College Admissions Insider

Choosing a college home is a bit like choosing an actual home. It should be the perfect size, offer the features you want, and feel safe and comfortable.

Just like shopping for a house, searching for a college starts with that one key word: location.

So where exactly do you start when considering a school's geographic location when planning your college search? What factors should you absolutely keep in mind and which might you be okay to ignore?

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we provide some helpful advice for choosing your home away from home. Our guest is Candace Leake, Bucknell’s associate director of admissions for access and outreach. Candace works with high school students in eight different states, coordinates off-campus and on-campus experiences for high schoolers, and handles Bucknell’s diversity equity & inclusion initiatives within admissions.

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Learn more about Bucknell's location
• Undergraduate admission requirements
• @iamraybucknell, our student-run Instagram
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

By some counts, there are about 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. 

As a prospective student, you can slice and dice that list in a seemingly infinite number of ways.

You could sort by state, you could look at urban schools and rural ones, you could filter out schools that you consider too big or too small, you could look at what majors are offered, you could look at whether the school offers Division I, Division II or Division III athletics. The list goes on and on.

You could also look at public schools and private schools. Of those 4,000 colleges in the U.S., about 60% are private and 40% are public. 

But what are the fundamental differences between private and public schools? Are there advantages and disadvantages to each? And how should students begin comparing the two?

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we'll answer those questions and more. Our guest is Lauren Rambo, Bucknell’s senior assistant director of admissions and the University's southeastern regional representative.

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Undergraduate admission requirements
• @iamraybucknell, our student-run Instagram
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

By some counts, there are about 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. 

As a prospective student, you can slice and dice that list in a seemingly infinite number of ways.

You could sort by state, you could look at urban schools and rural ones, you could filter out schools that you consider too big or too small, you could look at what majors are offered, you could look at whether the school offers Division I, Division II or Division III athletics. The list goes on and on.

You could also look at public schools and private schools. Of those 4,000 colleges in the U.S., about 60% are private and 40% are public. 

But what are the fundamental differences between private and public schools? Are there advantages and disadvantages to each? And how should students begin comparing the two?

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we'll answer those questions and more. Our guest is Lauren Rambo, Bucknell’s senior assistant director of admissions and the University's southeastern regional representative.

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Undergraduate admission requirements
• @iamraybucknell, our student-run Instagram
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

They're the three letters on the mind of pretty much every college-bound high school student: G, P and A.

But understanding how colleges and universities will interpret your grade-point average isn't so simple. 

Some institutions recalculate applicants' GPAs using their own scale. Some only count certain core classes in their calculations, meaning electives don't factor in to the final number. Some universities even look at how an applicant's GPA might have improved over time.

GPA calculation was on the mind of College Admissions Insider listener Marile Borden recently. Marile is a parent from Massachusetts whose daughter is in her senior year of high school. 

Marile wrote in to ask, "Have you considered an episode around GPAs? I'd love to hear if and how you recalculate GPA, as well as your thoughts on the age-old question: 'is it better to get a B in a harder class or an A in an easier class?'"

She also says it's tough to know if a certain GPA is in the ballpark because every school seems to calculate grade point averages a little differently. 

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we'll answer those questions and more as we take a deep dive into GPA calculation. Our guest is Kevin Mathes '07, Bucknell's dean of Admissions. 

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Undergraduate admission requirements
• @iamraybucknell, our student-run Instagram
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

They're the three letters on the mind of pretty much every college-bound high school student: G, P and A.

But understanding how colleges and universities will interpret your grade-point average isn't so simple. 

Some institutions recalculate applicants' GPAs using their own scale. Some only count certain core classes in their calculations, meaning electives don't factor in to the final number. Some universities even look at how an applicant's GPA might have improved over time.

GPA calculation was on the mind of College Admissions Insider listener Marile Borden recently. Marile is a parent from Massachusetts whose daughter is in her senior year of high school. 

Marile wrote in to ask, "Have you considered an episode around GPAs? I'd love to hear if and how you recalculate GPA, as well as your thoughts on the age-old question: 'is it better to get a B in a harder class or an A in an easier class?'"

She also says it's tough to know if a certain GPA is in the ballpark because every school seems to calculate grade point averages a little differently. 

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we'll answer those questions and more as we take a deep dive into GPA calculation. Our guest is Kevin Mathes '07, Bucknell's dean of Admissions. 

