<p>SoCasd–and others interested in Bucknell–the Bison is located on campus and sells things other than food. For instance, my D said, it carries some drugs (aspiran, etc.), tampax, condoms. I’m not sure what emergency items your D needs.</p>
<p>Also, the bookstore is indeed now downtown. But downtown is about 5 blocks away. It is definitely walkable. Actually, before the bookstore being relocated downtown, there was no bus from campus to downtown because it is so close. And it involves no hills, totally flat. Easy bike ride too.</p>
<p>And there are regular buses to Walmart, located in Lewiburg, and the mall (and other stores like Kohls, Target, etc.) about 12 or so miles away.</p>
<p>And again I have to say that there is a life other than being Greek at Bucknell. My D was not a member of a sorority and had a social life, and others on this thread have indicated this also. </p>
<p>I do not want to suggest that the Greek system is not a big part of Bucknell life. It is just not the only part. Many frat parties are open to all. Mixers ( between a sorority and a frat) are not. D said, first years can’t rush and many seniors go to the bars (whether they drink or not) and do not care as much about their frats or sororities. Non-greeks have their own parties. Plus there are numerous campus activities. If 50% are Greek, 50% are not. I do not know the percentage that are not Greek, but it is obviously more than 25%. Probably 35-45%. There must be something for these students to do.</p>
<p>SoCasd, I hope your D is able to find a group of friends or activities to fulfill her social life.</p>
<p>According to CollegeData 69% of women and 57% of men are in sororities/fraternities. We also are concerned about this, but since you can’t rush freshman year, it would give time to find out whether this is something you are interested in. My son loved the atmosphere of the school on his visit.</p>
<p>I have to admit that I was concerned about the whole Greek thing, too, when my son decided to attend Bucknell (he’s currently a freshman). He has had absolutely no problem with finding a tight-knit group of friends and things to do on campus. He is pretty busy with his classes, residential college, and playing club hockey. I think the key is to get out and do things and not wait for the fun to find you. He is going to keep an open mind about joining a fraternity next year. I think right now he doesn’t have strong feeling either way, but I am sure he will have these friends no matter what he does. I couldn’t have asked for a better college experience for him so far.</p>
<p>And I agree with morrismm - the bookstore is a very easy walk from the campus. Bucknell was not the only college that we visited that had the bookstore a little ways off campus, either.</p>
<p>Oh, and I would just like to add the following (this has nothing to do with the social life on campus, but does speak to how much the school cares about the overall student experience) - </p>
<p>I am quite impressed with the quality of education at Bucknell and all they do for their students. My son took a Philosophy in Film class his first semester. The actor John Malkovich actually came to Lewisburg from NYC to speak to the class about the movie “Being John Malkovich” before they saw the movie in class. And this semester he is taking a writing class about Jonestown. Jim Jones’ son is going to be a guest speaker at one of his lectures. Above and beyond, I would say.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a sorority that focuses on singing. They are more social and philanthropy focused. There are many a Capella groups on campus however! </p>
I checked their common data set, which I should have looked at in the first place.</p>