Is Bucknell really this quiet...?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Bucknell University
1

<p>Hi everyone</p>

<p>So lately I’ve noticed that this Bucknell forum is very quiet, and honestly I’m very surprised considering how much people (myself included) love the school. I know the board will be booming when decisions are released, but does the current lack of activity on the board give any indication of life on campus or school spirit? I got a very good initial impression from the open house in October, and Bucknell quickly jumped to the top of my list. Also, Bucknell is the only school to which I applied that has failed to communicate with me (through either snail mail or email) in this awkward waiting period before we get the letters. All other schools have shown interest in winning my ultimate decision. Honestly, I don’t know what to think anymore…</p>

<p>…plus I figure if I start a new thread, it will get some hype going :)</p>

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<p>I am a parent of a sophmore. I don’t know what I’ll be saying 10 yrs from now but so far my D could not be happier. She has easily found her group of friends and finds plenty to do socially sometimes having to choose between competing events. She avoids the drinking scene which she finds disturbing at times but she finds there is much to do outside of that as there are plently of kids like her too. Academically she is a science/math person and lives with alot of engineering students on her hall, which she likes. They are a nice bunch, and seem to work hard. When we go there to visit, it seems everyone is so happy. I think Bucknell has a good balance of academic and social opportunities in whatever you are looking for. The social clubs, events, etc. are important for networking later and I think that’s why Bucknellians have alot of opportunites when they graduate. My D has taken many challenging classes and finds professors have an open door policy. It has opened opportunites now for her to get to know the professors. She is a tutor in chemistry and is working with a math professor. She is very quiet and reserved and Bucknell makes it easy for someone like her to grow and be recognized. I am sure there are kids at Bucknell that are not happy but that is true anywhere. I think it’s more that you take advantage of any school you go to and seek out all that you can.
Bucknell does deserve more attention on this board.</p>

3

<p>I am also a Bucknell parent - my son is a freshman and just loves it! I will say, last year this board was very active with questions/comments, and this year it does seem quiet. Having said that, I’ve noticed that many discussion boards of non-Ivy schools seem to be quieter this year than last. Who knows why! Anyway, my son is beyond busy, and beyond happy. His coursework is steady and very challenging. He plays a club sport, writes for the paper, is in a couple of clubs and was accepted into and now works as a tour guide (so he’s making $$!) He is not in the engineering school, but 90% of his hall is - and he loves his hallmates. He has commented over and over that Bucknell attracts & accepts nice kids, and ambitious kids (in all aspects: athletically, academically, socially). It’s a vibrant place as a result. I hope you daughter finds a big envelope in the mail from Bucknell soon! When does she expect to hear?</p>

4

<p>My son is a sophmore at Bucknell and is very happy there. I think that Bucknell is unique in that is offers a professional education in a liberal arts setting for those who want it. My son is challenged by his classes and works very hard yet the workload is not overwhelming. He has gotten to know his professors well and developed relationships with them. Bucknell works to bring students and alumni together to open up professional opportunities. Socially my son has made lots of friends. He met his closest group of friends in his freshman hall and now is in a fraternity where he has expanded that group.</p>

5

<p>I don’t really understand how this board, which relativelyvery few Bucknell students frequent, and the social life of the campus itself, are correlated but I can assure you that campus life is always booming. This is my third year at Bucknell and I love it more every day.</p>

<p>I would say that the board would certainly be more populated if people had questions to answer or topics to discuss.</p>

6

<p>Hi BucknellBubbly, why did you or others choose Bucknell? What other schools were in your top choices? People on other sites talk about grades and grade deflation…what are your insights on the grading at Bucknell. How did you adjust to freshman year both academically and socially…what were biggest hurdles? What was the biggest surprise about life at Bucknell both positive and negative? Any other insights on why to choose Bucknell are appreciated!</p>

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<p>Thank you everyone, all your insight is very reassuring to me and puts Bucknell in a very positive light. I haven’t heard anything negative about the college except for the location, which doesn’t really matter to me. If I get in, I’m going to have a tough decision to make…</p>

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<p>I was somewhat slow with my college search, so I ended up applying to a somewhat random assortment of schools that looked interesting, Harvard, Princeton, Johns Hopkins, University of Virginia, Oberlin, Macalester, and there were a few others that I honestly can’t remember right now. I visited a bunch of the schools over spring break senior year, and I really just felt at home at Bucknell. It’s kind of hard to describe, but it’s just such a perfect fit and I felt it while I was on campus, but it became clearer when I visited other campuses afterwards and noticed the home feeling was not there.</p>

