<p>i noticed that most boards have dedicated threads where prospective students ask anything and everything from someone currently enrolled. well, im currently enrolled at bucknell so i figured id start such a thread myself. </p>
<p>im not going to go on ad nauseum introducing myself, but if you want to know anything quasi-personal in addition to things about bucknell, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>A few questions:</p>
<p>I'm a huge sports fan, how into the football and basketball teams does the campus get? How strong and popular are the intramural leagues on campus.</p>
<p>How big is the frat thing on campus. Is it overwhelming and obnoxious. As a freshman or if I don't go Greek, is it hard for guys to get into parties?</p>
<p>Does the town suck? Do you run out of things to do in Lewburg pretty quick?</p>
<p>Whats the political atmosphere on campus? Conservative/Liberal? Active/Aware or not at all?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>the football scene isnt very good, though i grew up going to penn state football games so my expectations are exceptionally unrealistic. but there certainly is a devoted group of fans who take fan buses to every game if you want to become involved. basketball is a completely different story, however. as you probably know, our mens team has garnered considerable national attention in the last 18 months with wins over the likes of pitt, kansas, syracuse and arkansas. going to a game has become an event and i actually spotted scalpers on several occasions, something i never thought id see on the bucknell campus. to top off the season, students actually camped out for tickets to the patriot league championship game and a couple thousand people showed up to honor the team when they returned from dallas following their ncaa tournament defeat to memphis.</p>
<p>the im and club sports are extremely popular. club status teams are quite competitive and require varying time commitments (depending on the team). im sports are more about fun, particularly ones like beach volleyball that have extraordinarily high participation rates. theres definitely something (if there arent several things) for everyone.</p>
<p>the frat 'thing' is big in that it does dominate the weekend party scene (along with several sports teams that have downtown houses). however, a vast majority of the parties are quite easy to get into so long as you arent travelling with five of your male friends and no girls. once youre a sophomore youll have friends in most of the fraternities, making getting in somewhere even easier. other than the party scene and the moderately annoying week every fall that is rush, greeks and nongreeks are pretty much undifferentiable. also, this is somewhat off topic but most of the resident assistants are pretty leniant when it comes to alcohol in the dorms... so long as youre not having a full-fledged party with 30 people in your room or carrying a beer down the hall.</p>
<p>i guess i should also point out that there are numerous campus-sponsered activities every weekend for those who dont want to do the whole party thing. the cap (campus activities and programs?) center publishes a 'whats happening' every week for the weekends upcoming social events. last weekends can be seen here:</p>
<p>there are similar publications for upcoming speakers, community service opportunities, et cetera. (also, most of the concerts are free. the ben folds concert was the one of the two larger acts brought in every year for which students have to pay. some of the free acts in the past three years have been gavin degraw, taking back sunday, saves the day and maroon 5.)</p>
<p>hmm... lewisburg. its really is an adorable town, though route 15 wouldnt let you know that. if you want to go to school in a city its certainly not going to provide you want you want. but there are some great restaurants and it seems as if an effort is being made to make downtown more student friendly. it already has a strong art community and the vintage movie theatre is beautiful. so while there arent tons of things to do in town, the university knows this and brings in more than enough to keep you from getting bored. youre lucky, too. when i was a freshman students were not allowed to have cable in their rooms. we couldnt have gotten too bored because my roommate and i decided to not sign up for it when the administration finally relented our sophomore year.</p>
<p>i would say that the campus as a whole is conservative as far as liberal arts colleges go, which still leaves it left of center. and i guess 'aware' is how i would describe most students. few make a big deal of politics but you will see the occasional fair trade protest and the college democrats and bucknell conservatives club are both very active and visible organizations. i am personally quite politically active (ive managed a successful campaign and established a pac) and was initially interested in some of the more liberal campuses out there: oberlin, bard, vasser, wesleyan, et cetera. however, the more i thought about it the more i wanted to attend a relatively balanced school where a real dialogue would be possible. while sometimes the balance is annoying and the lack of activism frustrating, theres certainly enough to keep your needs satiated.</p>
