<p>I am a senior with a 3.3 GPA, 5.1 weighted GPA,1960 SAT score, and ranked 84th out of 404 students. I am looking into applying early decision to Bucknell as a pre-medical major. I have yet to visit the school (I know I’m late). I dance, play the piano, completed an internship as a dental assistant, volunteered with senior citizens, and participated in yearbook and a volunteer club at school. My admissions essay is pretty good. It’s about a hardship I overcame in my life which also had an impact on my grades in freshman year. I took mostly AP and honors classes (except for math).
What do you think my chances are of getting in? and do you think Bucknell will give a substantial amount of financial aid and grants, considering I participate in the free lunch program at school? My other choices are Gettysburg and Temple. What do you guys think? Feel free to leave any input on your experiences and opinions of Bucknell and other colleges 
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<p>I visited Bucknell a few weeks ago and it has been my top choice ever since. During the information session they told us that the average student graduates with $23,000 of debt. If you are accepted, you will receive significant financial aid and grants. Your class rank is pretty low but depending on the severity of your circumstances they will hopefully understand. Have your grades improved every year since your freshmen year? This will also be important. You have an average amount of extracurriculars but the internship is good. What is your sat score by section? I think that for a pre-med student CR and M will be weighted heavier than reading. The lower 25th percentile of accepted applicants had 580 on Math, 620 on Critical Reading, and 600 on writing. Since your GPA is lower you’re going to want to be higher on the sat though. I think you have a chance at Bucknell but maybe not for a pre-med program because those are highly competitive. As far as Gettysburg is concerned, I live near the school and I visited it a few weeks ago and it seems pretty nice. They are less selective than Bucknell but still are a good school. The tuition there is also high but they give out lots of financial aid. I only know that Temple is a very large school while the other two that you are looking at are small with a lot smaller classes and better academics in a lot of subjects. Bucknells’ campus is in a small town out in the country and Gettysburg is in a small town adjacent to the battlefield. Gettysburg is closer to other towns than Bucknell is. I hope this helps. </p>
<p>I have a 570 in math and 710 in reading. Do you think it would be better to apply undecided or for a less competitive major and then change if accepted?</p>
<p>I think that you have to apply to a specific department at Bucknell such as arts and sciences, social sciences, engineering, etc. If you really want to go to Bucknell I would suggest that you apply for a less competitive major although I was told that transferring between majors is difficult. Have you considered taking the SAT again to improve your math score? Bucknell also reccomends 2 sat subject tests such. Since you want to do premed the Biology subject test may be good to take. Will you have strong letters of reccomendation?</p>
<p>My math ACT score should be better than my SAT, but the problem is if I apply for early decision they may not get there on time. My recommendations should be good. A history teacher I had for three years wrote one, my chemistry teacher wrote another, and my guidance counselor wrote one on hardships. What has been confusing for me is figuring out whether it would be more beneficial for me to apply early decision to Bucknell or Gettysburg. Although Bucknell is more competitive applicant’s scores tend to be lower than at Gettysburg. </p>
<p>Adding my two cents on a couple of things - Bucknell does not require / recommend subject tests, although if submitted they will be considered. Also I’m not sure where OP found test scores for Gettysburg that are higher than Bucknell’s - I took a quick look online as well as checked with our Princeton Review Best Colleges book and Bucknell consistently has higher scores. However, since Gettysburg is test-optional and Bucknell is not it would make sense that Gettysburg’s scores would be inflated since only applicants with strong test results would choose to submit them. </p>
<p>Since the pre med program at Bucknell is competitive would it be beneficial for me to apply undecided?
And thanks guys, all the input has been very informative!</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bucknell.edu/career-development-center/students/consider-graduate-or-professional-school/pre-health/pre-medical-course-requirements.html”>http://www.bucknell.edu/career-development-center/students/consider-graduate-or-professional-school/pre-health/pre-medical-course-requirements.html</a></p>
<p>Here is a link that tells you about the requirements for pre med at Bucknell. You can apply to any of the specific schools , for example arts and sciences, and still take the premed requirements according to the website. I think the school of arts and sciences has the highest acceptance rate but you may want to fact check that.</p>
<p>I just found this about the acceptance rate by school.
<a href=“https://www.bucknell.edu/campus-life/class-pages-in-pictures/class-of-2017/class-of-2017-profile.html”>https://www.bucknell.edu/campus-life/class-pages-in-pictures/class-of-2017/class-of-2017-profile.html</a>
The arts and humanities and the school of physical and natural sciences have acceptance rates of about 39% whereas people who apply undecided are only accepted about 27% of the time. So I would suggest not applying undecided.</p>
<p>You can have any major and be pre-med. To get into med school, you need to take the prerequisite classes and maximize your gpa. One of the most common majors going into med school after biology is philosophy. Major in something that interests you (you will do better if you are interested in the classes) and take the prereq classes.</p>
<p>bp0001 so would it be better to apply to Bucknell and major in something less competitive while taking pre med prereq? The only thing I’m unsure of is whether Bucknell will have enough room to allow me to take the prereq classes because I’ve heard some people have trouble switching programs since classes fill up fast. </p>
<p>You should apply to Muhlenberg instead.</p>
<p>A 3.3 is a tough one at Bucknell. Muhlenberg has a better pre-med program anyway,</p>
<p>There is no requirement to have a premed undergraduate degree to go to med school. I know doctors who came out of Bucknell who had Biology, Math and Electrical Engineering degrees. None of them had a problem getting into the prereq classes, but I won’t say it never happens. I just haven’t heard of it. Bucknell has a vested interest in you getting into the prereq classes and succeeding in your chosen field. They like happy alumni.</p>
<p>I GOT ACCEPTED!!! I applied early decision</p>
@dashak congrats! Did your aid meet your expectation?