Bucknell University Top Questions

Its just right in terms of size. They think its a good school my room or dana engineering building what? it sucks ass guns on campus for the police. Fuck the police from the underground. Viva la revolution! a bit did i mention the bucknell bubble? Rather crazy parties I am a man, i am a son of a man. I dont complain. Some engineering professors suck big time.

Bucknell is a small school, but this is maybe it's biggest asset. You really get to know and interact with your professors and the students in your department. You're a name and not just an identification number. It's nestled in a small but pretty town in central Pennsylvania. There's not tons to do, but there's fun to be had if you look around for it, and there are a lot of on-campus activities. Unfortunately, much of the social life revolves around fraternities; if you're not Greek or you don't like large parties, finding friends and things to do can be difficult -- but certainly not impossible. When I'm not studying in the engineering building, I spend a good amount of time hanging out in friends' rooms or at the on-campus cafe, which provides both delicious drinks and a nice atmosphere for studying, reading, or chatting with friends. The Bison, one of the eating establishments, is also a nice place for meeting up with friends. Overall, I'd say there's not tons of school pride -- certainly not more than at other schools. Our basketball team made it to the NCAA tournament two years in a row; that generated a brief period of school pride, but that's about it. That's not to say students don't like the school -- overall, they're apathetic about a lot of things.

My favorite things about Bucknell are the scenery and the people. Bucknell has a gorgeous campus in Spring - Fall, but winter is not so amazing. I wanted to go to a small school, but since Lewisburg is in a small town in the middle of Pennsylvania, the combination makes for a slightly dry social life. That is why most people go "Greek" at Bucknell (around 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of students!). It also explains why people party and drink so much - cause there really isn't much else to do! Most of my time is spent with my friends doing whatever: Usually going to dinner downtown or hanging out in someone's dorm or going to 7th St. Cafe. Like I mentioned before, there isn't much exciting in Lewisburg, so it's nice to make friends with someone who has a car so you can get off campus once in awhile. The basketball team at Bucknell did really well in the 2006-2007 season, so school pride was pretty high! The games are always fun! Another memorable experience at Bucknell is the candlelight service in December. It is held in Rooke Chapel and they have a choir and bell ringers. Most things at this school are overpriced. Go into the bookstore and you'll find batteries three times the price of what you could find at a local store. Even in the cafeteria or "Bison" the cheapest meals usually come out to around $8 and the food does not taste that amazing.

I think Bucknell is just the riht size - big enough that there is a big variety of classes, people, and point of views to get to experience alot of new things, but small enough that its not uncommon to have classes with 8 people on them. I spend most of my time working at the Weis Center/ for Performance Services and I love my job. Bucknell is somewhat of a college town (since alot of students like to rent houses in town and frequent a few of the restaurants on main street), but you can mostly get anything you need on campus, so it's not really necessary to venture into town much. Though I don't know very much, from what I've heard and see I think the administration spends too much money on things that don't necessarily benefit the students (fancy dinners for alumni and other guests) and to make ends meet tuition is now going up, making us the 3rd most expensive school (tuition wise) in the country. There are also alot of disappearances within the administration (people who either "leave" or are fired) and general turnaround without much explanation (bordering on secrecy) of why.

Sometimes political groups might not be the friendlies toward each other, but that's usually based on misunderstanding or unwillingness to listen by individuals who mar the group's reputation. Religion is very open here. I never expected that I would feel so free to be active in my faith when I came to college. It's an opportunity for growth that I had not anticipated. People are open about you and your experiences. Being the first person in my family to attend college, I was intimidated here at first because of my working-class background. I was able to meet lots of friendly people, however, and that faded. I was also able to consider lots of aspects of my own diversity through academics, like in my Foundations of Education that I took freshman year. Athletic teams tend to eat together in the cafeteria, but that's mostly based on their similar schedules. There aren't noticeable cliques in the cafeteria. Freshman year it is common to eat with your hallmates. After that, the gender most commonly seen in dining halls is female since many males join fraternities and eat at their houses.

One thing I can't complain about was the education I got, for the price I had to pay (I've been on almost full scholarship for the past four years). As a double major in the liberal arts, I was able to avoid most of the "bad" faculty (East Asian studies, Biology, and International Relations, some in the Engineering school, to name those of which I've heard). As a senior now, I've realized the considerable amount of academic growing I have gone through. As for the size of Bucknell, I think that as an undergraduate institution, it was the right size. Maybe I'm a bit biased, but small, it seems, is better for undergraduate. Sure, you run across that awkward guy you hooked up with a few weeks ago more often, but *shrug* such is college. Most people still don't know about Bucknell. If they do, it's usually because we ruined their bets during March Madness of 2005 or they read somewhere that we're the 3rd-most expensive college to go to that doesn't carry as much academic clout as others in the same price range (read, the Ivies). "What college town?" Lewisburg is really nice and quaint, but it really isn't a college town at all. There's nothing to do. Sure, there's stuff going on oncampus, but really...not so much going on. On nights when I go out with my friends and try to find something to do, we usually go off campus or just end up doing what everyone else does: get drunk. It's really depressing sometimes that that's the only thing we can do here, since we're so much in the middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania.

