Current student taking questions

<p>S is in engineering - currently pondering his fate (grad school or not). His experience has been similar to Eric's....his advisor has been very open to quick classroom advising questions, but is also very available when he's not teaching or in a meeting. Pretty much has an open door policy, as in "Hey, XXX, come on in, grab a chair, I'm about to order pizza, how many pieces do you want?, now what's on your mind...?"</p>

<p>Thanks, ericatbucknell - one more question, if you don't mind. Above, someone asked about sports because they're interested in it. My d is the opposite - how is it on campus for kids who couldn't care less about sports? Most of the other schools we're looking at are Division III schools, so sports are sort of an afterthought. Is there enough to do if you don't like basketball? How's the social scene if you don't participate in club or intramural sports at all?</p>

<p>Thanks again!</p>

<p>i wouldnt get worked up over the distinction between d3 and d1. for example, outside mens basketball the athletics atmospheres at bucknell and williams are quite similar. most students were athletes in high school and as such many are interested in staying active in college. but that doesnt result in people being crazed about the new field hockey goalie or the amazing time a swimmer put up in the 200 im. (unless the person happens to be your friend youll likely have no clue.) rather, it simply results in the students themselves being a bit more active. so instead of playing club rugby your daughtor will join the newspaper staff, probably with someone who also plays club rugby. not a big deal. though i must say, all of it does motivate you to get into shape (nothing like LOSING five pounds your freshman year).</p>

<p>i guess id say club sports are in many ways like joining a time-intensive club: they provide you a new opportunity in which to meet people. im sports are another way to hang out for your friends... for maybe an hour per week. ive done neither and managed just fine. there are clubs for everyone... and without the internal politicking youll find with a lot of clubs at larger universities.</p>

<p>I have a few questions that I'm wondering if you could answer Eric. First off, I'm interested in knowing how the economics/poli sci departments are at Bucknell. How's the grad school placement?</p>

<p>Furthermore, how's the alumni networking/connections once out of school. Is the presence mostly focused only in the NE or does it extend out West. Do you know of alums who have found jobs out West after graduating?</p>

<p>This is a minor question about Bucknell's campus. Does Bucknell offer daily newspapers from major cities (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, etc.) anywhere on campus and do you have to pay or does the school offer it free to students?</p>

<p>As far as internships go, are there a lot available during the summers and are many paid-internships? Also, do you get references from the Career Services Office or elsewhere? </p>

<p>With Study Abroad, I understand that there's many programs but how do the payments work. I read an article in the Wall Street Journal today that many LAC's were restricting how many kids could go with grade requirements and new, extra fees. Does Bucknell make you pay full tuition let's say if you were to study a year abroad or does it just make you pay for what it costs to go abroad?</p>

<p>Is it quick and easy to register for classes and is it quick and easy to fill the school's core requirements so that you can later focus on your major?</p>

<p>Would you say that there are a lot of on-campus expenses that you have to pay for in addition to tuition/room and board/required fees?</p>

<p>And I know you've answered this question probably multiple times, but is it possible to have a group of friends who aren't part of frat parties and still get into parties (I'm assuming people have friends in frats/sororities as well)? Are you looked down upon if you don't join a frat? I love sports, dress preppy but don't necessarily want to join a frat at this point, are there others in the same boat as me? Basically is it hard to make friends during Freshman year or is it an easy transition?</p>

<p>Iceman31- hi my husband and I are Alums, but I will let Eric answer your questions, since he has "current" inside info.</p>

<p>But, LOL, I have to respond to your question about getting a job in the West.
We graduated in '77, and headed out to Utah where my husband got an MBA.</p>

<p>The first job he interviewed for happened to be with Xerox, and a Bucknell Alum. Let's just say, the interview went very well, and he was hired! </p>

<p>We then spent the next four years in Billings, and wonderful Missoula , Montana :)</p>

<p>Thanks, just to follow up on how Bucknell's rep holds up, a couple of posters on the Lehigh board basically said that Lehigh's rep trumped Bucknell's (I'm assuming just because it is a slightly larger university), but I'm wondering if that's really the case because I've always gotten the impression that students at Bucknell are more well-read than Lehigh's. Just a hunch.</p>

<p>Also, how much does cable cost at Bucknell (BUTV).</p>

<p>iceman...</p>

<p>lets see. i commented on the polisci department in an earlier post, but in short i found it impressive. as for economics, despite the fact that i am an econ major i might not be the best person to ask. mathematics (and thus economics) comes extremely easily to me and thus im not sure i could find an undergraduate program anywhere in the country that would live up to my quantitative expecations. i remember recommending an intermediate microeconomics class to a friend because she wanted a section without too much math. i felt the one i had taken had little... and she has yet to let me forget how i 'tricked' her into signing up for the most difficult course she has taken in three years on campus. regardless, the classes are generally well taught and informative.</p>