<p>sorry (after the fact, i guess) for the long response!</p>
<p>Wow that qualifies as an awesome and full response. Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>ericatbucknell,</p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to give a thorough synopsis of Bucknell life. After your glowing report, and my own daughter's opinion, we will be visiting for Bucknell's Open House on April 22nd. </p>
<p>Another question pops up however, do you hear any feedback about the job scene for seniors? What is their job outlook like if they are in the college of business? Do you get the feeling that Bucknell helps in the process or is everyone pretty much on their own?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>there are fantastic career resources at bucknell for those who choose to use them. the career development center (cdc) wesbite:</p>
<p>there is a link to a postgraduate placement report near the bottom of the page that is quite informative if jobs are on your mind. a few comments on it, though: 1) bucknell has an extremely high participation rate in the survey, which probably lowers its numbers, and; 2) unlike some schools bucknell reports data by major and not field entered, so an accounting major who does 'teach for america' will lower the average accounting salary. that said, bucknells average starting salaries in management and accounting are still several thousand dollars higher than those in the same majors at penn state, which is known to have a very strong business program. </p>
<p>since im graduating a year early most of my friends arent searching for jobs until next year. however, in my experience the myth that liberal arts college graduates cant get jobs cannot be further from the truth. like most schools, there is an annual career fair on campus in addition to online job databases. however, because of active alumni involvement there is also an annual finance fair in nyc open only to bucknell students. alums also hold numerous 'bucknell career networking nights' around the country every winter break, where many seniors land jobs (or at least interviews). i highly doubt you could find this kind of per capita alumni involvement at a larger university.</p>
<p>the staff at the cdc is also extremely knowledgable and helpful based on my experience. ive gone a few times with one of my friends (she doesnt like to do things alone and is on what might be her sixth and seventh majors). there are resources for people in every stage of the process and the staff is more than willing to give honest advice. </p>
<p>in short, if your daughtor utilizes half of the resources available she will be fine.</p>
<p>a few other thoughts.... it is easier to get out of the management and accounting majors than it is to get into them. obviously, people change their majors often in college. and while this is not generally an issue at bucknell, the management major (along with biomedical engineering) is in pretty high demand and therefore can be difficult to transfer into if you dont have a high gpa. as for transferring out, because the business programs are in the college or arts and sciences the general graduation requirements for all non-engineers are the same, meaning your daughtor wouldnt be playing catch-up in anything outside her major. </p>
<p>i would also recommend that every business major take as many mathematics, economics and computer science courses as possible. i am graduating with a degree in mathematics and economics and have actually been contacted by several professors whose friends were looking for mathematically advanced economics students. i followed up on several of the inquiries, one of which resulted in a job offer with a signing bonus larger than what i will make ta-ing next year at penn state.</p>
<p>Hi,
I was happy to find your post, as I just asked a general question about Bucknell myself. Have you found your experience at Bucknell to be worth the extra tuition? We are considering between UCSD, UCD and Bucknell and other LAC's. $22,000 vs. $42,000+. My child is a great student and very motivated. Yet, is not clear on a career path. Possibly premed, but not sure. We have saved the money so she can freely make the choice. Why did you choose Bucknell? Will you be going to graduate school? Do most students go to graduate school, and are the acceptances high? Maybe you have already answered these questions...... Have you found the academic experience to be a good one? Good interaction with professors? Are you able to get the classes you need? Friendly campus? I am concerned that people are rejected by sorority/fraternities. Is there enough space for all of those that wish to participate? Bucknell is not as well known on the west coast. How is it viewed on the east coast? Thank you!
