Bucknell is where the students work hard and play hard. Greek life and athletics are huge. It is a beautiful place to live and get your degree.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
Don't be intimidated by all the beautiful people- everyone is extremely friendly.
Almost everyone here is or was at one point an athlete, so fitness is huge here.
We live in the middle of nowhere! So if you're looking for a big city with lots of stuff to do, this isn't the school for you. But we do know how to have TONS of fun with what we've got here, so don't worry--if you come to Bucknell, you're guaranteed to have a good time and make the best friends of your life.
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
The academics are for the best of the best. Professors are always available to help you as much as they can, but ultimately your fate is in your own hands. I can't begin to tell you how many all-nighters I've pulled during finals week. The stress can be a lot sometimes, but the light at the end of the tunnel pushing all of us forward is the fact that we earned the degree that says Bucknell University on it--one of the bets institutions in the nation.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
Almost all of the dorms have AC. They are all pretty spacious, and everything on campus is in easy walking distance--it only takes about 8 minutes to walk from the farthest edge of campus to the other. Your freshman hall oftentimes becomes your family and closest friends throughout your four years here. Some of the dorms are a little older, but have gone under extensive renovations in the past few years. And by 2014, we will have brand new dorms for upperclassmen, which are rumored to be apartment-style.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
My friends and I have had visitors who have told us that our dining hall is thousands of times better than theirs at other public and private universities. In Bostwick Dining Hall, or The Caf as we call it, the food is buffet style and you always have a choice of friend foods and burgers, pasta, salad bar, cooked-to-order stir fry, a cereal wall with every type of cereal you can imagine, an egg bar, an awesome dessert table, and everyone's favorite, an ice cream bar with both hard and soft serve. Freshmen are required to get the unlimited caf plan for their full first year, so the caf is often full with other first-years. For the upperclassmen, The Bison, which is located on the floor below the caf, serves as their main source of food and hanging out. The Bison has Mexican, Pasta, Pizza, an all-day breakfast bar and grill, deli sandwiches and subs station, and hundreds of other choices of candy, chips, salads, fruits and veggies, and drinks. The only complaint that many have is that the food here is very overpriced, and oftentimes we have to add money to our dining dollars at the end of the semester so we can eat. It costs a fortune to attend Bucknell as it is, and we shouldn't have to worry about whether or not we can afford meals for two weeks at the end of the semester.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
Join a club or sports team!!! There are tons of clubs to join, and at freshman orientation there is a HUGE club fair where you can walk around and see what everyone has to offer, and sign up for them there. The Susquehanna Valley Mall is only 15 minutes away, so if you have a friend with a car, you can hang out there. At least once a month, ACE, the student activities club, puts on trips to nearby cities like Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York. They are only about 3 hours away and you get to spend all day there. We also always have comedians or student performances going on that always draw big crowds. Being as Bucknell is in a rural area, fun things to do can be hard to find, and we do have a reputation as a big party school. Fraternities host huge dance parties every weekend, and things get hot and crazy there. But if that's not your thing, there is plenty of shopping to do in downtown Lewisburg or the surrounding areas; you can float down the Susquehanna River; you can go for a hike or bike ride along one of the many nature trails around here; or go to the corn maze at Ard's Farm. There is a lot to do if you want to explore.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Although it is expensive, the education you'll get at Bucknell is invaluable. It is one of the top liberal arts institutions in the nation for a reason; you'll be pushed to your academic limits, but you'll come out a better person in the end. And you will make the best friends of your life here, which is something you might not find anywhere else.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
During freshmen orientation, all the first-years walk through the Christy Mathewson memorial gates during convocation, and only walk through them once more, at graduation. It marks the beginning and end of your time at Bucknell.
Legend has it that if you kiss your sweetheart on the Academic Quad above Freas Hall at sunset, you'll get married!
Hunt Hall, our sorority house, is said to be haunted by a past sorority girl, who likes to steal clothes and misplace items of the current residents.
If you're a sports fanatic, the Sojka Psychos are the student group on campus dedicated to dressing up and being as loud and rowdy as possible at our men's basketball games--which almost always are packed with students and fans.
On the Wednesday before finals start, we have Reading Day, which is a day with no classes in which you can relax and reset your mind to get ready for finals, or spend all day in quiet studying for your first test. During Finals week, the caf offers free food every single night, starting with Breakfast with the Deans in which Deans and Professors are behind the grills, making all your favorite breakfast foods.
Which types of students will excel at your college?
Academically driven, athletic, and outgoing students. With not much to do here, making friends is imperative! You also really need to know how to balance your priorities. Partying is a huge distraction, but as long as you know how to get your work done and done right, you should have no problem having a good time and still get good grades.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
There are tons of clubs on campus, from intramural sports, to student activities, to comedy and performing arts troupes. Anything you want to do, we have it here at Bucknell. Sports are huge, too--whether you are on a varsity team or just like to go watch, almost everyone here is into sports in some way.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
About 70-75% of the students at Bucknell are in a fraternity or sorority. It goes without saying, then, that Greek life here is HUGE. The fraternities have their own houses, while the sororities live in one sorority mansion as we like to call it. All of the frats and sororities are extremely close to one another, and often host parties and campus events together. If you want to join an organization that does good things for others and also provides you with a support system and family here, then Greek life is for you.
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
We have our own Campus police, or p-safe as we like to call them. They are on call 24 hours a day, for anything from emergencies to something as simple as getting your car jumped. There are blue light emergency phone booths that are visible from any point on campus, so if you should be in an emergency outside at any time, safety is near. However, the crime on Bucknell's campus is virtually non-existent; the biggest things we have had to deal with are drugs and alcohol problems and sexual assault among the students. No outside trouble makers have ever found their way onto our campus as far as I can recall. Lewisburg is a quiet, very safe area.