<p>as for grad school placement, getting into a top graduate (as opposed to professional) program is much more about what you choose to do outside the classroom than in it. the second half of the bucknell postraduate report deals with graduate school placement and can be seen here:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bucknell.edu/About_Bucknell/Offices_Resources/Career_Development_Center/Post_Graduation_Report.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bucknell.edu/About_Bucknell/Offices_Resources/Career_Development_Center/Post_Graduation_Report.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>as chessmom pointed out, bucknell is truly a national university. im not sure i can personally think of anyone who has gotten a job on the west coast (most of my friends are juniors), but there is an annual networking event in san francisco for bucknell students and alums... so there are certainly people out there. as for the general level of networking, i have been nothing short of impressed. im sure this is true of many top liberal arts colleges, though.</p>

<p>as far as newspapers go, the university has attempted to make them more available on campus. however, even before the new readership program i was able to get the papers you mentioned as well as the financial times and la times for free... the poly sci and economics department offices get numerous copies of many major papers daily that often go unread now that papers can be read online. you can also subscribe to quite a few papers at reduced rates... theyll put them in your mailbox every day.</p>

<p>as far as internships go, there are some research opportunities on campus. but most opportunities are in major cities and applied for in a similar fashion as youd apply for a real job, with alumni connections being quite helpful. (ive yet to figure out why people are interested in going to school in a city for summer internship opportunities.) the career development center does a fantastic job with this process.</p>

<p>as for study abroad, i believe you pay your regular bucknell tuition for all programs. i am not certain on this, however, since i did not participate in a study abraod program. also, now that you mention it i do believe there is a gpa requirement for studying abroad, though im not sure what it is. im not sure its meant to restrict participation (they recommend that all students study abroad), but rather to ensure that all students are on solid academic ground before heading somewhere exotic. there is also a gpa requirement for joining a greek organization, i believe.</p>

<p>as for registration, the process is quite simple. all students are required to meet with their advisors prior to registering to ensure that the courses they have selected (theyre posted online and given to you in book form in the mail) are sufficient to meet graduation and major requirements. registration lasts around two weeks, with seniors registering first (freshman last) in a random order based on last name. when its your time... you just log onto the online network, enter the pin number provided by your advisor... and add the classes you want to take. quite simple, though watching the class you want to take fill up as each hour passes can be somewhat painful. professors and the registrar are very good about making sure that you can get into every class you NEED, however. as for the distribution requirements, it really depends on the number of credits youre bringing into the university. i came in with eight (equal to a year of classes, the maximum allowed) and had very little to fulfill. some have much more, but even then most people get everything out of the way in the first year or two. i actually have a few friends who completely changed their majors based on a class taken to fulfill a requirement. and at the end of the day, even if they dont inspire you to change your major, i strongly believe that these requirements are a very good thing. having a broad knowledge of the arts and sciences is essential to a strong liberal arts education.</p>

<p>on-campus expenses are nearly nonexistant. one on-campus movie series charges a dollar... and outside of special events thats the only thing i can think of that charges a fee. in other words, if youre content eating your meals on campus you could probably get by on $20 a month. most of my money goes to the midnight pizza delivery guy and the occasional online purchase.</p>

<p>as for the whole frat scene, the only disadvantage of not being on the 'inside' is that it can be difficult to get into the really, really good parties (especially as a guy)... the ones where they bring in a few tons of sand to cover the floor, hire a semi-famous band, in some cases actually have real alcohol (gasp!)... et cetera. but really, other than that its not an issue. at all. also, because you cant rush/pledge until your sophomore year freshman halls are generally EXTREMELY close-knit. youll meet many of your lifelong friends before classes even start. it sounds crazy, but its true. your crazy orientation assistants wont settle for anything less.</p>

<p>also, on freshman housing, id strongly recommend everyone to select the coed option. the girls keep the boys from getting into fistfights and the boys keep the girls from spreading scandalous rumors. everyone is better for it. and for concerned parents, there is very little nudity (towels do slip) and intra-hall relationships are nothing short of taboo. theyve even spawned a term: hallcest.</p>

<p>edit: ahh, two new questions!</p>

<p>as for reputations, lehigh is probably the better known of the two universities by the general population (as is memphis and alabama birmingham). however, the general population doesnt make many important hiring decisions and based on employment data the two institutions seem to be very similarly regarded, which i would expect. i visited lehigh and wasnt particularly impressed with the student body, though theres certainly a lot of overlap. it was probably my least favorite of the three (bucknell, lafayette and lehigh).</p>

<p>also, i have no idea how much butv costs. it wasnt available my freshman year and i decided i was much more efficient without it... so i didnt sign up when it became available. a lot of people do have it, however, so i cant imagine its expensive.</p>

