<p>Anyone know a lot about both schools? My son is trying to decide what to do. He is already in W&J with a nice scholarship. If he will go ED2 to Bucknell- then he gets recruited athlete status- and that along with his stats pretty much guarantee him admission. We already got a read from financial aid and know that we will get NO financial help from Bucknell, so that makes it about $20,000 more per year than W&J. Is it worth that much more? My son loves both schools and can't decide what to do. </p>
<p>If he is unsure, then why would he apply ED to Bucknell? He would have more time to think about it if he applied RD. As far as the price difference, if you are wealthy, don't need to worry about paying your bills, retirement, helping your children in the future, etc. then I would say that money should not enter into the decision. If it is a stretch financially to pay for Bucknell, I would send my child to William and Jefferson. This is just me, another family might feel differently.</p>
<p>The reason that he might go ED Bucknell is that he is pretty much sure to get in if he goes ED due to the recruited status. Without it, we aren't sure but think it is about a 70% chance of admission. He was planning all along on going ED Bucknell and went to look at W&J as that was his safety. He wasn't expecting to like it as much as he did- and they offered such a nice scholarship.</p>
<p>While we can afford it, and have made that clear to him, he is also a really good kid- and is concerned that it is that much more. He knows that we can afford it because we have always been careful about money- and isn't sure that we should suddenly start "splurging" now. He wants grad school also- and he is very much aware that we have been helping out family members who lost homes in Hurricane Katrina.</p>
<p>If he knew for sure which one he wanted, I would push him to go to that one, whichever it was! Hoping to hear from someone who maybe knows kids that went to both and can tell us about their experiences. While we have read lots about Bucknell on here, we have seen little about W&J. He is coming out of a great high school with lots of mental stimulation- both schools seem to be able to offer that- and that is important to him.</p>
<p>It sounds like he prefers Bucknell, but is feeling uncomfortable with your having to pay an extra 80,000. If you truly could well afford it, and this were the case, then I would tell him not to worry about it, and apply to Bucknell ED. Also, if you apply ED to Bucknell there is no going back, and the decision is made with an acceptance. If you could have financial regrets if family circumstances were to change, an emergency were to occur, he wanted you to pay for grad school, you needed to send another child to an equally expensive school (and then it were a strectch), then I would send him to W&J.</p>
<p>Don't forget that for an extra $80,000 he could do a LOT of educational enrichment. At the risk of sounding like mini, he could spend several years living in Rome helping with archaeological survey work as a volunteer, he could volunteer in Africa, volunteer to teach English in Tibet, learn Chinese and travel throughout Asia, map a new species of bird in Chile, start a business or launch a slow career, learn to fly an airplane, take advantage of any unpaid internship or study abroad opportunity, do fish surveying and water quality testing while fly-fishing throughout Montana, move to Italy and learn Italian (OK, so, that's my dream, whatever)..or, he could in fact do them all and then some. $80K can buy you a LOT of mental stimulation that could also be actually life altering.</p>
<p>DON'T apply Ed to Bucknell!! No way. He likes them both. Apply RD and see what happens. The WORST that would happen is he gets denied at bucknell, he attends a school he "loves" (per your original post), and you save $80,000+ dollars. The BEST is that he gets accepted to both schools and you make an educated choice based on all the info in April - including financial costs info. I don't see any bad choices here. I see bad choices if he locks himself into bucknell and then has second thoughts or you end up needing that money</p>
<p>My son applied RD to Bucknell as an athletic recruit and got in. He very nearly went there; it was one of his top choices. THough he knew a lot of kids at W&J, he did not want to go there; he did visit and like the atmosphere there, would likely have gotten some money, but felt it was a bit of the beaten track and more of a local school than Bucknell. Also, coming from the east coast, Bucknell was a more comfortable distance from home.<br>
He also applied to some reach school, and ended up at one of them. He had gotten some pressure to apply early at Bucknell (and had a panic moment when he met the ED recruits in February), but had he gone ED2, that would have been it. He would not have been able to go to the school of his choice that was a reach. The recruited athlete status helped him even on the RD basis, but, yes, he did take a bit of a chance, though Bucknell was a match school for him.</p>
<p>No first hand info on Bucknell. But I was an adult advisor on a srhi mission project in Washington,Pa a few years ago sponsored by a nearby Presbyterian Church. Daily showers were planned at the local park pool but because of bad weather the pool was closed a number of days.</p>
<p>W&J College a few blocks away allowed our kids to shower in their gym locker rooms. Very nice!!!</p>
<p>BTW, the campus was quite nice too.</p>
<p>So OP if WJC is still a top choice of your student, I suggest that he seriously consider it and apply to Bucknell RD to see what they are willing ot offer.</p>