Bucknell is a good size for me, but I am looking at a bigger grad school. After three years, it's beginning to feel a little cramped. Bucknell's administration cares about improving their image, not the students, faculty or staff. Our president is not at all approachable or accessible. He doesn't make an effort to get to know his students, like I've heard about other college presidents. Bucknell does offer great career and networking opportunities. They are some alums in prestigious careers and the Career Development Center (CDC) helps to put you in contact with him. The CDC is one of the best resources we have. Their strength is in finding careers for the management, finance, business, and engineers. As far as liberal arts goes, you're out of luck. But they do make an effort to try if you reach out to them.

One thing that Bucknell emphasizes, and fits me quite well, is balance in many different regions of life. It is fairly rare that a student's activities are concentrated in only one region, which I personally believe is a strength. One personal complaint could just as easily be a praise from another student: the "Bucknell Bubble" phenomenon. I love the quaint, Central Pennsylvania atmosphere of Lewisburg, the neighboring town, but admittedly there is very little to do past 6th Street and St. Catherine's after about nine in the evening. Due to this, there is something of a love-hate relationship between the town and the university. Borough residents will cheer on Bucknell in every possible sporting event as much as the Sojka Psychos in a basketball game, but they hold many of the stereotypes about which I wrote earlier. The Bucknell community has a tendency to look down its collective nose at the "townies", so perhaps we deserve the labels the outside world gives us.

God, Bucknell is my life. I LOVE this place: the campus is gorgeous, the professors are amazing, classes are interesting, we have an AMAZING gym, its small enough to be intimate and large enough that I still meet new people. Students tend to be engaged (there are duds though). There are millions of extra-curricular activities and the school does its best to provide weekend opportunities that keep people away from alcohol. I wish students actually took advantage of all that Bucknell offers, there is soooo much for everyone: bingo, comedians, bands, orchestras, speakers, bowling, poetry readings, competitions, dinners, wine-tastings, trips to NY, skiing, outing events, awareness clubs...the list goes on; and I feel that students in general are missing out. Because we are in the middle of nowhere (its such beautiful country and the amish are interesting), Bucknell as an institution has to keep over 3500 students entertained. There is a huge party life here though, and that can be interesting. Greeks are everywhere, although I am not and I am reminded every week just how lucky I am that I did not join a sorority. Uphill parties are fun, downtown is not so much (but others feel the exact opposite). There are only 2 decent bars. I can't really comment on the admin: I don't pay enough attention; but professors and my boss at the theater really hate the new administration. They spend too much money on worthless things? Not sure. I think their priorities are different from the faculty. They recently tried to down-size/stop the Vagina monologues from campus, and that pissed off tons of people. Who are they to say what should/should not be promoted on campus? Its an important feminist event and they have every right to have the freedom. Campus was in an uproar about that one. Oh, yeah, and everything is ridiculously expensive on campus. Food is outrageous. Like I said, they assume rich white kids with dad's money (well, could be mom's these days) which is a huge problem for those of us that don't have our parent's money. They really really have to do something about that. Oh, not only that, they raised tuition just to stay competitive, thats just rude. We were labeled as the third most expensive school in the U.S. Now I LOVEEE my classes, but I have to ask myself if I am getting the third best education in America? I would like to hope that the administration thought about that before increasing the tuition. There is a lot of school pride, especially for basketball, but I have always regretted that my school isn't one of those crazy school-pride schools like Penn State. Now that's school pride. We could use some more, thats for sure. But to be honest, I just assumed that everyone was in love with B.U; it has only been recent that I have realized that there are students that don't like it here...What the hell is their problem?? Memories? experiences? Jeeze...too many to tell you. One word: Houseparty.

I came to Lewisburg from New York City, so it was really a very dramatic change. I was worried at first that I wouldn't like living in the middle of nowhere PA, but I found that the fact that there isn't really much outside of Bucknell to be more of a bonus than a problem. Because there is so little off campus, everyone lives on or very close to the school, so your friends are always there and there is ALWAYS something going on. Usually, this something is free. There aren't so few people that everyone knows everyone else's business, but there aren't so many people that you are overwhelmed and don't feel like a community.