<p>I'm going to be a freshman next year with the major of biochem/cell biology, trying to go premed... do you know how hard it is, and how hard it is to get into med school from Bucknell... Is the biochem major a hard one? Would it be extremely difficult for me to get into a good med school from bucknell?</p>

<p>also... how's the religion thing work... I'm christian</p>

<p>my knowledge of med school admissions is quite limited. however, it is my understanding that gpa and mcat scores are significantly more important in the process than the school from which they were earned to the extent that ive heard it recommended that premeds attend 'easy' schools to put up a near-perfect gpa.</p>

<p>that said, i have no first hand knowledge of the strength (difficulty) of bucknells biology and chemistry programs... or how their courses are graded. however, it is often said that they are very, very good. and its not a competitive premed environment youd find at a lot of other schools.</p>

<p>as for religion, im not entirely sure what youre asking. there are numerous christian services offered on campus every week. heres the 'spiritual life' link for more information:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.bucknell.edu/About_Bucknell/Offices_Resources/Chaplains_Office/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.bucknell.edu/About_Bucknell/Offices_Resources/Chaplains_Office/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>the links of the left may be able to answer your question. if not, feel free to clarify.</p>

<p>Hey ericatbucknell,</p>

<p>I was just on the Bucknell website and the "year in the life" section intimidated my daughter. There were 2 students maybe 3, who were not the typcial stereotype of a preppy, party scene kinda kid. But the others really seemed socially active. My son has a sophomore friend at Bucknell who hates it because there is so much partying on the weekends. This boy loves his profs, does really well in school, and likes his classes in general. But his assessment of the students paryting like its spring break every weekend, is scaring my daughter away from Bucknell. </p>

<p>So, what percentage of the students do not party on the weekends?</p>

<p>snajean-</p>

<p>im not sure i feel comfortable hazarding a guess as to the number of students who dont party on the weekends... i just dont have adequate information on which to base one. </p>

<p>i guess i would ask your daughtor what she expects her weekends to be like. while only a handful of people on my freshman hall absolutely did not party (im sure the percentage is much, much higher in the CHOICE dorm and even in the res colleges), only a handful were the type who partied every friday and saturday night. the rest of us were somewhere in the middle. we watched movies, sat around and talked, went to concerts... and sometimes went to parties (some of which were crazy, while others involved sitting around at a downtown house and having a few drinks).</p>

<p>obviously, any college experience that involves sitting in front of your computer while your hallmates go out to a party is not going to be a good one. but theres no reason to ever end up in front of your computer at bucknell (unless you have two midterms on monday, of course). all it involves is branching out a bit from the apparently party-happy group of friends you met during your first couple of days on campus... and often that can be done by just turning on a movie and opening your door.</p>

<p>My son is a junior and is very interested in Bucknell. We visited during Spring Break and he really loved the school. I have been snooping around this board for a while and I seem to read mostly comments and questions concerning Northeastast students and the West (California students). Looking at admission stats for 2009, the Western states applicants were admitted at the highest rate (47.4%). Southern admittances were low - only 31.2% of applicants (less than NY, NJ, DE, MD, VA, DC, midwest) </p>

<p>Does anybody know why the Southern states are so poorly represented? Are there any statistics on admit rate vs request for financial aid? Is it possible that Southern state applicants were a higher proportion of financial aid requests and therefore less likely to be admitted? Any insights would be appreciated.....</p>

<p>It may be that the reputation doesn't extend into the Southern states as thoroughly as it does on the two coasts. A lot depends on where there's a big alumni base, as word gets around about colleges if respected members of the community (or school) went there.</p>

<p>smiles-</p>

<p>glad you loved bucknell! for the class of 2008 37.6 percent of southern applicants were admitted, which was slightly higher than the overall acceptance rate of 36.4 percent. the percentage of admitted students for 2009 was slightly lower than the overall average of 33.9 percent, as you pointed out.</p>

<p>the discrepancy between southern and western admissions rates is not due to financial aid because bucknells admissions decisions are made on a need-blind basis. rather, i suspect it has a lot to do with the quality of californias pubic university system. because there are so many good, cheap options for solid california applicants, there is less incentive to travel across the country for a much more expensive education. consequently, the quality of the west coast applicant pool at eastern lacs is usually quite high, which is reflected in their high acceptance rate at bucknell.</p>

<p>Eric....I don't have a question, but I've been following this thread and just wanted to say that you are really doing a great job answering the posters' varied questions....thoughtful, well-written and providing helpful links...nice work!</p>

<p>Eric and other, I appreciate the insightful responses. Anyhow, to get back to a point you touched on earlier, how many nights would you say an average student at Bucknell parties a week. Is it mostly Friday/Saturday nights (1-2 nights a week) or does it push more towards 3-4 nights?</p>

