<p>I have finally narrowed down my choices to these three schools. Right now, I want to major in biology. From your experiences/opinion, which one has the best bio program?</p>
<p>Bucknell. </p>
<p>Haha. I think you would do well in biology at any of these three.</p>
<p>Bucknell may be slightly more prestigious/selective but the difference is negligible. All three are great options</p>
<p>Aberdeen where are you?
I remember reading a number of insightful, positive posts about the Bucknell biology/pre-med program that Aberdeen posted over the last year or so. I am not very savvy with formatting text but I have copy/pasted three of his past posts which may be helpful to confused2017.</p>
<p>“Bucknell…my take
I have to echo what DKJAMEI (just a great honest, and truthful post!) wrote and continue the conversation…I am a 2011 grad now in medical school and I majored in Biology while at Bucknell. I had the chance to get a great liberal arts education–and while I worked very hard–I also had a great time with a lot of activities which included being in a fraternity and playing a club sport. I lived on campus all four years and had great roommates who were in the Engineering School and the Management School. All three of my roommates were hired and had jobs just after the December break in their respective fields…Bucknell’s alumni are great at endorsing Bucknellians for jobs and recruiters come to the campus-- and if you are an engineer or you are business oriented–chances are you will be hired. My roommates all had their jobs secured just after December break! The “Work Hard-Play Hard” mantra exists…but from my experience most everyone seemed to do it at their pace. The Biology Department was terrific in preparing me for medical school and the work required in obtaining admission. Having an excellent Pre-Health adviser personalized the experience…and this made it easier to get everything completed. FACT: Getting into medical school is hard for everyone even for an Ivy League type there are lots of hoops to jump through–Bucknell made it manageable and simplified the process. I had the opportunity to do an “externship” my sophomore year and I had a paid internship my junior year–all sponsored by Bucknell alumni in the medical field. If you are looking to go into medicine–Bucknell alumni doctors come back to the campus to speak and are helpful with the guidance they provide during their talks. Like anything in life–you get out of it what you put into it–I love Bucknell for its beauty–but most of all–for the people I met there. I met friends for life and my professors were “hands on”–it was worth the sacrifice of taking out loans–I was well-prepared. There was plenty to do, I liked the Lewisburg atmosphere and was not bothered that the school was located in the middle of PA…that will not stop you from doing what you want to do…it was a great four years!”</p>
<p>“Bucknell Pre Health
Bucknell University-good class size overall 10:1 teaching ratio in most classes;excellence of rigor and strength in top majors such as Bio; Cell Bio; Chem; Neuro; Animal Behavior-courses will challenge and prepare you to be a the top of your game; with excellent opportunities to perform research on/off campus {year round}{with great alum network}; excellent Pre Med advising with opportunities to shadow/“externship” doctors and other health professionals during the winter of sophomore year;strong alum support in the health sciences-as Bucknell invites alumni doctors back {frequently} to talk with Pre-Health/Med Bucknellians about their practice/s and research; ability to secure internships in health care activities through Bucknell alums; superior Career Development Center (for help with writing PS, secondaries, mock interview training, etcability to work on various service health related activities close to school;ability to demonstrate leadership in many school activities offered; a school noted for a high placement of students in many types of graduate programs in many majors; ability to garner scholarship/s grants as an undergrad; supportive faculty-no TAs;supportive classmates-no gunner/cut throat types;cooperative atmosphere with Pre Meds; great overall liberal arts education; (I have a bias as a 2011 grad taking a gap year-accepted to med school for August, 2012”</p>
<p>aberdeen
Junior Member</p>
<p>“I have to agree with antikantian----Hands down, I received a superior education at Bucknell. As an '11 graduate who majored in Biology, was in a fraternity–and took some very difficult chemistry and physics courses as part of my Pre-Med program, I found that the amount of writing I did in all of my classes definitely helped me. I am taking a ‘gap year’ and working now–and was just accepted into medical school— which will begin August, 2012. During my medical school interviews this fall a number of my interviewers commented about the strength of my writing ability in my personal statement. I am very thankful of the personal attention I received at Bucknell and especially for the personal attention I received in the development of all the numerous papers I wrote during my four years–I think it helped me craft a great personal statement for med school. At Bucknell students write–a lot–and all of the time–and I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to develop my writing skill under the tutelage of many great professors in not only science courses, but also in the English and philosophy courses I took. Many of my friends were engineers–they wrote, too---------- and I know employers value that skill in those they hire. Recently, I spoke to a person in HR of an engineering firm recently and I asked him what makes Bucknell engineers different from all of the other engineers you hire–his reply–“ALL of them can write.” If you are looking for a school that will challenge you to critically think and write–Bucknell could be the place for you. I know all of my training in communication will help me beyond medical school.”</p>
<p>All I can say is that my goddaughter is graduating from Bucknell this Spring and she has her pick of medical schools. Did independent research and aced the MCATS…</p>
<p>Thank you NYGmen for your endorsement! Dear Confused 2017…you have a difficult choice but I can assure you if you do decide to attend Bucknell and are willing to work hard…I think that you will discover the pay off will be great in so many ways. You will attend a super school and meet lots of great people and you will find that if you seek individual attention for your needs-Bucknell will provide the resources for you to set and achieve goals. Now as I finish my last month of my first year of medical school-I can honestly say that I was well prepared for the rigor of the work (and med school is rigorous and it is hard-don’t kid yourself into thinking that a potentially high MCAT score automatically will make it a breeze-you will or least should be humbled by the work load) and my Bucknell preparation was absolutely the reason why I could handle the load. I have a meaningful summer research project that I will commence upon this summer at my med school to get experience and get published and I know that skills I learned about my capabilities at Bucknell-helped me to secure this research. Best of luck in your selection-I hope it is Bucknell!</p>
bump (is Lehigh’s any good, compared to Bucknell?)