PS: Did you attend the Buckline experience prior to school starting?</p>
<p>your questions are good ones (and are welcome relief from my math homework).</p>
<p>as for tuition, it wasnt a significant factor in my decision because the all of my options were very similarly priced. my tuition at bucknell freshman year was actually less than my brothers tuition at penn state; its a little bit higher now that he has graduated. as to whether its 'worth' it, thats a question thats going to have a different answer for everyone. it sounds somewhat strange, but you have to determine how much $20000 is worth to you. it would have been an unfeasibly large amount for me. for bill gates it would be insignificant.</p>
<p>what i can say is that the quality of the courses ive taken at bucknell is distinctly higher than those ive taken at penn state. the opportunities that have been afforded to me are outstanding and have put me in a very good position for the graduate school application process next fall im currently considering many of the top graduate programs in my field on the advice of some of my professors and while i dont have any particular knowledge of general placement, you can click on the career development centers website i linked above; the postgraduate report has graduate school statistics as well as employment data.</p>
<p>as i mentioned, the opportunities afforded to me have been fantastic. undergraduates are invited to the seminars and lunches that are usually only available to graduate students at most colleges. and while i havent done any research as a science student would consider it, ive developed bonds with many of the professors who specialize in my particular academic interest (the foundations of mathematics) and have found them far more willing to meet with me than i could have imagined. as a telling example, i once scheduled a meeting with a professor for 7pm (outside his normal office hours; i didnt even have him as a professor) to go over some things i was learning outside of class. after we had finally gotten into it and were making good progress one of us looked at the clock and realized it was 2am. im not sure if that would have happened at penn state.</p>
<p>as for the biology program (assuming thats what your daughtor is considering), i have a premed friend whose father is a biology professor at cornell. while my friend was certainly qualified to go to a 'better' school, his father recommended bucknell. not sure if thats a universal sentiment, but its certainly telling. as you probably know, ucsd is also extremely well known for its science programs. the difference between the two is that ucsd is an extremely competitive campus. thats not the case here.</p>
<p>as for scheduling, every effort is made to get everyone the classes they need. many of the business and engineering classes are held for those in the programs and a lot of the introductory courses are initially restricted from seniors (who get to schedule first), so freshmen can schedule them. also, so long as theres an open seat in the room professors are more than willing to discard any posted class size limit. so while i would say it can be difficult for underclassmen to get the classes they 'want', especially at the times they 'want'... when it comes to needing a class, someone will make it happen.</p>
<p>i chose bucknell (i think i got out of order) because it just seemed like the right place for me. i got into a handful of 'better' schools but kept coming back to bucknell because it just seemed... right. i wanted to attend a school not too far from home: bucknell is close. i wanted to attend a liberal arts college, but not one that was too small: bucknells size really is the best of both worlds. and i wanted to attend a school that was strong in the sciences: this is certainly true of bucknell. the beautiful campus certainly didnt hurt, either.</p>
<p>and as ive mentioned earlier, i chose not to join a fraternity. but i can say that there is a greek organization for everyone, even my freshman roommate who would be that LAST person you could imagine joining a frat considered one. as far as people being rejected, i know of a single girl who rushed but did not get invited to join a sorority. she went through the process again in the spring and got a bid.</p>
<p>the campus is certainly a very friendly one, as well. though some of the student body (probably two out of ~30 people on my freshman hall to give you an idea) does fit the 'obnoxious' or 'snooty' stereotype, rarely are these people actually mean. the reason is that at bucknell being popular or liked is no longer something you can buy. at so many american high schools the 'cool' kids are the ones who have the nice clothes and drive the nice cars. well, most kids at bucknell can have nice clothes or drive nice cars. so it actually comes down to being nice and sociable and fun and everything else being popular should be about and therefore even the people who didnt come to campus as friendly quickly let down their guards and become themselves. except for those two people on my hall, of course.</p>
<p>bucknells reputation is going to vary a lot on who you ask. because it is a liberal arts college its name is obviously not going to carry the same weight with the general public as a larger school with a big athletics program. fortunately, employers arent the general public. and as mentioned earlier, they seem to like bucknell grads. as for the west coast specifically, i cant comment. but the school does have a fairly large number of kids matriculate from california every year and there is a networking event held in san francisco, so im sure its not completely unknown.</p>
<p>lastly, im not sure what youre referring to by 'buckline', but i didnt participate the building on foundations or buckwild programs prior to enrolling. i do know some people who did and they seemed to have relatively mixed results, though more enjoyed them than didnt.</p>
<p>Ericatbucknell,</p>
<p>Wow, you gave us more information than we got on our tour, last August.</p>
<p>I agree that there is no comparison with Penn State. My son transferred from Penn State Honors into Vanderbilt last fall. While I know that many like Penn State, and I went there myself, in the dark ages, the intimacy and personal attention of a smaller college is well worth the extra$ we pay.</p>
<p>I really think my daughter will go to Bucknell. She applied as a double major- biochemistry and accounting, yet her acceptance letter only said "Biochemistry". I talked to admissions for clarification and a fellow said,
"no problem with her being in 'accounting.' But I would really like that in writing before she sends her deposit. </p>
<p>Should I be worried that admissions will try to keep her out of accounting?</p>
<p>i always wanted to be a tour guide but never got around to applying! usually tried to volunteer for the fall open houses and accepted students days, though i wont be able to this year.</p>
<p>accounting isnt nearly as big an issue as management. and at this point in time it shouldnt be a problem at all. what happens every year is that a good number of freshmen in engineering realize that all of that math and physics isnt quite for them. theyre often drawn to the business programs (both pre-professional degrees, i guess), which can make things a bit tight, especially with the uber-popular management 101 course that they probably told you about on your tour. </p>
<p>it would be a good idea to get it in writing, but if for some reason you cant i wouldnt worry much. accounting doesnt have that same 'allure', and i know people who transferred into the management program sophomore year with less than perfect grades.</p>
<p>I can not resist saying "hi" to Montana Molly, and must ask if you really do live in Montana?
