<p>Hi everyone! I am a NJ applicant who is torn btwn these two schools- and I am still considering Villanova if anyone can provide some judgment on that as well.
I love Wake's campus and the warm weather of course. I also love Bucknell's campus and closeness to my home.</p>
<p>Both are great school so any one with some true pros and cons feel free to post.
I would love to hear thoughts on the preppy-nature of both campuses, thoughts on how far from home is too far- especially any one with experience, I am considering business so is Wake's business school truly worth it? ANY THOUGHTS WOULD BE INCREDIBLE</p>
<p>Thank you so so so much in advance- I am so torn .</p>
<p>First, all are excellent options - you really can’t go wrong. Wake is a little larger and I believe the W-S has more to offer than central, rural PA. Villanova does have Philly, of course. I would say they are reasonably on par academically and all have good business programs. I do think that if you care about rankings and look at those - Wake will come out on top. Note the recent ranking in Business Week that Wake was number 1 in academic quality. However, the business school at Wake is known for a very tough, demanding workload.</p>
<p>NJ to Wake is far - but you can fly out of Greensboro. Certainly Bucknell and Villanova are closer and within driving range. Do you want to get away from the cold? It would seem Wake would win out for the weather. Distance from home is a very personal decision. But unless that is a deal breaker for you, I would recommend Wake Forest.</p>
<p>D is a 2010 Wake grad. Back when she was deciding among her acceptances, her final choices came down to Wake vs. Bucknell. Interestingly, we discovered that both campuses were designed by the same architect/campus designer – or whatever the correct term is. She attended the revisit days for both schools and was still undecided. One thing that was a factor for her was she would be a DI athlete (diving) at Bucknell but not at WFU (no swimming/diving team). Finally my husband made her write down a comparative list: “Pros for Wake over Bucknell” and “Pros for Bucknell over Wake.” Ultimately, the comparison showed that the only “pro” for Bucknell over Wake was the chance to dive. D is a very rational person – she was the one to point out that she wouldn’t be diving the rest of her life and that wasn’t a reason to pick a school. Of course, her list was based on HER impressions, HER academic interests, etc., etc. Ultimately it’s a personal decision.</p>
<p>Agree with above poster – The Calloway School at Wake is excellent. I can’t comment on business at Bucknell. D flew from Greensboro to Hartford, CT – always had to change planes once. Yes, that could be a drag, but it worked out. She stored most of her stuff in W-S over the summers.</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>Regarding :“I love Wake’s campus and the warm weather”</p>
<p>Monthly Averages for LOW Temperature by month for winston salem vs philadelphia:
[Average</a> Weather for Winston-Salem, NC - Temperature and Precipitation](<a href=“http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/27106]Average”>Ashburn, VA Monthly Weather Forecast - weather.com)
[Average</a> Weather for Philadelphia, PA - Temperature and Precipitation](<a href=“Ashburn, VA Monthly Weather Forecast - weather.com”>Ashburn, VA Monthly Weather Forecast - weather.com)</p>
<p>Winston-Salem VS Philadelphia according to weather.com
Nov 34 vs 40
Dec 28 vs 31
Jan 25 vs 25
Feb 27 vs 28
Mar 34 vs 35</p>
<p>There are many reasons to go to Wake Forest , but warm winter weather is not one of them.Clearly you will see a lot less snow at Wake Forest vs Philadelphia but Winston-Salem is not south Florida!</p>
<p>I agree that Wake Forest campus is stunning and the academics and study body are fabulous.
Also don’t dismiss Villanova Business school , VSB ranked #7 by Business Week 2011 for undergraduate business. Wake Forest was ranked #19.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/villanova-university/1096971-vsb-ranked-7-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/villanova-university/1096971-vsb-ranked-7-a.html</a>
<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?;
<p>I think it is hard to pass up Wake Forest , but you have to decide what is the best fit for you , good luck with your choice!</p>
<p>I agree, I wouldn’t say weather should be a major factor to begin with, especially when considering Winston-Salem. Although, if you look at the HIGH temps for W-S vs Philly, the high is way higher in W-S. It got to 75 in February, and right now its a beautiful day out.</p>
<p>As for other comparisons:
Winston-Salem has far more to do than Lewisburg, PA
Wake has a better sports program (albeit we did not have a great year). You’ll get the big time ACC atmosphere for basketball, soccer and even football at times which you won’t get at Bucknell.
Wake has a much more Southern feel–it has its share of northern kids (me included) although there’s definitely a southern feel on campus.Probably more conservative in general than Bucknell too</p>
<p>There are certainly other diffs/similarities, but those are some big ones I’d say</p>
<p>Just to be clear on the weather difference. The same site that Brave Ulysses used also shows the average highs:</p>
<p>W-S vs. Philadelphia</p>
<p>Nov: 60 vs. 55
Dec: 51 vs. 44
Jan: 47 vs. 39
Feb: 52 vs. 42
Mar: 61 vs. 51</p>
<p>To put that in perspective, December, January and February in Philadelphia are all colder than the single coldest month (Janurary) in Winston Salem. But, yes, it gets cold when the sun goes down in North Carolina…</p>
<p>My response was to :“I love Wake’s campus and the warm weather”</p>
<p>If you compare high or low temps , the difference in weather between Wake Forest and Villanova is not as great as most would imagine and I would not describe central NC winters as “warm weather”.</p>
<p>Warm weather is south Florida.</p>
<p>Go to Wake Forest for many great reasons , just not for warm weather.</p>
<p>I agree with you that weather alone should not be the determining factor! However, my son has worn shorts every single day at Wake Forest - he really doesn’t own much in the way of pants. Don’t think he would have been able to do that at Bucknell or Villanova. :)</p>
<p>I live in NJ. Whenever I go home for breaks it is significantly colder at home. It also snowed in NJ when it was 80 here. While weather alone should not be the determining factor, I think Wake has a lot to offer. Bucknell and Wake have a similar vibe with their high levels of Greek life and whatnot, which should make their academic programs more easily comparable based on what you would like to do. Calloway is hard to pass up if you’re considering business; both schools are very preppy though so social is similar. </p>
<p>I had a friend transfer here from Villanova and he had some not-so-nice things to say about it (i.e. Villa-no-fun) but I’m sure it works for some people. Clearly different from Wake in the way of Greek life … I visited Villanova and the word I used to describe it was “gray”. The tour guides were all wearing crosses and there were crosses over the doorways and stuff. It was too much for me but that’s my personal opinion.</p>
<p>Traveling from NJ is NOT bad at all. If you fly out of Newark you can fly directly into Greensboro. Flights aren’t super expensive and Greensboro is like 20 minutes outside of Winston-Salem. There will always be Wake kids on your flights to drive you back as well; I haven’t had to take a cab yet. The drive is 9-10 hours depending on where in Jersey you live. The ride is kind of annoying but it IS in driving distance if you must drive 
If you have any specific questions about the commute let me know!</p>