<p>And I'm also wondering, since I understand that about 40-50% of campus receives Financial aid of some sort that some of the campus must not be filthy rich. While I realize that many of the Bucknell student body is "well off", are the kids on Financial Aid very close to being well off too or are there genuinely some people who aren't able to pay the full tuition and need some sort of assistance (something I consider to be a could thing since it offers a broader perspective to what the real world is like)? Or is the opposite where those on Financial Aid or relatively poor and couldn't come close to paying tuition? I'm just trying to get a sense of the "middle class gets squeezed concept", and want to make sure there are some middle class folk at Bucknell and not just rich/poorer kids.</p>

<p>Lastly, with such a big Greek/drinking presence on campus, are there a lot of incidents where if you have to study one night and can't go out where kids are rowdy in the dorms?</p>

<p>thanks a lot, beachy! its good to know my procrastination is benefiting someone!</p>

<p>iceman-</p>

<p>the heavy partiers will go out on an occasional wednesday (i dont know why its wednesday), but the vast majority of campus limits its imbibing activities (if any) to friday and/or saturday nights.</p>

<p>as for campus wealth, its not something people really talk about, which makes it difficult for me to comment. i can say that there are very, very few students (many of them football players) who appear to be genuinely poor. but beyond that, how can you really tell unless someone is driving a $50000 car and has a rolex on his wrist? the gap is the gap and jcrew has great sales (something my middle class self knows well). alternatively, you could save a lot of money and just adopt the unofficial bucknell uniform: an inside-out polo (i dont get it, either), bucknell sweatpants and a pair of rainbow sandals. $100 (11 cents per day) and youre set for four years.</p>

<p>to your last question, yes, it will occasionally get rowdy in the regular dorms on a friday or saturday night. but more often than not its quite quiet, save some muffled music from down the hall or the room above you. should you ever REALLY need to study for something, though, the library is the place to go. i study in the library at penn state when im there on tuesdays and thursdays and can honestly say that more people use bucknells, despite the student body being less than a tenth the size. its just a great place to get things done (or take a power nap... in the leather lounge).</p>

<p>Eric, you're great! I'm thinking of going to Bucknell next Fall. Most of my questions have already been answered in this thread, but I have a couple more. First of all, how are the dorms? I know some colleges have amazing dorms and some you can barely move in. How to Bucknell's compare? Also, on the whole, do you find yourself challenged? Do you have any regrets about choosing Bucknell over some of the other schools to which you were accepted?</p>

<p>sugardonkey (im tempted to ask)-</p>

<p>the dorms? some are fantastic (mcdonnell and smith for freshmen), some are okay. i probably lived in the worst dorm on campus (the soon-to-be renovated swartz... dont know if thats happening this summer) freshman year and compared to many ive seen it wasnt bad. needs to be renovated, though. anyway, in my infinite wisdom i think prospective students place a little too much emphasis on dorms. so long as youve got a little space, the people in the rooms are much more important. </p>

<p>link to the freshman dorms: click</a> here!</p>

<p>hmm... do i find myself challenged? every day. have i personally found every class ive taken challenging? no. but that should probably come with a caveat: im not a typical bucknell student. im the guy who goes down the hall to help a girl on her astronomy or education homework despite having never taken an astronomy or education class and gets called into someone elses room to help with calculus on the way. i spent a summer teaching myself quantum mechanics for fun and made a high quality spectrometer one night to help a friend at penn state who was nearing breakdown over a chemistry assignment. and yeah, ive never taken a college chemistry class, either. i digress. but nonetheless, i am challenged. ive taken what even i consider to be some VERY demanding courses and when i feel i need more (people honestly think im crazy) i visit with a professor and we come up with something interesting.</p>

<p>lastly, i got into quite a few schools that are considered 'better' than bucknell including one in an athletic conference with members known for having lots of climbing plants on their buildings. do i sometimes wonder about what it would be like had i gone somewhere else? sure. id be worried if its something i didnt question. but i honestly have no regrets. im in a fantastic position to get into a top grad school and i wouldnt trade the friends ive made for anything. the professors are fantastic, accessable and are genuinely invested in your success. oh, and the sunsets over rooke chapel are heavenly. would i be saying the same things had i gone to colgate? maybe, but i wouldnt risk it.</p>

<p>ok ericatbucknell..... another quote from another posting for you to respond to.....(you have been very honest and helpful. my child is coming to the admit day this weekend. thank you)</p>

<p>"Bucknell is a really liberal place with a lot of drugs, or so I've heard. Just throwing that out there for you to consider. Maybe you'd like that, I don't know. Just telling you what I've heard from a transfer student who left Bucknell."</p>