My husband and I are Bucknell grads and lived in Billings for one year, and Missoula for two years. Quite a coincidence :) </p>
<p>I don't have anything to add to this thread because ERIC is doing a fantastic job, and has much more CURRENT info :) </p>
<p>And, Snajean just want to add at the Fall Open House the Bucknell Admissions Rep talked about capping teh Business majors at Bucknell because it is such a popular major FYI</p>
<p>Hi SouthJerseyChessMom!
I am not from Montana, but my dad grew up in Glendive....(my sister lived for awhile in Lame Deer.....) We have family in Missoula too. We often go to Flathead in the summers. It is a very special spot! and Montana people are wonderful. We live in California.
Thank you EricatBucknell for taking time to answer questions.
My child is going to admit day in April. I will miss having her so far away.... but Bucknell sounds like an excellent college with lots of opportunities. I would be happy if she decides to go there. It will be interesting to see what she decides, as I have to stay out of the decision process. Also, it was the Buckwild (?) program that I was talking about that takes place prior to the first day of school. Please write about all things Bucknell. It is all new to us and so appreciated. Thank you.</p>
<p>ericatbucknell,</p>
<p>My daughter is going to attend Bucknell, and I need to renew my cellular phone subscription. Do you know if Cingular has good coverage on campus?</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Eric, you are WONDERFUL!</p>
<p>Thanks for the honest, level-headed responses to all the questions.</p>
<p>thanks everyone! id share more but have no idea where to start or stop. certainly feel free to keep the questions coming.</p>
<p>the cell phone situation can get a bit tricky. every carrier that claims to have service in lewisburg does (including cingular), but relatively weak service by everyone combined with cinderblock dorms can be an issue if you have a cheap phone. my old phone was of the 'free with signup' variety and though it would ring everywhere, i would sometimes have to go to a more open space than my first floor dorm room (sometimes just to the window, sometimes i was fine at my desk) to get good reception. i picked out a new phone after reading positive reviews about its signal strength on cnet.com and was amazed at how much better my reception got. (i have verizon wireless.)</p>
<p>as for the previous question about building on foundations and buckwild, i really dont know enough about either program to comment. here are the links to the programs respective webpages, though:</p>
<p>bof: <a href="http://www.bucknell.edu/About_Bucknell/Offices_Resources/CAP_Center/BOF/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.bucknell.edu/About_Bucknell/Offices_Resources/CAP_Center/BOF/index.html</a>
buckwild: <a href="http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/dean_students/buckwild/buckwild.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/dean_students/buckwild/buckwild.htm</a></p>
<p>Hi Eric,
You sound like an intelligent, motivated student. How would you respond to this quote that was posted? "My roommate at Wisconsin said his year at Bucknell was the worst thing he ever did. Boring prepsters with little on their minds." I think that it refers to an experience from some years ago. It does play into my fear about the frat. atmosphere, even though I had a great sorority experience and my husband a positive fraternity experience. You mentioned the friendly atmosphere and involvement of everyone. I hope you don't mind my asking you. What do you think?</p>
<p>Montanamolly - S has Sprint phone service and, judging by his phone bills, is getting absolutely wonderful reception in Lewisburg!</p>
<p>As for BuckWild....S went and had a ball....great (but not cheap!) early bonding time with no academic pressures yet...team building activities, plus plenty of time to just 'hang out'. They bus them to a very large (YMCA-affiliated, I think) wilderness area in western MA. As I recall, he had to rank his preferences for: tent camping the entire time on the Appalachian Trail; a combo of some camping and the rest sleeping at the main site; and the third was staying at the main site with limited day trips. He chose the combo option - got to raft, hike, do ropes courses, etc. The three groups were all together at the beginning and then at then end, as well. He really enjoyed it. Two years later, some of the friends he made then he still sees regularly, even though they don't share any classes and some have gone Greek, some have not, etc....others he doesn't see as often, but they still warmly greet each other in passing on campus.</p>
<p>My S started out with Cingular, but it didn't work very well. Have had no complaints with Verizon. S also loved buckwild, it was a great bonding time. Made the transition to college life so easy. But even without it, there is so much going on for freshmen during that first week, they are bound to make lots of friends.</p>
<p>That sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks for the information! He (and you) sound very positive about his college experience there. What is your son's major, and what are his plans after college?
