<p>I have been killing myself for the past few weeks with this decision, weighing the pros and cons of each, and I'm utterly at a loss. </p>
<p>I understand that, financially, I would do much better at Penn State Schreyer. I also understand that PSU Schreyer has perhaps more prestige than Bucknell. However, Bucknell has a better campus, smaller classes, better professors, and has better students than PSU as a whole. </p>
<p>I am in a conundrum. Could someone please offer some insight as to the pros/cons (including graduate school placement, which I haven't considered) and a personal opinion on which school they would choose?</p>
<p>I understand that this is a completely personal decision, but collegeconfidential kids seem pretty astute when it comes to these things, so any thoughts are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch.</p>
<p>Mom of a Schreyer student here. You have two excellent but very different options. If you need a small environment with small classes to do well, I would lean toward Bucknell.
If you prefer a larger environment - and can stay motivated to take advantage of the many opportunities provided by the honors college, consider PSU.<br>
Only you know the impact of the financial differences. In my son's case, the cost difference between PSU and the private schools he was accepted to was huge (over 100K). So...we'll help him...signicantly... for grad school. And we're funding a great study abroad trip. For him, there were big trade-offs.
The Schreyer kids are a nice bunch of kids and are very smart. You can choose to hang out with them or not. Most of the kids we know are very happy. But it's NOT a small private school experience by any measure. Lots of your classes will be big. The campus is huge. Football is huge. Do you like football?
So, it really comes down to what works for you ...considering your preferences, what each school has to offer, and of course the price.
All the best!</p>
<p>"However, Bucknell has a better campus, smaller classes, better professors, and has better students than PSU as a whole."</p>
<p>Wow, that's a lot of garbage. Do you have a parent or best friend that went to Bucknell? I would understand if this was U Penn, but Bucknell?!?!? I am not really sure how you can even compare the two. Bucknell is #30 on the LAC list, while Penn State UP is #48 on the national university list. There is a significant overlap in the students going to both places. Ivy League kids with their elitist attitudes on here are annoying but moderately tolerable, but Bucknell puts you nowhere near that soap box. After having seen both myself, Penn State definitely has a better campus than Bucknell and very similar students. Better Professors? Wow, great factless opinion you have there. I think you should probably just go to Bucknell. They have obviously been giving you a little too much "Bucknell is great" Kool Aid. Penn State Schreyer is much better than Bucknell. You are not better than coming to Penn State. Schreyer was very hard to get accepted into and you were probably lucky to get in.</p>
<p>From experience at our high school, Penn state Schreyer is harder to get into than Bucknell. Honors classes are small, but you have all the opportunities of a major land grant school. I know 2 students who loved PS and graduated into great careers.</p>
<p>I'd choose PSU Schreyer over Bucknell.</p>
<p>And another thing, I would take a regular Penn State UP acceptance over Bucknell. I know plenty of people that did that.</p>
<p>^ LOL, jec! </p>
<p>Be nice...;)</p>
<p>I would choose Penn State if I was in the OP's shoes...but, that's me.</p>
<p>I also got into Bucknell, and I have research A LOT into the school (I ultimately decided not to go there), so this might be helpful:</p>
<p>If you want to grad school in anything, go to Bucknell. A MUCH, MUCH, MUCH higher percentage of people go to grad school from Bucknell than from Penn State, or even other better national schools for that matter, such as Columbia, Rice, Cornell, etc. </p>
<p>ALSO, if you want to major in economics or engineering, whether or not you want to go on to grad school, go to Bucknell. </p>
<p>BUT, for anything else, go to Penn State Schreyer.</p>
<p>Graduate school placement for Schreyer kids is VERY good.
I agree that Economics is not very strong at PSU.
But Engineering is a top program and Schreyer makes it even better. Other top programs: Business, Science, IT, Meteorlogy, Earth Sciences.
It boils down to a matter of preference and money.
Big or small. Pricey or reasonable (for most unless your getting big aid from Bucknell).
Bucknell has an edge in prestige - but it may be canceled out with Schreyer.
More PSU alumni around...great for getting jobs.