<p>I can’t really give a super-informed description of how grading works; obviously there are teachers and courses considered easier and harder, as I would assume there are at every school. I think the average GPA here is at least slightly higher than the national average or whatever measurements they use, but I’m not sure how much of that comes from the fact that the average Bucknellian probably works harder and has an intellectual advantage over the average college student? (That sounds like bragging, sorry.)</p>

<p>I took a lot of APs in high school (13–not at all representative of the typical Bucknell student, don’t worry) so I feel like I was probably more well-prepared than the average student. The biggest adjustment for me (and many of my friends) was actually having to do homework. The time spent in class is much less than in high school but there’s a lot more work to do outside of the classroom.</p>

<p>Socially I really flourished here; it was great coming to a school where basically everyone was that smart kid in high school. People here know how to have a good time but not at the expense of their education, and I absolutely love it. I’m a performing arts kid, and I joined the Arts Residential College where everyone on my floor was interested in some sort of art–be it visual, performing, creative writing, etc. I think that really helped me, since all of my hallmates and I shared a bond and had something to unite us. That being said, our orientation program is really phenomenal, and you will make friends with your freshman hall no matter what. I also was a participant of BoF (Building on Foundations), a pre-orientation program for students interested on leadership. I am still close friends with some of my fellow BoFers, but it also just really helped us all feel comfortable and I think it helped me make friends outside of BoF more easily at first. If that makes sense.</p>

<p>I will acknowledge that the location of Bucknell is a love/hate thing, but I personally love it. I’m from Baltimore, so I thought I would hate being in the middle of nowhere. However, I’ve found a lot of great things to do in Lewisburg and the surrounding areas. It’s really nice to explore small-town Lewisburg (by the way, the entire city is on the National Historical Registry), where stores are family-owned and people know your name. You can still find everything you need though, the 24-hour Walmart is a student favorite and they just built a new shopping center about 15 minutes away with a Target, Kohl’s, Michael’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. And the Selinsgrove Mall is about 20 minutes from campus, with shuttles there each Friday. It’s not a mall of the size I’m accustomed to in Baltimore, but it is certainly respectable.</p>

<p>Bucknell also does buses to locations such as NYC, the Inner Harbor, King of Prussia Mall, the Crossings (an outlet mall), D.C., etc. So if you’re really getting sick of the small-town feel, it’s easy to get out for the day. However, I’ve never really found myself wanting to get out. Yes, I like to go home and get some shopping done on breaks, or go to a museum or whatnot, but I also find myself looking forward to coming back to Bucknell.</p>

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<p>BucknellBubbly: </p>

<p>Wow thanks for all your input. I’m really glad you mentioned the Arts Residential College because I am interested in that too. What majors do you typically find in that hall? Is it uncommon for a science/bio major to live there?</p>

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<p>It is not at all uncommon for science majors to join the Arts Res. While you will of course find majors like theatre and music, there are also plenty of engineers, and biology, chemistry, geology, etc majors. While I am certainly not a science kid, I can tell you that friends with that inclination really enjoyed their time in the arts res. They wanted to have some time away from the sciences, and they really enjoyed having that sort of escape. Bucknell really encourages its students to do whatever interests them, and most students do choose to participate in a wide variety of activities and areas of study. You won’t be put into a “biology” box during your time here.</p>

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<p>Biobabe
Please be careful in judging schools by activity on threads as many competitive schools are now having folks in admissions post to stimulate activity. I think this is inappropriate behavior and is another reason for Bucknell to stand out from the crowd. Its an awesome school in every facet!!</p>

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<p>Thanks BucknellBubbly! Your insights are very helpful. What kind of performing arts do you participate in? This is an interest of my D. What are your experiences with performing arts faculty, performance opportunities, and quality/talent of student body. Does the student body support the arts? Do you feel the university supports the arts?</p>

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<p>BucknellBubbly: Thanks so much for your input. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear!</p>

<p>arcadiot: Thanks for your concern. I"ll admit that you have a good point… Luckily, I constantly receive guidance from my parents and older cousins regarding my college decision. They’ve helped me prioritize important factors, so I don’t have to rely on these boards.</p>

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<p>I am a theatre kid with a mediocre singing ability, so I participate in theatre department shows, the musical theatre club, and singing at Mass.</p>

<p>The department of theatre and dance has absolutely fantastic faculty and staff. The professors really love their jobs and love their students, and it truly becomes a family. It’s absolutely a different vibe than the other departments, although obviously the other professors also love their subjects and really respect their students.</p>

<p>There are a wide variety of different performances and performing groups on campus, and they range from a large time committment with auditions to a sort of low-time, everyone’s-welcome things. </p>

<p>What does your daughter like? I can elaborate more, I just don’t want to go into another mega-post.</p>

<p>The students here are not here just to get an arts education; there are certainly schools that focus on that sort of thing more. (The music department is different; that’s world-class and the students who are getting their Bachelors of Music are truly phenomenal.) However, the students who are involved in the arts here are still truly passionate and very talented, it’s just not the only thing in our lives.</p>