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Undergraduate admission requirements
• @iamraybucknell, our student-run Instagram
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

By now you know that so many things go into a university’s decision of whether to admit someone. 

They might look at extracurriculars, essays, letters of recommendation, demonstrated interest, test scores (if you submit them and the school isn't test-optional), and, of course, grades.

But higher-ed institutions don't just take a surface-level view of those A's, B's and C's. They look closer to see just how difficult the classes were — something called academic rigor. 

That can bring up a lot of questions, like: Is it better to get an A in a standard class or a B in an honors one? Will a student be penalized if their school doesn't offer advanced classes? And what about prerequisites — classes that you must take in high school to be even considered by certain schools? 

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we untangle all those questions and more. Our guest is Jill Medina, Bucknell's senior associate dean of Admissions. Jill has worked in higher education for more than 25 years, including 17 years in selective college admissions. 

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Undergraduate admission requirements
• @iamraybucknell, our student-run Instagram
• Blog post: 80 questions to ask on a campus tour
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

By now you know that so many things go into a university’s decision of whether to admit someone. 

They might look at extracurriculars, essays, letters of recommendation, demonstrated interest, test scores (if you submit them and the school isn't test-optional), and, of course, grades.

But higher-ed institutions don't just take a surface-level view of those A's, B's and C's. They look closer to see just how difficult the classes were — something called academic rigor. 

That can bring up a lot of questions, like: Is it better to get an A in a standard class or a B in an honors one? Will a student be penalized if their school doesn't offer advanced classes? And what about prerequisites — classes that you must take in high school to be even considered by certain schools? 

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we untangle all those questions and more. Our guest is Jill Medina, Bucknell's senior associate dean of Admissions. Jill has worked in higher education for more than 25 years, including 17 years in selective college admissions. 

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Undergraduate admission requirements
• @iamraybucknell, our student-run Instagram
• Blog post: 80 questions to ask on a campus tour
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

When exploring colleges, there's only so much you can do online. At some point, you have to see these places for yourself — all five, 10 or 30 schools on your list.

Unless a family member has unlimited vacation days (or a teleportation machine), the only way to realistically visit multiple schools in a reasonable amount of time is by planning a college visit road trip. 

But how do you organize one of these info-gathering trips? How can you keep all these visits straight in your head? And what's the best way to maximize that family time as you travel together from destination to destination?  

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we provide a road map for success. Our guest is Alison Almasian, director of college counseling at the Taft School, a private boarding school in Watertown, Conn., Before that, she spent 22 years in college admissions. 

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Blog post: planning a college visit road trip
• Blog post: 80 questions to ask on a campus tour
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

When exploring colleges, there's only so much you can do online. At some point, you have to see these places for yourself — all five, 10 or 30 schools on your list.

Unless a family member has unlimited vacation days (or a teleportation machine), the only way to realistically visit multiple schools in a reasonable amount of time is by planning a college visit road trip. 

But how do you organize one of these info-gathering trips? How can you keep all these visits straight in your head? And what's the best way to maximize that family time as you travel together from destination to destination?  

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we provide a road map for success. Our guest is Alison Almasian, director of college counseling at the Taft School, a private boarding school in Watertown, Conn., Before that, she spent 22 years in college admissions. 

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Plan a visit to Bucknell
• Blog post: planning a college visit road trip
• Blog post: 80 questions to ask on a campus tour
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students

College is more than a place to learn, meet interesting people and grow. For most students, it's also where you'll live — perhaps for four years of your life.

Young people who may be accustomed to living in their own room at home will suddenly be sharing a room (and bathroom) with others. 

That fact makes finding the right housing fit just as important as finding the right academic fit. So how do you do it? 

In this episode of College Admissions Insider, we'll swing those doors wide open. Our guests are Stephen Apanel, Bucknell's Director of Housing Services, and Ashley Hubler, Bucknell's Assistant Director of Housing Services.

Listen as we discuss the benefits of off-campus and on-campus housing, specialty housing options like Affinity Houses, and roommate selection.

Read a transcript for this episode

If you have a question, comment, or idea for a future episode, email [email protected].

Links:

• Bucknell Housing Services
• Residential Colleges at Bucknell
• Bucknell's Affinity Houses
• Info about applying to Bucknell
• Build a Bucknell Custom Viewbook
• Latest news for prospective students