Cultural fit for/of Bucknell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bucknell University
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<p>Bucknell is on my son’s list.</p>

<p>I would like to get some feel for Bucknell’s general “culture”.</p>

<p>Let me ask a litmus test question.</p>

<p>During the 2008 election season, would Obama have been cheered or booed by the majority of the students at Bucknell? OR, was it that nobody cared or everybody was too busy with work and partying to notice anything?</p>

<p>I know I am blunt, but I think I can get a fairly good feel for the student body in general when I hear what people have to say.</p>

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<p>i know what youre going for, but interest among young adults in the 2008 election–and obama in particular–was so atypical that im not sure responses will translate well to campus culture at any other point in the recent past (or future). itd be like attempting to gauge general student interest in world poverty right after the haiti earthquake. supporting obama was very much a ‘cool’ thing to do.</p>

<p>that said, local election results indicate that the student body did vote (rather overwhelmingly) for obama in 2008 … and voted in rather large numbers, too.</p>

<p>speaking generally: there is a sizable, vocal (largely fiscally) conservative minority on campus. in fact, more often than not, through the conservatives club and its ‘counterweight’ publication, this minority is actually the schools the loudest political voice. but the school does lean left of center. not like the student bodies at oberlin or bard or wesleyan, but quite a bit left of center nonetheless. for better or worse, that probably makes bucknell one of the more politically diverse small colleges in the country.</p>

<p>unfortunately (at least from my point of view), its not the most politically active school. during the 2004 election, students filled the lounges to watch the debates. there were some signs hung in dorm room windows and on doors. but it wasnt something most people talked about over dinner. and it certainly wasnt something most people argued about after having a few too many drinks on friday night. thats not to say there werent those people. put 3500 smart kids in one place and you can find groups of them interested in just about anything. i did attend a pretty great election party (well, until kerry lost), after all.</p>

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<p>thank you for your thoughtful reply. We were not looking for a liberal hot bed per se. What you described is good enough for us.</p>

<p>I posed the original question because of some disturbing stuff I heard about another highly selective, well known, and small PA private college. I read a post that says after Obama was elected, there were several racial incidents on campus (by the students), and the president of the university had to convene a town hall meeting to discuss race related matters with the students. This was a shock to me - an elite college within 2 hours of NYC, not in a Dixie land!!! So I had to ask myself whether Bucknell (another small, private, PA school further away from the coast) has this problem. (by the way, I heard other examples of the “race attitudes” at this school).</p>

<p>Wake Forest was also on my S’s list. It came off the list promptly when we read a post on CC by a very happy WF student (white) who said something to the effect that black students have nothing to worry since there is ONLY ONE frat that does not admit black students, and black students can try other frats that may accept them. </p>

<p>We are a multi racial, multi faith family. I wouldn’t want my S to be in an environment like that.</p>

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<p>From what I have heard from my D2, a junior at Bucknell, I concur with ericatbucknell’s response.</p>

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<p>As a Bucknell student, I was involved in a political discussion a few weeks ago, and out of the six of us involved, four were registered Democrats, one was a registered Republican, and one Independent. That being said, Bucknell is certainly not as liberal as many other colleges; it is rather politically mixed.</p>

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<p>I’ve had 2 siblings go here before me, and even in my time here I’ve seen the school get a lot less conservative and preppy. It’s not really my fit anymore. I’m don’t particularly care about politics but I am definitely more conservative/preppy. As far as the 08 election, Obama was definitely cheered. A lot. Like written in chalk EVERYwhere, stickers and bullhorns shouting it out.
Personally, now I wish I had gone to my other choices (Gtown, Pton, W&L, WF).</p>

7

<p>did you turn down the acceptance from Princeton, Wake Forest, Geogetown in favor of Bucknell??? Can you share with us what about Bucknell stood out that made you choose it? </p>

<p>As for my kid, a bit more liberalizing atmosphere is welcome so that’s the step in the right direction. If there is something so outstanding about Bucknell that convinced a Princeton admit to come to Bucknell instead, I would love to hear about it. Bucknell is on my son’s list of potential ED schools, and it would be great to hear your thoughts.</p>

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<p>I have to admit that I too was curious as to why you would select Bucknell over Princeton. I have a D at Bucknell and am a Bucknell grad. But, let’s face it, Princeton is much more well known and has more prestige. Both schools are equally expensive, so I doubt money was the deciding factor.</p>

