<p>Received very good financial aid package from Bucknell and have not yet heard from Georgetown FA. Realize the two schools are different in terms of size/opportunities. One of the obvious major differences is larger university vs. more community-sensed college. Bucknell offers the feel of a smaller campus community yet many people find it difficult I would even consider turning down the prestige of Georgetown.</p>
<p>Advice will be useful for a pros and cons list. Anyone who had the same or a similar decision? What did you choose?</p>
<p>The comprehensive fees for both schools are fairly similar, so I think the school that offers the most FA should be your choice. Also, gleaning from your post it seems as though you would prefer the community environment at Bucknell. I recently was at one of my professor's office hours and she talked about how she loved how "warm and bubbly" Bucknell was compared to UPenn where she completed her PhD. I think environment is a factor that should not be overlooked when choosing between schools. When I was choosing between Case Western, Rose Hulman, and Bucknell, it came down to me preferring Bucknell's environment. Choosing Georgetown over Bucknell due to prestige is a bit silly. What do you plan to major in?</p>
<p>Bucknell's math department is probably one of our strongest. I think ericatbucknell can back me up on this statement, although I think he's too busy completing his grad school work. My math class has always been the most challenging each semester thus far. Math homework generally takes the longest to complete. I have a friend who's an electrical engineer who said that he has so much more free time this semester now that he's completed all his required math courses. The math professors have pretty high expectations of their students. The tests usually don't completely rehash homework problems. There are often little twists to exam problems that you haven't seen before, and it can be a little frustrating sometimes! I think if you decide to attend Bucknell, you'll have a rewarding four years studying mathematics.</p>
<p>I never thought I'd ever see a Georgetown vs. Bucknell thread! My D is a freshman at Bucknell so I can only comment on her experience so far. I am Georgetown Grad. If I had to do it over again I would chose Bucknell without hesitation. The schools are so different not only in location but in philosophy. Maybe things at Georgetown have changed over the years but after visiting again with my college bound kids last year I was disappointed. The facilities e.g. the library and science center have yet to be updated since I graduated 30 yrs ago. The new science center still doesn't have a completion date. Housing was a major headache at Georgetown although I noticed a new dorm. I think now they give 2 yrs housing. Living off campus in the row houses was very costly and sometimes isolating. The 38 course curriculum is difficult and loaded with core requirements (Jesuit philosophy) so it's hard to master 5 classes a semester and do well in all of them. The class size is large and contact with professors was minimal. At Bucknell choices of professors and classes are numerous with small classes. At Bucknell the facilities are top notch, the grounds are beautiful and well maintained. Housing is guaranteed all four years. My D knows all her professors and they know her by name. She is busy attending all the activities on campus, e.g. concerts, school sponsered trips, fairs, movies, speakers, etc. For Georgetown, most activities are off campus in D.C. itself where the restaurants, transportation and activities are more costly. Granted it is a fun city but I find city colleges have less on campus to offer because they are in a city. I'll grant you that Georgetown "sounds" more prestigous to people but we feel lucky to have broken the trends around here and found Bucknell. I feel overall she will get a much better college experience at Bucknell and be better prepared to tackle and explore all the world has to offer.
Now after saying all that, probably Georgetown can't be beat for foreign service but for math, go to Bucknell and visit D.C. on a weekend! Best of luck and congrats.</p>
<p>not much time for a drawn-out post right now, but i would be glad to answer any specific questions on bucknells math department either here or via pm.</p>
<p>a few things to consider:</p>
<p>bucknell, despite being the smaller school, has historically produced 50% more eventual phds in mathematics and statistics than georgetown.</p>
<p>bucknell--again, being the smaller school--actually has four or five more tenure and tenure-track mathematics faculty than georgetown. </p>
<p>and to top things off, bucknell is one of only three liberal arts colleges to have placed in the top 10 in the william lowell putnam mathematics competition in the last fifteen years (the others being swarthmore and harvey mudd). and unlike some things in which i have competed, i can say that the putnam attracts many of the most talented college students--in this case, mathematicians--in the country, so placing is a big deal. for some context, the other seven american schools that placed in the top ten in 2004 were mit, princeton, duke, caltech, berkeley, harvard and stanford. heck, add swarthmore, yale, carnegie mellon, uchicago, washu, brown, harvey mudd, rochester and michigan and you have the complete list of 17 american schools that have placed in the top 10 at least once in the last decade. pretty nice company, id say.</p>
<p>Note: Please recognize the bias in my feedback.</p>
<p>I had the choice between a very different college but an academic equal to Bucknell. Right now I'm considering transferring from Bucknell to my home university, not for financial reasons, but reason being that I haven't yet settled in at all socially, though apparently this facet of being a Bucknellian isn't established until sophomore year. In other words, I definitely see what people mean by the sense of community that's possible here, but I'm one of those students who doesn't yet feel like that's something they're a part of--mainly being that I haven't really met people I like that much here at all or all of the people I like here are either here because they need to be (but this wasn't their first choice), can't transfer (because their parents won't let them), or are transferring (and are ecstatic). In other words, compared to other schools, I think you have much fewer social options at Bucknell, from my first-year impression, as you would at Georgetown. If you come here, make sure it's something you're willing to deal with or something you'd like. If you're willing to come anyways, it seems as though your efforts in finding a niche could be rewarded though they're aren't any guarantees. Good luck.</p>
