[Bucknell vs CASE] How is it for minorities, how are the dorms?

weenie
Sat, 23 Apr 2005 12:29:03 +0000

We visited both Case and Bucknell.

Case’s undergrad dorms are in sort of '70’s styles buildings. They are not architectural masterpieces, but they were quite nice inside. Spacious, practical and well set up. When you enter there is a lounge and then (as I recall) you head upstairs to the rooms. I thought that was sort of nice because if you were hanging out in the lounge you’d see who was coming or going. Some photos can be seen at inurl:www.case.edu/. Also, it looked like the undergrad dorms were all in one place. There is open, grassy space around them. There is a shuttle bus that goes all over campus, including right past the dorms. They are also building new upper level dorm/apartments in a different part of the campus…

The two campuses feel very different. Case feels much more “serious” - truly university like. Way more student and faculty diversity evident. Seems like a better place for a self-motivated, mature student. Because there is a graduate school present I’m sure it also totally changes the playing field for opportunities to do research etc.

The frats at Case actually seemed to be quite service-oriented instead of just party houses.

Bucknell’s campus is beautiful in a liberal arts college kind of way. You can’t beat it. I know what you mean about the dorms, but I think perhaps the fact that they have tried to designate them for various interests maybe would make up for their sort of dismal feeling.

My understanding at Bucknell is that you have to be accepted into the Engineering program in order to major in it. One thing I liked about Case is their “open door” admissions. You can enter any of the schools (engineering, business, etc) withour applying seperately for them.

Of course the locations are very different. Case has a lot of interesting things in the vicinity - the Cleveland performing hall (they have a great orchestra), an art museum, a botanical graden, and the Cleveland Institute of Music. I suppose kids take advantage of being in a city too. Old Lewisburg is quaint and cute, new Lewisburg is typical American sprawl Wal-Mart land (with a huge prison thrown in).

I would think you may have received better financial aid/scholarship money from Case perhaps? Also, if you are even leaning slightly towards engineering, but you haven’t been accepted into engineering at Bucknell that may be the deciding factor for you right there.

Good luck. Two good choices!