As a W&L alum from 90s, DC’s experience there now reminds me a lot of W&L when I was there only not southern.

Anonymous wrote:
What about for engineering students or a serious science student in general?
Does the experience vary for them? Would they feel out of place ?

Yes, engineering kids are apart. Much more serious and academic. Strong reputation in engineering circles.

Beautiful campus. Outdoors opportunities that are fairly popular with a group of kids. There u is s more to do than drink and Greek but kid has to look for it.

Anonymous wrote:School for dim sheeple lax bros and woo girls. A poor man’s Colgate which is a poor man’s BC which is a poor man’s Dartmouth.

Geez. What school meets your high and mighty ideals?

Spouse and I went to Bucknell in the early 90s. We both loved it for similar reasons - it had a smart, largely pre-professional, and yes social (see more on that below) student body, engaging, caring professors and small classes, and a beautiful setting. For 4 years it was great to be in the "Bucknell Bubble," and I feel Bucknell gave me terrific career opportunities (professors recommended me for internships, recommended programs, and the alumni network is really supportive) and lifelong friends. The close knit community can't be understated - the alumni weekend is much more robust than I hear at many other colleges especially when you factor in that almost no alums live in the nearby area so travel for the weekend.

Was there a lot of drinking - yes. Was Greek life predominant - yes. But no more or less than any friends who attended Lehigh, Lafayette and Colgate described at their colleges (at the time these were all peer institutions). I think this is part of social life at many small, remote colleges be it Bucknell or Colgate or Colby. I don't know why Bucknell gets the worst "rap" of all of these for drinking.

A student who doesn't enjoy parties as their main form of social life would probably not be happy at Bucknell. But one definitely did not need to be a heavy drinker or even close to an "every night" drinker (that sounds nuts, I really doubt it is true for the majority of students) to have a good time. And spouse and I both found it easy to make great friends with whom we did plenty of things other than drink alcohol.

I'll also add that in my returns to campus over the past few years, and from friends who starting to send their own kids to Bucknell, there is still a social, party scene but the college provides a lot of other options nowadays, too (as there are on every campus).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drinking every night of the week (as reported by 3/4 of the students), when most of them are not even of legal drinking age yet…does not suggest “balance.”

Have you ever BEEN to college? Under aged drinking is THE norm, I don’t care what college we’re talking about.

True, but Bucknell is at a different level that many schools. The fact that 75%+ of students feels drinking every night is the norm is NOT the case at many, many other schools. It may happen at some schools, but nowhere near that level. This means if your kid isn't going to want to party and drink thru out the week, they might struggle to find the right social group, and their dorm might be constant partying, drinking and noise even on a Tuesday night

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Drinking every night of the week (as reported by 3/4 of the students), when most of them are not even of legal drinking age yet…does not suggest “balance.”

Have you ever BEEN to college? Under aged drinking is THE norm, I don’t care what college we’re talking about.

But, related to the fit thread, there are more kids these days who do not drink and do not intend to, so finding your "people" in a school that is described this way, seems like it would not be easy for a kid like that.

No it’s not as bad as everyone here goes on and on about. My BIL went there as did his twin. They are both physicians like their dad.

Now that my nephew is in HS, my BIL would be thrilled if he went to Bucknell.

Is it a school where kids party? Yes.
Does it mean all the kids are alcoholic losers? No.

Anonymous wrote:Re. "Colgate.. is a poor man's BC." Maybe LOL but wrong on every metric - in fact it's the other way around.
Colgate - significantly richer student body (median family income $270k vs 194k BC). Higher endowment per student (391k C vs 257k BC). Higher average SAT score (1435 C vs 1420 BC). Lower admit rate (17% C vs 19% BC).

And by the way - Bucknell beats BC on family income and endowment per student, too.

PS - I have no dog in this fight.

Where did you pull these stats? I want to know so I can look up a few other schools! Interesting data points.

Anonymous wrote:Drinking every night of the week (as reported by 3/4 of the students), when most of them are not even of legal drinking age yet…does not suggest “balance.”

Have you ever BEEN to college? Under aged drinking is THE norm, I don’t care what college we’re talking about.

Anonymous wrote:Re. "Colgate.. is a poor man's BC." Maybe LOL but wrong on every metric - in fact it's the other way around.
Colgate - significantly richer student body (median family income $270k vs 194k BC). Higher endowment per student (391k C vs 257k BC). Higher average SAT score (1435 C vs 1420 BC). Lower admit rate (17% C vs 19% BC).

And by the way - Bucknell beats BC on family income and endowment per student, too.

PS - I have no dog in this fight.

But you took the time to look up those stats? Why?

When my dad was there in the late 1970s, it was true. But he made lifelong friends that I grew up with close as family. Several kids from my generation also went to Bucknell, and it was true in the early 2000s. I seriously doubt it’s changed.

Re. "Colgate.. is a poor man's BC." Maybe LOL but wrong on every metric - in fact it's the other way around.
Colgate - significantly richer student body (median family income $270k vs 194k BC). Higher endowment per student (391k C vs 257k BC). Higher average SAT score (1435 C vs 1420 BC). Lower admit rate (17% C vs 19% BC).

And by the way - Bucknell beats BC on family income and endowment per student, too.

PS - I have no dog in this fight.

Drinking every night of the week (as reported by 3/4 of the students), when most of them are not even of legal drinking age yet…does not suggest “balance.”

If partying a little (or a lot) is not your thing, this is probably not your place. Dorms can be very loud and rowdy. However if you relish a work/play balance with a smart and social student body, this could be a great fit. It’s a great school and job placement is excellent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems unfair to dump on Bucknell specifically.

The culture of many of these smaller schools in the middle of nowhere (especially in places that are cold for 2/3 of the college year) are vey much the same. Not much to do in the general area, and heavy drinking is the primary social scene.

Replace Bucknell with Bowdoin, Williams, Lafayette and about 100 other similar schools and you will get the same response.

Are you kidding? NO ONE would put Bowdoin or Williams in the same category as Bucknell.
You must have a kid who went there, and are embarrassed.

According to UNIGO, at Bucknell, 55% of students describe greek life as "everything", while 0% at Bowdoin and Williams chose that option (in fact 91% and 100% respectively report that there is NO greek life on their campuses).

73% of Bucknell students say "there is some drinking going on every night of the week", whereas 27% of students at Bowdoin and 21% of students at Williams report that.

No comparison, as I said..

OP here...I literally have no dog in this fight whatsoever. I was naming a couple of schools where I had friends attend who commented that there was not much to do but get trashed. Find and replace with whatever remote, cold-weather schools you want.

I think it is crazy to believe that drinking does not play an outsized role in the social life (greek or non-greek) at these remote schools.

Actually, the data tell us that Greek organizations have a much bigger drinking problem as well as associated problems with sexual assault than other social groups do.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29455716/

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/college-drinking

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6070995/

Also, Williams and Bowdoin do not have Greek organizations.