.... and for Ericatbucknell.... do you know anything about intermural or club golf? Or students joining the Bucknell golf club? Also, I read on the school web site that students meet with advisor groups (?) each week. Is that right? Do the groups stay the same for the four years, or do they change as majors become more defined? This is definately the kind of attention that is not found at large schools. What has been your experience?</p>
<p>though i may be boring (who knows?), im not at all a prepster (though i do dress that way) and am the guy who always has so much on his mind that sometimes people are afraid to ask. (i got mildly intoxicated on my friends 21st a couple months ago and spent nearly an hour talking about turkish foreign policy with a grad student i knew... in a bar during a live performance.) so i feel highly qualified to comment. when i saw the 'boring prepsters' quote, i immediately thought the girl next door to me who felt the same way freshman year. she was the girl who got placed with the one 'boring prepster' female on my hall (there was one guy, too, out of 30 people) and instead of meeting other people spent 21 hours a day in her room talking to her boyfriend (on her cell phone, got amazing reception). shed repeatedly talk about transferring but stayed... and two years later is quite happy.</p>
<p>my point is that there are those people on campus. theyre smart, nice people... but arent the ones who are going to be interested in having a conversation on the merits of the bohm interpretation of quantum mechanics over pizza at 1am. in that regard its not swarthmore. but at the same time ive had people pegged as 'boring prepsters' only to learn that theyre classically trained pianists or gifted poets. either way, theyre vast minorities. </p>
<p>so i guess i would respond to that comment by saying that the kid who transferred to wisconsin probably didnt attempt to actually meet anybody. either that or he used the stereotype as an excuse for the real reason he left the school, which is the way im actually leaning now that i think about it. when i applied bucknell had the 39th highest retention rate of any school in the country (not just liberal arts colleges, where i think it was 13th). that doesnt happen when kids arent happy.</p>
<p>as for the golf situation, i dont think theres a club-level golf team (if there is im really missing out). however, i know some people who have done im golf and while i believe its one of the few activitites with a fee, the price is probably quite reasonable as i think they play later in the day on sunday. i havent inquired about joining myself (i dont play enough here to merit it), but greens fees for students are pretty reasonable. and its a wonderful, wonderful golf course.</p>
<p>the advising system is fantastic. within the college of arts and sciences the professor with whom you take your foundation seminar will be your advisor for your first two years, which is when bachelor of arts students declare their majors. those who enter with (or declare) a bachelor of science major acquire (or pick) an additional adivisor, who takes over official duties, in their field. so while im not sure what the university means by meeting with advisor groups every week (if you could find where you read it i might be able to clarify), you do essentially meet with your advisor 45 (or so) times for class the first semester. as such, the class takes on a lot of different duties: it serves as a place to ask general advising and college transition questions in addition to being the freshman writing class and a material-based course. after the first semester you are required to meet with your advisor at least once a semester because you cannot register for classes without receiving a special code from him or her. but they are certainly available far more often than that; my former advisor still sends my class emails regarding her office hours, inviting us to visit. compared with my limited experiences at penn state (their advisors are full-time within each college), the system at bucknell is far superior.</p>