Bucknell v. Lehigh v. SUNY Geneseo

<p>Hey Everyone,</p>

<p>I am a senior trying to decide between these three schools. I have visited them all and am still having a very difficult time deciding. My intended field of study is most likely biochemistry with some combination of Spanish and international relations. </p>

<p>BUCKNELL:</p>

<p>-I really love the area, the campus, and the faculty I have talked to all seem really great. It is the first campus that I really felt comfortable on and I know that it is a place I would enjoy going to school. I also really love the idea of the Res colleges there. The main issue is price; I got a Dean's scholarship for 10K and an okay financial aid package but excluding grants and my scholarship it would still cost $27K a year. My family can't really afford this much but it could change when my sister goes to college in two years. I'm not sure how I would feel going to a school where I can barely scrape enough money together, especially when most of the students are fairly wealthly. Other than that, I really love the school</p>

<p>LEHIGH:</p>

<p>-I was accepted as an Eckhardt Scholar so there are definitely some benefits to that. I am also very interested their Global Citizenship Program. I really love the campus and with the financial aid I got it would be around 20K a year. My one concern is that South Bethlehem seems really sketchy and it definitely has a reputation for being a huge party school (I love having a good time but I'm not sure I can handle that). The campus seems to have a lot to offer but I'm not sure if their arts and sciences is as good as their engineering program.</p>

<p>SUNY GENESEO: </p>

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<li>I was accepted as an Edgar Fellow so I would live in a dorm with everyone in the program and take a few classes with them. The program also ncluded a $2,000 renewable scholarship. The price would be about $18K a year and my dad agreed to buy me a car if I go there. I have heard a lot of great things abot the school and the people seem nice. They just built a new science building which is fantastic inside. I am a little worried that the campus seems run-down and that because it is a state schools budget cuts will affect the quality of the education I would receive. The transfer out rate is about 20%. Also, it seems like it is a bit in the middle of nowhere and not very close to where I would work or go to grad-school. </li>
</ul>

<p>I would really like to hear what other people think about these different schools. Is it a good idea to spend more money on a more well-known university or save the money at a state school? I am having an extremely difficult time deciding and any help would be extremely appreciated!</p>

<p>I’d go with Geneseo here. It has a really similar feel to Bucknell and Lehigh and the price difference is enough to convince me. My major turnoff with Geneseo was the location but Bucknell is also pretty secluded, and everyone at Geneseo seems to love it.</p>

<p>Thanks for the response! After crunching some numbers, I figured out that Bucknell will be about $20K more than the other schools so now my decision is really between Geneseo and Bucknell which would be pretty much the same price, give or take $5k. I got invited to extremely similar programs at both and each has a very nice new science building, so it’s definitely going to be a tough choice.</p>