<p>They only other student I know that choose Bucknell over Princeton ( and I know very few ) was my father. He was accepted to Princeton back in the days when Princeton students were mostly from private high schools. My father was from a public school.
So Princeton accepted him and required he go an extra year of hs to get the classes taught in private schools (latin, etc) He choose Bucknell instead.</p>

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<p>I have a sneaking suspicion that the post was some kind of a joke. In the information session I attended, they made it clear that almost all of the financial aid is for the need based, not merit based. Furthermore, Princeton is very well known for extremely generous need based financial aid, while the same cannot be said about Bucknell. So, there is NO reason anybody would choose Bucknell over Princeton for the financial reason. </p>

<p>By almost every imaginable yardstick, Bucknell and Princeton are not even close. And, on top of that Georgetown also turned down? What else, Harvard too?</p>

<p>This is NOT to denigrate Bucknell. My son is actually very interested, and I think it’s a great school and perhaps better than most of its peer schools, but still, come on…</p>

<p>If there is something truly amazing about Bucknell that nobody ever heard of, let’s hear it.</p>

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<p>Morrismm, I also chose Bucknell over Princeton.</p>

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<p>Interesting read. My D is a junior. When she decided to go to Bucknell she had no interest in Princeton. She was waitlisted at Princeton and I made her keep her name on the list (she didn’t get in). She told me she had no interest in Princeton and was very satisfied with Bucknell. As far as Georgetown ( I am a GT alum) I feel the education my D is getting at Bucknell (at least for science) is exactly right for her and much better than she would have gotten at Georgetown. I am so impressed by what she is learning and the personal attention she is getting. Something I never got in college. If you are talking about other depts (international business, foreign service, language, etc) maybe it’s best to be in D.C. but I’m sure Bucknell offers great opportunities too.
So don’t judge a school on prestige, just where you feel you will do best and what the opportunities are in what you are interested in. If I had to do it again, I would have done better at a school like Bucknell than Georgetown but I have college friends who think GT was the greatest place. My husband had a great experience at SUNY Binghamton and is very upset when I get the “You went to Georgetown?” response. It is sad that you are judged by where you go to college and they do not see past that. I am very proud to be a Bucknell parent. </p>

<p>But that is why all colleges have a fit for a particular student. I know that Bucknell or any school isn’t perfect, but it is what opportunities the school has to offer you as an individual that is important.</p>

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<p>Purplegirl–Would your D have gone to Princeton had she gotten off the waitlist? If not, why did you insist she stay on?</p>

<p>I think Bucknell is a great school. I also have, over the years, gotten the “You went to Bucknell?” question. And my D is getting a great education. A professor asked her to do research with him next semester. She is abroad this semester, but he emailed her to ask if she was interested. She accepted and was honored that he sought her out even though she was abroad. It’s a great opportunity for her. Bucknell offers many great opportunities.</p>

<p>But I still think I would not turn down Princeton (I never applied. Nor did my D.) for Bucknell. And I am curious as to why a student would. Is it more personal attention? What else?</p>

<p>momzhood–why?</p>

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<p>To morrismom: I think at the time, my D just wanted the whole decision process to be over so didn’t want to deal with any waitlists (there were others). I don’t know if she would have gone to Princeton. She never got the chance to make that decision. After she thought about it, she agreed to stay on the w/l but didn’t want to dwell on the “what if’s” and convinced herself that Bucknell was right for her. She was very mature about the whole thing. She’s never again mentioned it and seems very content.</p>

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<p>“I have a sneaking suspicion that the post was some kind of a joke. In the information session I attended, they made it clear that almost all of the financial aid is for the need based, not merit based. Furthermore, Princeton is very well known for extremely generous need based financial aid, while the same cannot be said about Bucknell. So, there is NO reason anybody would choose Bucknell over Princeton for the financial reason.
By almost every imaginable yardstick, Bucknell and Princeton are not even close. And, on top of that Georgetown also turned down? What else, Harvard too?”</p>

<p>Um, seriously? First off, a name is not everything. Secondly, you don’t actually know me or my credentials and I could have gone anywhere I wanted. Harvard’s not some lofty stretch for <em>some</em> of us. I was told that applying to Bucknell would be a step down for me. That’s exactly what I wanted because I knew I would be busy with my major and plans. Also, I’m not poor and my parents value education and made sure I have a college fund. Some of us do not factor in scholarships or tuition when looking at educational opportunities because it’s irrelevant. And by the way, I do know a lot of people who’ve gotten better financial help here than at other schools like Princeton.</p>

