<p>The first school my son showed an interest in was UCSD. Unfortunately, we are not from California, and realized he had almost no chance of getting in. Bucknell ended up on his final list and the two of us spent a weekend there last fall. The drive from Philly was like three hours of driving through a national park. The hills were pure orange and the vistas awesome. The only downside: there was only one place, McD’s, to eat on the way. The town of Lewisburg is quaint and the campus is lovely. . . red brick with white trim, rolling hills, etc. We stayed downtown Lewisburg and walked to campus past historic, well-kept houses, at least six times. Engineering dept. looked very friendly and do-able, and my son said he might major in it if he went there. I have to say, however, that it was VERY quiet on Saturday night. Apparently most students had gone to Penn State for a football game. We could not find a good meal in town. . .probably missed something, but ended up at Applebee’s for dinner one night. We met a student from Utah who said that getting home at times other than major holidays had been difficult for him. And recalling my own undergraduate experience, at a similar-size college, I concluded that the overall smallness could feel constraining in the last two years. My daughter is at a larger college, and has connected with professors, does research for one, and has been invited to another’s house. My son ultimately chose to go to Cornell, and I hope he has a similarly good experience. I guess you can see where I’m leaning. I just love those larger schools where you can keep on meeting new friends each year and where you have a large variety of courses to choose from. Good luck as you go through the selection process.</p>