<p>Any interest in this topic? I’ll start to say that my daughter turned down: Cornell (presidential research scholar) Vanderbilt, Lehigh (dean’s scholar) and Villanova.</p>
<p>Wow! Your d is exceptional! A Dean's Scholar at Lehigh is not an easy achievement.... May I ask if she received any financial aid from Bucknell? Bucknell is lucky to have her! My d is interested in Bucknell. Would you share your d's stats? Good luck to her!</p>
<p>Thank you, although I was not trying to brag as much as reassure her that other Bucknell students are of similar caliber. </p>
<p>She scored a 1360 on the old sat, 2000 if you consider the new writing part. Class rank was top 5% in a competitive high school with 700 students. She did orchestra, secty of the National Honor Society. What really helped her is that she participated in 3 Science research projects in PA, and won a first place in 2 of them. Last summer she did research for a doctor at a local hospital and spent a week in the summer of '04 at a Cornell engineering program. </p>
<p>If you have a junior, don't make the mistake we did and not schedule the SAT II. By the time she realized that Penn was her first choice, she learned that she couldn't apply due to the lack of that test. Also, she had done so much science research that we applied as a science student and that really helped these colleges understand her strengths and know where to imagine her on their campus.</p>
<p>Oh, and no, she did not get any financial aid to Bucknell. They did not give any to my son either. But when you see how gorgeous and well maintained the facilities are at Bucknell, you know where the money is going.</p>
<p>Wow, your daughter is amazing...compare to her I feel very unqualified to be considered a part of Bucknell's class of 2010! I turned down Washington and Jefferson, UT Austin, and International University Bremen (in Germany). I think I made the right decision, Bucknell is perfect. :)</p>
<p>sunflower_girl </p>
<p>What matters now is that Bucknell is a wonderful place to grow in the next four years. I'm sure that you are well qualified to be in the class of 2010. One great thing about college is that everyone is starting with a clean slate. Go Bison!</p>
<p>snajean, Thanks for your response! And, no, you're not bragging...You should be very proud of your d's accomplishments. Yes, we visited Bucknell last June; we want to re-visit again when school ends. I thought it was a well-maintained and gorgeous campus. I also appreciated the talk the admissions director gave. He was very candid. My d is interested in East Asian studies (Japanese) and psychology. On last year's SAT she got 1880 total. By the time she graduates from hs, she will have had 12-13 AP classes, and she ranks about 5 out of 545 juniors. She started a Japanese Language and Culture club at school, vice-president of the French club, NHS member, and from her PSAT scores, we suspect a NM commended student. Her weighted gpa is well over 4.5. (She's in the VA Commonwealth Governor's School)... And yes, she took the Bio Sat II (680) and will take two more SAT II's, plus she took the ACT last June (score 29) and will take it again this June....And she's sitting this am for the SAT I (saying my prayers)....</p>
<p>My problem is $$. That's why I wondered about financial aid....With all the competition, you need to be at the top of the applicant pool...</p>
<p>If anyone can share his/her experience with financial aid, it would be very welcomed! </p>
<p>Did your d apply ED?</p>
<p>Sorry to be long-winded!</p>
<p>Wow ! Your daughter is a wonderful student and Bucknell would be lucky to have her as well. I don't think Bucknell gives much merit aid, but if you have a financial need, then I hope they would be supportive, but I just don't know.</p>
<p>My son applied to Dickinson, and they gave him $15,000 a year, making it cost about 22,000 at the time. It's a small liberal arts school, and I loved the campus and town. They prided themselves on their foreign language programs, so you might want to check it out. Lehigh does seem to give a fair amount of merit aid. But I think its campus feel is more different than Bucknell ; Dickinson will seem more similar. </p>
<p>Good luck to you and she is already shown that she is a very capable young lady. Congrats on being this involved in her junior year.</p>
<p>Oh, I almost forgot, no she did not apply early decision. She couldn't decide and still isn't sure, but that's another matter. I saw a lot of very happy students in the crowd at Bucknell's admit day who had chosen ED.</p>
<p>Two of my daughter's classmates got full rides to Dickinson and are going.
They are top 5% at a highly competitive high school with incredible SATs. If aid is your goal be sure to appy to schools that will be looking for your daughter to raise their stats. Check their endowments out. Hobart William Smith is also good with aid. You might sacrifice a more competitive college for aid. But there is something to be said about being at top of the class.
Good Luck!</p>
<p>LBP--Bucknell is a Need-Based institution with preferential packaging. My son got excellent aid from Bucknell, almost to the penny what Colgate offered. They also upped his grant this year. My son was top 2% of not-so-hot public school; AP Scholar with Distinction, and if you add his SAT II writing to his old SAT I he'd be a 2180...it's hard to compare apples to oranges with the change in tests but that would ball park you. I think it had less to do with stats, and more to do with his writing and communication skills, and that he would be coming from Texas. </p>
<p>He did not pick the highest ranked or cheapest school (edit I should say that the cheapest school cost less to begin with--aid package was similar) among his admits, he picked the one he felt he would enjoy the most. This has worked well for us. He has continued to debate, joined College Dems, edits a political publication, plays in a rock band and is planning to head off to Brazil for a semester next year.</p>