Bucknell is where the students work hard and play hard. Greek life and athletics are huge. It is a beautiful place to live and get your degree.
Don't be intimidated by all the beautiful people- everyone is extremely friendly. Almost everyone here is or was at one point an athlete, so fitness is huge here. We live in the middle of nowhere! So if you're looking for a big city with lots of stuff to do, this isn't the school for you. But we do know how to have TONS of fun with what we've got here, so don't worry--if you come to Bucknell, you're guaranteed to have a good time and make the best friends of your life.
The academics are for the best of the best. Professors are always available to help you as much as they can, but ultimately your fate is in your own hands. I can't begin to tell you how many all-nighters I've pulled during finals week. The stress can be a lot sometimes, but the light at the end of the tunnel pushing all of us forward is the fact that we earned the degree that says Bucknell University on it--one of the bets institutions in the nation.
Almost all of the dorms have AC. They are all pretty spacious, and everything on campus is in easy walking distance--it only takes about 8 minutes to walk from the farthest edge of campus to the other. Your freshman hall oftentimes becomes your family and closest friends throughout your four years here. Some of the dorms are a little older, but have gone under extensive renovations in the past few years. And by 2014, we will have brand new dorms for upperclassmen, which are rumored to be apartment-style.
My friends and I have had visitors who have told us that our dining hall is thousands of times better than theirs at other public and private universities. In Bostwick Dining Hall, or The Caf as we call it, the food is buffet style and you always have a choice of friend foods and burgers, pasta, salad bar, cooked-to-order stir fry, a cereal wall with every type of cereal you can imagine, an egg bar, an awesome dessert table, and everyone's favorite, an ice cream bar with both hard and soft serve. Freshmen are required to get the unlimited caf plan for their full first year, so the caf is often full with other first-years. For the upperclassmen, The Bison, which is located on the floor below the caf, serves as their main source of food and hanging out. The Bison has Mexican, Pasta, Pizza, an all-day breakfast bar and grill, deli sandwiches and subs station, and hundreds of other choices of candy, chips, salads, fruits and veggies, and drinks. The only complaint that many have is that the food here is very overpriced, and oftentimes we have to add money to our dining dollars at the end of the semester so we can eat. It costs a fortune to attend Bucknell as it is, and we shouldn't have to worry about whether or not we can afford meals for two weeks at the end of the semester.
Join a club or sports team!!! There are tons of clubs to join, and at freshman orientation there is a HUGE club fair where you can walk around and see what everyone has to offer, and sign up for them there. The Susquehanna Valley Mall is only 15 minutes away, so if you have a friend with a car, you can hang out there. At least once a month, ACE, the student activities club, puts on trips to nearby cities like Washington DC, Philadelphia, and New York. They are only about 3 hours away and you get to spend all day there. We also always have comedians or student performances going on that always draw big crowds. Being as Bucknell is in a rural area, fun things to do can be hard to find, and we do have a reputation as a big party school. Fraternities host huge dance parties every weekend, and things get hot and crazy there. But if that's not your thing, there is plenty of shopping to do in downtown Lewisburg or the surrounding areas; you can float down the Susquehanna River; you can go for a hike or bike ride along one of the many nature trails around here; or go to the corn maze at Ard's Farm. There is a lot to do if you want to explore.
Although it is expensive, the education you'll get at Bucknell is invaluable. It is one of the top liberal arts institutions in the nation for a reason; you'll be pushed to your academic limits, but you'll come out a better person in the end. And you will make the best friends of your life here, which is something you might not find anywhere else.
During freshmen orientation, all the first-years walk through the Christy Mathewson memorial gates during convocation, and only walk through them once more, at graduation. It marks the beginning and end of your time at Bucknell. Legend has it that if you kiss your sweetheart on the Academic Quad above Freas Hall at sunset, you'll get married! Hunt Hall, our sorority house, is said to be haunted by a past sorority girl, who likes to steal clothes and misplace items of the current residents. If you're a sports fanatic, the Sojka Psychos are the student group on campus dedicated to dressing up and being as loud and rowdy as possible at our men's basketball games--which almost always are packed with students and fans. On the Wednesday before finals start, we have Reading Day, which is a day with no classes in which you can relax and reset your mind to get ready for finals, or spend all day in quiet studying for your first test. During Finals week, the caf offers free food every single night, starting with Breakfast with the Deans in which Deans and Professors are behind the grills, making all your favorite breakfast foods.
Academically driven, athletic, and outgoing students. With not much to do here, making friends is imperative! You also really need to know how to balance your priorities. Partying is a huge distraction, but as long as you know how to get your work done and done right, you should have no problem having a good time and still get good grades.
There are tons of clubs on campus, from intramural sports, to student activities, to comedy and performing arts troupes. Anything you want to do, we have it here at Bucknell. Sports are huge, too--whether you are on a varsity team or just like to go watch, almost everyone here is into sports in some way.
About 70-75% of the students at Bucknell are in a fraternity or sorority. It goes without saying, then, that Greek life here is HUGE. The fraternities have their own houses, while the sororities live in one sorority mansion as we like to call it. All of the frats and sororities are extremely close to one another, and often host parties and campus events together. If you want to join an organization that does good things for others and also provides you with a support system and family here, then Greek life is for you.
We have our own Campus police, or p-safe as we like to call them. They are on call 24 hours a day, for anything from emergencies to something as simple as getting your car jumped. There are blue light emergency phone booths that are visible from any point on campus, so if you should be in an emergency outside at any time, safety is near. However, the crime on Bucknell's campus is virtually non-existent; the biggest things we have had to deal with are drugs and alcohol problems and sexual assault among the students. No outside trouble makers have ever found their way onto our campus as far as I can recall. Lewisburg is a quiet, very safe area.