Bucknell is an hour on the highway to Penn State. Would you rather visit State College PA or Utica?
Pick which you like best, you like best.
@meemook Bucknell does not offer an MBA. It just created a College Of Management and it has a rigorous and successful business major curriculum. But no masters.
“If any part of your uncertainty is a struggle between your heart and mind, follow your mind.”
– John Galt
I was impressed by Hamilton’s academics. The faculty members are very productive. Seemingly as productive as they would be if they were at a university with graduate students. That means there is a lot of research and scholarship going on. The college students seemed very involved in the faculty members research. They seemed to play the role that graduate students usually play. Seemed like they were getting great experiences and presentations and publication authorships-pretty unusual for a 4 year college. College students who are involved research labs at universities are rarely involved at a level beyond menial tasks because they are often working with graduate students rather than faculty members and the graduate students are the ones involved with the faculty member’s research at levels above menial.
@meemook I think your observations are spot on. The only thing I might disagree with is there is more to do around Bucknell. While the street adjacent to Bucknell is very cute with restaurants and shops, that may get tired after awhile as it really is just one little street. The area surrounding Bucknell is more remote than Hamilton.
I think what it comes down to is size and Greek life. While not a huge school, Bucknell feels much bigger with twice as many students. Is 1800 students at Hamilton too small? Some kids say it absolutely is too small, while others are fine with it. Are you okay with a heavy influence of Greek life and a party reputation at Bucknell? Again, some kids want that and some don’t. After thinking it all through and if you are still tied, I would go with Hamilton for the quality of the education and slight prestige factor. But it is a tough decision for sure.
I would say Hamilton if your priority is academics, Bucknell if Greek Life is primordial to you (you’ll have Greek Life, but less so, at Hamilton; and good academics in your area of interest, but less so, at Bucknell.)
Thank you all so much for you comments, corrections and input! I really appreciate all your help.
Let us know what you decide!
You said that the social scene was more happening at Bucknell. If you took parties and drinking out of the equation which school offers the most in terms of entertainment and activities?
Both schools seemed to have excellent opportunities for alcohol-free fun. They each have programs to being big name music artists and bands to the campus for music festivals as well.
The difference is that you’d be in a tiny minority at Bucknell. Even if you don’t want to partake and don’t plan to join a fraternity, if most of your friends do, it’s more difficult either to not follow suit just because you don’t want to be left out, or to accept being part of a very small group. I agree the college does a lot to try and circonscribe the need to “follow suit” for students who wanted to remain independent and/or want to have alcohol-free fun but there’s no denying Greek life is dominant at Bucknell and if you’re looking for alcohol-free, Bucknell’s not the place. Greek life is something they are proud of and it’s a big deal so if you’re looking for a very active Greek life is a plus, but if you’re not, it’s a minus.
I think Bucknell would be a better option just because of the overall appeal of the campus. Most students have tons of school spirit at bucknell. No one even knows hamiltons mascot. I also would say that bucknell offers more to do in terms of the outdoors. Hamilton doesn’t have a river right behind campus. Lewisburg is also a beautiful town. I would also say if you look at the professor ratings in econ and polysci for bucknell, the professors are much better in those departments at bucknell than hamilton. Classes won’t be much bigger because of the same student to faculty ratio. Bucknell is bigger in size, but also has more faculty which is a good thing. When I visited Hamilton and Bucknell, I loved Bucknell a lot more.
“I would say if you look at the professor ratings in econ . . . the professors are much better . . . at Bucknell” (#31)
By economics faculty publishing, Hamilton is one of the strongest schools in the country:
School | Rank*
Hamilton: 5
Bucknell: 36
*“Economics Departments at Liberal Arts Colleges,” IDEAS. Hamilton is also one of only six LACs to appear in “US Economics Departments,” which includes universities and is not normalized for department size.
“Bucknell offers more to do in terms of the outdoors” (#31)
“Hamilton College students Climb all 46 [Adirondack] mountain peaks,” USA Today.
“because of the overall appeal of the campus”
“The 25 Most Beautiful College Campuses in America,” Thrillist.
These are good choices to have. Both schools are highly selective and admit less than 25% of applicants. Bucknell is larger, has Div 1 sports, and is more fun to attend. Hamilton is somewhat more intellectual with a niche as a writing program.
Hey everyone! It was a super tough choice, but after much deliberation, I have decided to attend Bucknell. Thank you all again for your input on this decision!
@meemook : Congratulations and good luck!
Can you explain how you made your final decision? 
Congrats and best of luck to you!
Well, I didn’t see that one coming 
I was just about to post that Bucknell didn’t seem like a good fit. In my limited research (and visits) Bucknell would win socially (if you are like-minded re: greek life, preppiness, and jock) but Hamilton would win academically.
Best of luck OP ~ I truly believe in the end that college is what you make of it for the most part and its unusual to find students who after all the soul-searching they do in this major intersection of life that believe they made the wrong choice. Most end up loving their school.