<p>While everyone obviously has a different amount of attachment to the different types of art, friends always come out in huge numbers to see their friends’ performances, etc.</p>

<p>Bucknell really does support in an incredible way its students and their interests, and so that includes the arts for the students so inclined.</p>

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<p>BucknellBuddy…again thanks for your response! My D is a dancer and has just been awarded an arts merit scholarship and named an arts scholar. She loves the faculty that she has met but really wants to hear from a current students perspective. She will visit one more time before she decides. She plans to stay with a student and take academic and dance classes. She is also involved in theatre and would love to have the opportunity to continue that as well.</p>

16

<p>Everything that everyone has posted about Bucknell being a super school is true. You could not ask for a greater place to spend four years! Three years ago I thought that many of the Ivies I had applied to would be great–until I walked on campus here. Everyone I met was so intense about being at Bucknell in every way–and they were all sincere–bottom line–people love it here and people make Bucknell the place it is. And I would have to say–Bucknell Alumni–are the most passionate alums! While most of my time is spent in the lab (pre-med Biology and I’m a junior) and doing a lot of work, I still have made time for my fraternity, my club work, and my club sport. Everyone here works hard-but finds time to have fun, too–and I like the balance. Plus school spirit is great here–not just for athletics–but for the presentations on campus whether they are in theater, music concerts (Jay Sean and Kid Cudi are coming in April!)–or the number of speakers that come on campus. Bucknell is the place–and for those of you reading this who get an acceptance letter (I hope you do!)–if you get the chance to visit campus for Admitted Students Day (April 24?)–you’ll feel it–why this is a great place–and then August won’t come fast enough for you! 'Ray Bucknell. Peace. -Time to have some fun-</p>

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<p>The dance program here is really cool actually. You can only minor in dance, but we also have the Bucknell Dance Company, which is a really hardcore group of dancers, I want to say ballet mostly but I could be wrong there. Then each semester there is the Choreographers’ Showcase which is open to the entire campus and different guest choreographers, faculty, and students choreograph pieces in basically any style you can think of. I am by no means a dancer so this can’t be all of the styles I’ve seen, but I know they’ve recently done ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip-hop, “social dancing”, Irish step dancing, Chinese water sleeves (that’s a class here, it’s really pretty), and basically anything you can think of. </p>

<p>My roommate from last year is a dancer, as are many of my sorority sisters, and they all really enjoy the program here. And the theatre program is also really enjoyable, plus for students with dance backgrounds a lot of our theatre shows, even non-musicals, feature dancing/movement so that’s really fun.</p>

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<p>What is the Greek scene like at Bucknell? Are a majority of students affliated with a fraternity/sorority? Does Greek life dominate the social life on campus? How is it for students who decide not to go Greek?</p>

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<p>It is nice to see the enthusiasm for Bucknell. I had a friend tour the school with her daughter and thought it was too East Coastish with what appeared to be an over emphasis on fashion, money etc. She said it seemed like every girl was carrying a Tory Burch handbag and dressed to the nines for a campus community. I’d like to know if this a fairly true description (I realize it is not true of all, but I would like to know if it is the general vibe there).</p>

20

<p>Greek life is certainly a presence here, but it’s not the be-all and the end-all. About 50% of our campus is Greek, but you cannot go through recruitment until the beginning of your sophomore year, so you have an entire year to make friends and figure out who you are. If you do choose to rush, you will still have friends in a lot of different Greek organizations and friends who are not Greek at all.</p>

<p>I am in a sorority and very happy about my decision, but I have friends who chose not to go Greek and they still really enjoy their time at Bucknell and have not suffered socially at all. I’f found that people won’t judge you no matter what you decide. There’s also not the cattiness between sororities that’s depicted in the movies here; we all have friends and roommates who are in other organization and that doesn’t hurt our friendships.</p>

<p>I’d say that the stereotypical Bucknell girl is depicted as wearing ugg boots, leggings-as-pants, a black northface and a longchamps bag, and certainly these and other similar looks are prominant on campus. However, there is not really a pressure to conform to the stereotype, it’s just how some people choose to dress. We have students from all over the country and the world and it’s been my experience that everyone here enjoys seeing their friends and classmates’ unique styles even if they are not something we would ever wear ourselves. (I refuse to wear uggs, and I’m not the only one.)</p>

<p>I wouldn’t call our general apparel dressed to the nines, but I do think there may be fewer pajama pants than other colleges? (Not that I have much experience in other colleges’ sartorial trends.) However, there will always be someone in your class wearing sweatpants and someone wearing business casual. Where you fall on that spectrum is up to you.</p>