Lehigh vs Bucknell

College Search & Lists
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Would very much welcome thoughts on Lehigh vs Bucknell. We are scheduling campus visits to both in the coming weeks. Thank you!

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Size, campus type, access (potentially if flying)?

What major?

Congrats on the options.

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They attract a similar type of student I think. Personally, I think Bucknell’s setting is superior (and lacks the steep hills of Lehigh’s) but Lehigh has a beautiful campus for sure.

Both have some Greek life, engineering, and business. It will probably come down to the vibe you feel on campus.

Bucknell guarantees housing for 4 years, not sure about Lehigh.

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Two excellent schools that I imagine attract similar students. To me the biggest differences could be the size of school (LAC v mid-sized university) and that Bucknell may be a bit more remote in terms of location.

Assuming they are equally affordable I’d let the student decide after the visits. This is a case where two reasonable people could make two different choices. I know people who have been happy and successful at both schools.

Congrats to your S on the great acceptances!

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Two of the most similar schools there are. But, there are some differences as mentioned above.

Size/degrees

  • Bucknell about 4,000 almost entirely undergrad with some MS students
  • Lehigh 5000 UG + 2000 grad students

Location

  • just more town in Bethlehem, more restaurants, etc, also more towns nearby, and a lot closer to NYC and Philly (one hour) and close to an airport (ABE Allentown Bethlehem Emmaus)
  • A little less town, nothing really nearby. Pretty but out in the sticks. 30 min from the nearest mall. 3 hrs from Civilization. If you stay in the Bucknell Bubble, it’s beautiful.

Majors IMHO…

  • Lehigh has a better CS program and CS-Mgmt combo program
  • Bucknell has a better combined Eng-Mgmt programs and very strong Econ.
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Agree…school size and location are two differences I noted in my post above. We don’t know the OP’s son’s intended major.

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Bucknell’s economics department places 24th among liberal arts colleges when considered by faculty scholarship.

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

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