<p>I picked BU because of the way it was presented to me. It seemed like it would be a good place to major in biology without being too intense. On a side(ish) note, I find it a little ridiculous, especially what with sciences like biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, chemistry have 2x the graduation requirements as other majors, and all labs are mandatory, but you get the same one credit for the class as an english class. Like in my sciences, I have 3 hours of lecture, 4 hours of lab and one hour of recitation per week. All of that is one credit. One english class for that same one credit is just 3 hours of class per week. When you look at how many lab sciences you end up needing to graduate, it’s atrocious, especially when you end up with three lab sciences in one semester plus another class.
But I thought it would be a great place with small classes, professors who are accessible and are good at their jobs, etc. I also wanted to be able to walk back alone from the library at night and be completely safe. By the way, I do this all the time (and so does pretty much every girl on campus) because it’s so safe and never a problem (as far as I am aware). I also thought the student body might be a little less pretentious than at the more “prestigious” schools.</p>

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<p>“Could have gone” is different than “was actually accepted”. My first one, with 4.0 GPA and 2350 SAT and several national awards was rejected by Harvard, and his good friend with 4.0 and 2400 and a paid internship at fortune 100 company that he got through his own merit (not family connection) was rejected by Princeton . So at the level of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, even for the top students with amazing statistics, the admission is a crap shoot, due to the near random nature of selection when the applicants are already at the <<< 1% of the national pool for those who have no hooks (URM, legacy, athletes, etc).</p>

<p>Just simply tell us: were you actually ACCEPTED by Princeton, Gtown, etc, and turned them down in favor of Bucknell? </p>

<p>If your major reason for choosing Bucknell was your expectation that you can major in biology without much stress, and your main disappointment with Bucknell is due to the heavy requirements for rigorous majors in science, you would not have been happy at any top elite institutions where they expect their students to take their education seriously and consider academic rigor as a given. You certainly would not have enjoyed cut throat competition at Harvard or grade deflation in Princeton. </p>

<p>You can’t expect to get hard science education at top school while not working hard for it. There is a reason why science and engineering majors have much easier time finding jobs and make more money than students who majored in soft fields that do not require hours and hours of grinding hard work. As a consumer and a citizen, I expect a biology major who may become my doctor later to work really hard and know what s/he is doing, because s/he can cure me or kill me. Likewise, I expect the engineers to know really their stuff: if one of the poorly educated engineers builds a bridge and it collapses, it can kill hundreds of people. Meanwhile, I don’t care as much if an English major spent 3 or 6 hours dissecting some sonnet written a few hundred years ago.</p>

<p>So, If you don’t want to work hard, change your major</p>

<p>By the way, my son has developed fondness for Bucknell as he got to know the school better, and this poster’s statement is actually reinforcing that sentiment - seems like Bucknell takes it education seriously, a place for learning with high standard.</p>

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<p>Wow – what a harsh response! Saying that someone wanted to attend a school where there was more balance is not the same as expressing an unwillingness to work hard. And to most any objective observer, it would seem unfair the way science credits are doled out relative to other classes. Without commenting on this case specifically, I think we are all aware that posters often exaggerate a bit to make their point. I am amazed at how many people respond with apparent venom! I know you think you were just calling her out for what may be an “untruth” or exaggeration, but it’s really not necessary – I think we can all read between the lines. Most people post on here with the desire to help other people, and it makes people think twice about trying to be helpful if they think they are going to get blasted for it.</p>

<p>That said, my daughter is a freshman at Bucknell and I will tell you that she and I have been very impressed with Bucknell in almost every way. No school is perfect, but so far – to us – it appears that Bucknell succeeds in every important way. Let me know if you have any specific questions. Bucknell is not for everyone, and if you are posting on here you are clearly trying to help your son make an informed choice.</p>

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<p>I apologize for re-activating this thread as it’s about a month old, but I didn’t want to add a new thread to the clutter…</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, are Lewisburg Lanes still operational? Last time I visited Bucknell, my dad and I drove around looking for them, but the address we had turned up nothing but a car dealership…did the lanes close recently?</p>

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<p>The Bucknell CC forum is truely pathetic…</p>

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<p>Lewisburg Lanes is still open. It’s attached to the American Legion building behind the car dealership.</p>

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<p>That’s awesome! Thanks a ton - I’ve been trying to figure out whether or not they are (without having to randomly call phone numbers), and that just simplified things. You pretty much just made my day. Now I can continue to bowl without having to travel to Imperial up the road - thanks again!!! :D</p>