<p>As you make your decisions, I hope that each of you gets a chance to visit the campus, or at least interact with a student before you come to any conclusions. </p>
<p>I’ve seen posted in several threads that Bucknell is made up of preppy, engineering, frat boys. I’ve also seen “boonies” or “remote” come up. </p>
<p>I can guarantee you that there is a place for more than one type of student. My son is poli sci/philo, musical, not preppy, middle class, and very happy there. There are “jocks” there, but there are also singers, actors and musicians, politically active students, a decent student newspaper, and a wide variety of campus sponsored clubs and events that are not Greek. While Lewisburg is not a large city, road trips to NYC, Washington D.C. and Philly are common.</p>
<p>First hand knowledge will give you a better picture. Feel free to pm me if you’d like.</p>
<p>Hi, texastaximom... (I'm a mom, too, using my daughter's id.) My daughter was waitlisted at her top choice and was accepted to Bucknell. She was hesitant to even apply because all the college reviewbooks stress the "frat/sorority" lifestyle and party atmosphere. She's certainly not a wallflower, but apprehensive about going to a college with cliques and exclusionary social gatherings. That seems to be her view of Bucknell right now. I'm sure there are many different types of student....it's a great school with a wonderful reputation. There is an admitted student open house in a couple of weeks that we plan on attending. Maybe that will eliminate some of her apprehension. Thank you so much for taking the time to post! Any additional info. from students, parents, alum would be appreciated.<br>
lab845's mom.</p>
<p>Glad to be of some help. I am a bit frustrated that all of the sudden people who have a sister's cousin's aunt that attended fifteen years ago are now the "experts," and there are a lot of rumors and stereotypes being attached to many schools...ie only geeks go here and there is no fun, or everyone is rich and all they talk about are their fancy cars and clothes etc...It's not just Bucknell that has a rep.</p>
<p>At Bucknell you can join the College Republicans and write for the Counterweight, or join the College Democrats and write for All That's Left. The athletes will be IN your classes. There is a theatre group, and a comedey troupe, several types of singing organizations etc...they have freshmen writing for the Bucknellian. It isn't a place where you must hang back for years.</p>
<p>When you attend admitted students day, make sure you investigate all the various clubs and organizations that will provide entertainment and friendships. Freshmen aren't even allowed to rush, so that's 1/4 people that aren't Greek right there!</p>
<p>My son is a debater, very "left" leaning, and not concerned with his wardrobe. :p He fits in fine, enjoys his classes and his professors.</p>
<p>Well said, T-T-Mom.....this coming from the mom of a son who IS an engineering frat boy...although the anti-prep - thinks dressing for dinner means basketball shorts and a clean t-shirt. He couldn't care less about most of the non-academic clubs - if he's got a pizza shop, a handful of friends and basketball hoop - he's in heaven.</p>
<p>Yes, there are frats...Do they have parties?? Of course....Do they dominate the social scene?? Only if you view it as that and take no steps to participate or amuse yourself elsewhere. Remember - the total greek membership is a distinct MINORITY of the total enrollment, so there are a lot of students there with other interests - it will be up to you to seek them out.</p>
<p>It's the same thing at schools without the greek scene - take ND or Rice....you are encouraged to stay in the same dorm all 4 yrs., so that small group of people in essence becomes your clique...only without paying dues!</p>
<p>Please understand that adcoms look for more than that great test score and GPA - they want to see your ECs to see your interests, so they can admit kids with lots of DIFFERENT interests. Probably a large part of why we see students being denied/waitlisted - they had great stats, but no other activities - or at least none that were unique enough to make them stand out from the other kids with great stats.</p>
<p>You will find cliques and special interest groups no matter where you choose to enroll....don't think otherwise. It will be a very unhappy 4 yrs. for you, unless you are willing to make the effort to leave your room and seek out and make new friends with shared interests and create opportunities for fun.</p>
<p>HARD...waaay harder than high school. A real eye-opener for my S - the kid who always 'got' the math and science stuff - not fond of writing too much - kind of skated a bit until sr. year of high school.
AP courses were good prep for him. The grading systems profs use is stricter - time management became a priority very early in frosh yr.</p>
<p>That said, he just loves it - AP credits got him out of a lot of basic courses, but his faves are the ones in his major. Thinks very highly of his profs in his major and his advisor - seems they always have time for a question after class hours - usually no appt. necessary.</p>
<p>Now cannot imagine himself at any of the other schools he got into - has really found his niche there. Sad to say - when he is home here, it almost feels like he is just visiting - that his 'home' now is at BU. While there is a certain peace seeing your child so happy and active there, there's also the requisite 'catch' in the heart, realizing the baby birds are leaving the nest...as they are meant to do.</p>
<p>I'll have to ditto beachy....the academics are harder than high school, particularly the non-major classes you take for your "core" requirements, but not insurmountable. The AP exam results are good predictors. If you made 4s or 5s you can swing an A, if you made 3s or below, expect lower grades. My son came in with enough credits to finish his core save for one course this first year. He is double majoring. What is nice is that his required freshman seminar was with his academic advisor, so they were in contact twice a week the entire first semester. The seminar had about 12 kids.</p>
<p>His largest class is a special philosophy of music class that is only taught every three years, so 150 kids are in it. He doesn't have any other classes even close to that size. It's very popular. </p>
<p>As with beachy's son, mine feels more at home at school now. He likes his friends, his classes, his lifestyle. I am pleased that he's been able to become involved early on, and has activities he enjoys. Because of the distance (over 1600 miles) he comes home only over long holidays, but he prefers it that way. There is much more to do there! Like chicken wing night!</p>
<p>good point about class size, T-T-Mom.....my S's largest class was his first Chem class - about 60 in the lecture...maybe 24 in the lab portion. All others - through his 4th semester - have been anywhere from 12-20 students.</p>
<p>Note to engineeers - your 5 score in AP chem will probably not get you anything at BU - they apparently do not consider high school chem labs of any sort on a par with what is expected fof engineering chem labs at BU - so no credit for engineering majors. If you are not an engineering major, your high score on that test may free up an elective for you.</p>