Monday, June 04, 2007

Bucknell

We are on the great college hunt for child #2, the wonderful Endub. Today we visited Bucknell. It is a very nice little university -- a biggish college of 3000+, heavy on engineering and business, with a few graduate programs. Lewisburg, PA is a lovely little town. One interesting feature of their pitch: they want the well-rounded student. Most places that we have visited set themselves up against the Other Places that want the well-rounded student, whereas College of the Day is for unique individuals who can develop their quirkiness. I thought the college of well-rounded students was a straw man, but I was wrong. And it is a good thing that in the great ecology of American higher education there are such places.

They also talked about how small they are. Since this is the largest institution that we are likely to look at -- two or three times the size of the liberal arts colleges on our list -- this was an enlightening self-conception.

Bucknell University is a fine place. It was a bit weak in the visual arts, and not quite ideal for the Christian bohemian that we have raised, but a quite good place.

4 comments:

Gannet Girl said...

When we were last looking, we heard a presentation made by a representative from Lawrence in Wisconsin to the effect that it, too, was looking for the truly well-rounded applicant. He made the point that in a small community, it's helpful for people to have a number of interests and skills so they can interact across a broader spectrum of the population. I thought immediately of a young person I knew who was a well-rounded fish completely out of water at a prestigious institution known for its students' pursuits along narrow paths of excellence. It's a good thing that different institutions take different approaches.

Anonymous said...

What do you mean by the term "Christian bohemian"?
just axing

Anonymous said...

Experience with Bucknell was a negative.
there is very heavy drug use on campus , both legal & illegal with faculty sort of winking okay to drinking which quickly gets excessive.
very heavy with greek life which contributes to the drug issues.

Gruntled said...

By "Christian bohemian" I mean artistic and highly individualistic, but morally and theologically serious about Christianity.