Bucknell University
St. Lawrence University
Allegheny College
What do you know about their reputations, social life, academics, etc? Thanks!
I can only really speak first hand (actually 2nd hand through my D who is a first year student) about Bucknell. I believe that Bucknell is more selective than either St. Lawrence or Allegheny ( and Bucknell’s applications were up something crazy like 39% this year so their acceptance rate is likely to go down this year) but I can’t speak to the actual quality of the academics of any of the colleges. Bucknell also offers both engineering and business in addition to the Arts and Sciences. And I believe at 3,500 UG students, it’s also larger than Allegheny certainly (don’t really know about St. Lawrence). My D has been very happy at Bucknell and feels like her fellow students are quite bright and serious about their studies (although a bit more pre-professional leaning than truly intellectual overall). In terms of the students, Bucknell is more homogenous and preppy than my D’s HS but they are working on increasing diversity. Greek life is very big and seems to be the dominant social scene on campus. D is very much enjoying her time there and has gotten many opportunities.
@momofzag is your daughter part of the sorority crowd? Does she feel it takes over the social scene?
Bucknell has delayed rush. No one can rush until the beginning of sophomore year. That being said, my D plans to rush and at least try a sorority. She says that the various sororities have different “personalities” so people can find a group that fits. My D is part of the “theatre crowd” but she also says that all the upper class theatre types she knows are also in fraternities or sororities. She says most parties are hosted by fraternities and/or sports teams. But there are also plenty of events hosted by ACE, the University’s activities board–fall festival, concerts, comedians, events at uptown, etc. She has attended sporting events (basketball, rugby, football) and of course she likes to go to the many performances – theatre, dance, a capella. She is also in a residential college and they have had social events - they had a trip to Washington DC in the fall, they went ice skating a couple of weeks ago (she said about 100 people attended that). D’s roommate is active in the outdoors club which seems to have numerous trips, etc. It does not seem unusual for D and her friends to stay in and watch movies or just hang out either.