a coach-- (after all, its not like Bucknell is a Big 10 school or anything).</p>

<p>The whole situation was very frustrating because my son had to deal with other coaches that were truly interested in him, and almost turned a few down.</p>

<p>So while I can't really comment on what its like to be in the program, I can say that our dealings with the coach (and school) were frustrating, to say the least. I don't believe it was fair the way the coach backed him into a corner, and then didn't even contact him, or follow through with what he said he would do.</p>

<p>My son will be going to Lehigh, and is very happy about it.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

3

<p>Forgot to mention that it did seem that coach expected one to commit to the track program first, academics second, since he mentioned in his lecture and Q&A session that, if one was on the team, study abroad was only "allowed" to be done in the summer. This was bothersome to my son, who is very interested in studying abroad, especially since Bucknell was not giving any money at all.</p>

4

<p>i know one person who was on the track team and had pretty similar sentiments about his experience. he quit after his freshman year. i also know a girl who loves it.</p>

<p>that said, i do want to point out that the vast majority of the people i know in other sports love their coaches and teams. the time commitments are large (it is division 1), but theyve found them to be very rewarding experiences where academics really were put first. even one of our star basketball players missed practice every week this semester for an engineering lab.</p>