Winter at Bucknell - unbearably cold?

I think that Bucknell seems like a great fit for me, but my main concern is the long and cold winter. I am from North Carolina where we get very short and bearable winters and rarely get snow. All the other schools I am looking at are in the south, and while I am very interested in Bucknell, I want to know how big of an adjustment the weather would be. I’m wondering if the long and cold winter affects the lifestyle or makes the atmosphere seem less happy and energetic. I’m not opposed to the idea of going somewhere with really cold winters but I am concerned that being locked up indoors to keep warm will take away from the experience. I don’t particularly like the idea of having to bundle up in my warmest clothes to walk to class every day. Is the weather really that extreme or am I just paranoid? I’d love to hear student’s opinions on the weather and how it affects the social and academic experience.

It’s hard to know how you’re going to react to the winter since you haven’t experienced it. Just wondering what you consider extreme. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania is certainly not as cold or snowy as many other parts of the country, certainly wouldn’t call it extreme by any stretch of the imagination, but you would most likely want a winter jacket, gloves and some sort of waterproof boots so your feet don’t get wet when you are walking to class in the winter. Keep in mind that you will be home for 6 weeks for the winter break when the weather is the worst. Also, what do you mean by "take away from the experience’? Yes, you will be inside more, but you can also have fun doing things outside - go sledding, throw snowballs, make a snowman … If you are picturing miserable students just hunkered in their rooms because it is cold outside, you definitely have the wrong idea.

There are scores of millions of people in the US who live in colder clime than central Pennsylvania, and they have a life (e.g., Boston, Chicago). And I haven’t even started counting the people in Canada…

I suggest you open a map for perspective.

Average temps around 30 during the coldest months. About 30 inches of annual snowfall. Doesn’t sound too bad. Your classmates will not be hunkered down anywhere, I promise you.

Many people are totally used to those kinds of winters and won’t have a problem with it. And some are new to it but still enjoy it, at least for 4 years and some come to prefer it. But it is perfectly reasonable to rule out schools in particular parts of the country due to the weather - there are so many great colleges all over the US to choose from and you have to whittle down the list some how.
But kids at college in cold climates do find many ways to have fun - from outdoor activities to indoor ones without suffering :slight_smile:

Keep in mind that the campus is pretty compact. You can walk through buildings to get to other buildings. I imagine a school like PSU you will be walking farther distances and/or waiting for shuttles in the cold.

If you think Bucknell is too cold, you pretty much have to write off anything above the Mason Dixon line and in the mid west.

The Ivy League is colder. You don’t sound eager.

My D’s first year roomate was from LA, California. The roomate graduated from Bucknell. I guess she could stand the winters.

Not too bad

It tends to stay pretty warm until early November/Late October and then it starts getting pretty cold pretty quickly and snows fairly often (usually every 4-5 days) from December to mid/late February. Once March rolls around its still pretty cold (mid 40’s on average I would say) but toward the end of March/April it’s like someone flips a switch and then its around low to mid 60’s for the rest of the school year. Winter weather isn’t exactly fun but its not anything that un bearable or anything and you start to get used to it pretty fast.