We don’t feed your GPA and test scores into some sort of algorithm. We read your application personally and carefully, absorbing everything you provide so we can understand all that makes you unique.
When you’re ready, apply using either the Common Application or the Coalition Application. We look forward to meeting you.
Learn about applying at bucknell.edu/apply
We don’t feed your GPA and test scores into some sort of algorithm. We read your application personally and carefully, absorbing everything you provide so we can understand all that makes you unique.
When you’re ready, apply using either the Common Application or the Coalition Application. We look forward to meeting you.
Learn about applying at bucknell.edu/apply
All Applicants
Two years of a foreign language (in the same language) in secondary school
Math and Science Applicants
Three years of college-preparatory math
Engineering Applicants
One year of chemistry or physics, plus one year of precalculus
A note about test scores: Bucknell is now test-optional, meaning you decide whether to include SAT or ACT scores when applying. Your choice has no bearing on our admissions decision. If you share your scores, we’ll consider them when reviewing your application. If you don’t, we won’t.
*Recalculated unweighted average
- Select a college: You’ll apply to one of our three colleges: Arts & Sciences, Engineering or the Freeman College of Management. Take a moment to explore the majors and minors within each college. (Note: For the Freeman College of Management, you must be admitted into the college as a first-year student. You can’t transfer into the Freeman College later.)
- Be yourself: We don’t require a Bucknell-specific supplemental essay, but we are eager to see the personal essay you’ll submit with the Common or Coalition app. We read these essays closely and enjoy getting to know the real you.
- Choose a major … : We’ll ask you to select a first-choice major (and a second, if you’d like) and briefly (250 words or fewer) explain the reason behind your choice.
- … or apply undecided: Unsure of your major? There’s no penalty for applying undecided; in fact, it’s a great way to explore multiple interests. First, select the college to which you’re applying. Then choose “undecided” as your first-choice major.
- Apply for a scholarship: Through our robust scholarship program, we invest in students who are talented, inquisitive and equipped to make the next big breakthrough. Apply when you apply for admission.
- Select a college: You’ll apply to one of our three colleges: Arts & Sciences, Engineering or the Freeman College of Management. Take a moment to explore the majors and minors within each college. (Note: For the Freeman College of Management, you must be admitted into the college as a first-year student. You can’t transfer into the Freeman College later.)
- Be yourself: We don’t require a Bucknell-specific supplemental essay, but we are eager to see the personal essay you’ll submit with the Common or Coalition app. We read these essays closely and enjoy getting to know the real you.
- Choose a major … : We’ll ask you to select a first-choice major (and a second, if you’d like) and briefly (250 words or fewer) explain the reason behind your choice.
- … or apply undecided: Unsure of your major? There’s no penalty for applying undecided; in fact, it’s a great way to explore multiple interests. First, select the college to which you’re applying. Then choose “undecided” as your first-choice major.
- Apply for a scholarship: Through our robust scholarship program, we invest in students who are talented, inquisitive and equipped to make the next big breakthrough. Apply when you apply for admission.
Graham Heckert ’23 put Bucknell on his radar because he was looking for a smaller school where he wouldn’t get lost in the crowd. The mechanical engineering major from St. Petersburg, Fla., also wanted to conduct meaningful research into electric vehicles right away — not after a year or three of lectures.
Bucknell made his short list, and a Presidential Fellows scholarship — one of several scholarships available to incoming students — cemented Graham’s decision to come to Bucknell.
“I thought, I can end up going to a big school, or I can go to a small school with one-on-one interaction with teachers and all the research opportunities I could possibly imagine my very first year,” he says. “It was a no-brainer.”
Graham Heckert ’23 put Bucknell on his radar because he was looking for a smaller school where he wouldn’t get lost in the crowd. The mechanical engineering major from St. Petersburg, Fla., also wanted to conduct meaningful research into electric vehicles right away — not after a year or three of lectures.
Bucknell made his short list, and a Presidential Fellows scholarship — one of several scholarships available to incoming students — cemented Graham’s decision to come to Bucknell.
“I thought, I can end up going to a big school, or I can go to a small school with one-on-one interaction with teachers and all the research opportunities I could possibly imagine my very first year,” he says. “It was a no-brainer.”