BTW, lots of threads popping up about Schreyer recently. Schreyer vs. Cornell, Schreyer vs ND, Schreyer vs UNC, Schreyer vs Swartmore. My opinion? PSU on its own is a very good school. Lots of top programs, great college town, happy kids. Schreyer makes it even better. Do a search to get other views...</p>
<p>I agree with JEC7483 100%. That notion is simply delusional.</p>
<p>"But Engineering is a top program and Schreyer makes it even better."--toneranger</p>
<p>I'd have to respectfully disagree. Bucknell IS engineering. That is basically their turf, and Bucknell is known amongst all employers as THE school for engineering. A part of the reason Bucknell succeeds in other departments such as physics, math, and economics is simply because it attracts so many hardcore intellectual engineer prospects who need the physics and math, and also often minor or even double major in economics (which is probably why 30% of all Investment Bankers come from engineering majors). So again, if it is economics or engineering that you're looking for, or grad school in any field, then go with Bucknell, but for anything else, go with Schreyer. </p>
<p>P.S. Bucknell's campus is A LOT nicer than Schreyer's too, in case this matters to you.</p>
<p>colber - we will agree to disagree. PSU has a fine and top ranked engineering dept that is highly regarded by employers...don't see much difference there. I know a bunch of PSU engineers - all doing VERY well, Schreyer or not. Bucknell may have a good local rep but my cousins in the mid-west and west coast have never heard of it. Come on, we're not talking Cornell here. Get real.
I have also seen both campuses. PSU has a LOT more going on and I think it's beautiful too - as do many. </p>
<p>Hey, I worked in IB for years. They like Ivy grads...sorry.</p>
<p>Bucknell is a hell of a school for quantitative areas of study (not to mention most everything else). When you compare the PSU honors college with a highly selective private liberal arts college, you're really looking at apples and oranges. At Bucknell, I sincerely doubt you'll have more than 1 or 2 professors (at most) that aren't PhD (or equivalent) tenure track profs, whereas PSU can't necessarily guarantee that. Nor can any major university offer the bucolic awesomeness of a LAC...</p>
<p>"Hey, I worked in IB for years. They like Ivy grads...sorry."--toneranger</p>
<p>--Yeah, I guess that's why 42 Hamilton College grads are currently IB'ing for Goldman Sachs...oh wait, Hamilton isn't even ivy league, oh *<strong><em>, it isn't even a national university, it's an LAC like Bucknell, oh *</em></strong>, it isn't even in the top 10 list for LAC's, holy crap...how'd that happen?????...sorry, but don't be so condescending next time.</p>
<p>I stand by my statement. I said the big IBs LIKE Ivy grads...it's a fact. Stanford and MIT also make the cut. Bucknell is not a target school. Nor is Hamilton. A few from PSU Schreyer make it through GS and Merrill each year - VERY few though.
Not that I agree with the approach. It's an elitist way to run things for sure.<br>
But back to Bucknell and PSU Schreyer.
They ARE very different. Small Liberal Arts College or Big Ten School with a quality honors program. Kids from both places are very successful. You want small classes. Go to Bucknell. But you'll get quite a few small classes and top professors at PSU too. It really depends on what you want and - sometimes - how much money you have. IMO, one is not better than the other. Just different.</p>
<p>^Well, now that is a much more rational statement that I think I can learn to agree with.</p>
<p>"Better Professors? Wow, great factless opinion you have there"</p>
<p>As I have taken classes at both PSU and Bucknell, I stand by my statement that I believe Bucknell to have better professors, with more degrees in their respective fields than at PSU (with 97% of Bucknell professors having PhD's). I'm sorry, jec 7483, as I think I may have hit a personal note, but I don't consider myself above Penn State. This is why I am posting this thread. I appreciate your opinion, however. Thanks.</p>
<p>P.S. both my parents are PSU grads.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your input, toneranger. There is definitely overwhelming differences between both schools, but I'll be happy with either of them. I think I might value small classes over a broader curriculum, but I'm still thinking. Thanks again.</p>
<p>sobelshred - Once again, I'll say you are lucky to have such good choices. I think you know that though. It seems you really can't go wrong here...
Make your decision and don't look back.
Let us know too :)
Good luck!</p>
<p>I personally would choose Penn State Schreyer. I was rejected from Schreyer, but I'm still going to Penn State. I would choose Penn State for things like THON, football games, tailgating, and just the overall school spirit of the school. What is your intened major? Have you visited both? Do you feel like you belong at one over the other? Is money an issue? Did one school offer you more money than the other? </p>
<p>Good Luck with your decision.</p>