Course Information for First-year Students

The Residential Colleges are themed living-learning communities for first-year students. If you join, you'll take a first-semester seminar with other members of that college, and you'll live on a hall with students interested in the same theme as you. Your instructor will encourage you to become an active, independent learner as well as to participate in collaborative learning experiences with your classmates. You will have the opportunity to develop your critical thinking and communication skills and become familiar with library and technology resources.

It doesn't matter what you plan to major in. You can sign up to join any Residential College that interests you.

How to Sign Up

To sign up for a Residential College, select "yes" on the first-year course selection form when asked about joining a Residential College. Then select three themes that align with your interests in the order of your preference.

If you have any questions, contact Kelly Finley, Residential Colleges program director, at 570-577-3320 or kfinley@bucknell.edu.

Explore Residential College themes

Foundation Seminars are small, first-semester classes taught by faculty from a wide range of disciplines across the University. Each seminar introduces students to college-level work and expectations, and are interdisciplinary in focus. Your instructor will encourage you to become an active, independent learner as well as to participate in collaborative learning experiences with your classmates. You will have the opportunity to develop your critical thinking and communication skills and become familiar with library and technology resources.

Foundation Seminar theme descriptions

Advising

For College of Arts & Sciences students, your first-semester seminar instructor will also be an academic adviser for you for the first two years and will get to know you personally. 

If you are a CAS bachelor of arts student, your instructor will be your only adviser. If you are a bachelor of science student, you will have two advisers in your first semester — the seminar instructor and a major adviser who will continue with you until you graduate or change your major. 

For Freeman College of Management students, you will be assigned an academic adviser in the college.

For College of Engineering students, you will be assigned an academic adviser in the college, based on your declared major. Undeclared students will be assigned an undeclared academic adviser from one of the engineering departments. This adviser will be replaced with a declared major adviser after major declarations in the first semester. You will have the same major adviser for all four years or until you change your major.

These programs, which are central to Bucknell's liberal arts purpose, will engage you in knowledge across cultures and time and give you the flexibility of mind, creative exploration, critical capacity and cultural competency you'll need to lead a successful and fulfilling life.

Course descriptions for arts & humanities courses

Every student in the College of Arts & Sciences is required to take at least one semester of a language. You may continue with a language you have already studied, start a new language or take a semester of language while studying abroad in a non-English-speaking country.

French, German, Italian, Russian and Spanish

Placement will be made according to the results of an online placement test. During the registration process, you will select three languages in order of preference. If you have had any previous experience in any of the languages listed here, you must take the online placement exam.

Before taking the placement exam and/or choosing a language, please note that while SPAN 103 and all Spanish courses above meet the language requirement, SPAN 101 and SPAN 102 do not meet the College of Arts & Sciences and the Freeman College of Management's general education language requirement (CCFL designation). For all other languages taught at Bucknell, completing 1 language credit at any level satisfies the language requirement. 

Arabic, Chinese, (Ancient) Greek, Hebrew and Japanese

Please contact the appropriate faculty member listed on the department contact list. Note that Chinese and Japanese are taught in the Department of East Asian Studies, and (Ancient) Greek is taught in the Department of Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies.

For more information, please refer to the appropriate page: 

Latin

Placement in Latin courses is made according to the number of years of study. Not all courses are offered first semester; please refer to the course information online for course availability.

Course descriptions for foreign language courses

Learn from faculty in classrooms and labs and get hands-on experience with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities as you learn about scientific approaches, problems and breakthroughs.

Math Requirements 

Students considering a major in math, science, business analytics or engineering should sign up for MATH 201 (Calculus I).

Students enrolling in MATH 192 or MATH 201 should complete the Countdown to Calculus online course by Sept. 4. It will be available in mid-July.

Countdown to Calculus is not required if you received AP credit, IB credit or transfer credit for MATH 201, or if you do not intend to take a calculus course at Bucknell.

Other students wishing to take courses in mathematics may elect MATH 192 or MATH 201 in the fall or may wait until the spring semester when a larger variety of courses will be available. (In addition to MATH 192 and MATH 201, spring semester offerings include a course to introduce students to mathematics from a humanist perspective; courses in statistics designed especially for economics, management and other social science students; and a course designed especially for prospective elementary school teachers.)

If you select MATH 201, be sure to answer the question on the first-year registration form about your high school math experience. (Do not count precalculus as calculus.) Instructional materials for MATH 201 include the TI-89 graphing calculator. If you already own a different graphing calculator, you might not need to purchase a TI-89. Consult with your instructor when classes begin.

If you would like to be placed directly in a second- or third-semester calculus course or in a more advanced course, sign up for MATH 201 and arrange to have any AP scores and college transcripts sent directly to the Registrar's Office. We will automatically place you in the correct course and award you the proper credit. We grant placement to those who have earned credit for Calculus I and/or Calculus II by achieving a sufficiently high on a qualifying Advanced Placement test and to those who are able to transfer credits from courses taken at other colleges. Many, although not all, college courses called "calculus" can transfer.

Chemistry Requirement

If you are considering a major in biology, chemistry or cell biology/biochemistry, or planning to complete pre-health course work, plan to take chemistry in your first semester.

Note for Intended Biology Majors

First-semester biology majors are not required to take both CHEM and MATH 201 in the first semester. If a student chooses to take only one of these courses, it should be CHEM. Students pursuing a bachelor of science in biology who do not wish to take MATH 201 in the first semester should indicate this in the comment field on their registration form. 

Course descriptions for natural science & math courses

By taking courses that explore culture and behavior, identities, spaces, places, learning and economies, you'll gain a wider perspective on the world and gain research and statistical skills as you explore theories, principles and practices about humans and society.

Course descriptions for social science courses

Ensembles offered through the Department of Music include Gamelan, Jazz Band, Orchestra, Rooke Ringers, Symphonic Band, University Choir and Voice Lab. All ensembles are open to students from any degree program. Ensemble participation usually earns students .25 course credit per semester. Some ensembles require a successful audition. Audition times and requirements vary. Please contact the department for more information.

Select your courses and major track based on the certification you plan to pursue: 

• Certification to teach early childhood education (PreK-4): Complete the registration for the B.S. in education.
• Certification to teach secondary level: Plan to major in your teaching interest. Do not pursue a B.S. in education degree.
• All students pursuing teaching certification: By the fourth semester, complete two courses in mathematics and one course in English literature in addition to a W1 course and earn a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Learn more about teaching certification

Visit the pre-health advising page to view courses typically required by postgraduate medical and veterinary programs. Please indicate your tentative major on the degree information page of the online registration form.

You should also check the box next to "Do you plan to attend medical or dental school after Bucknell?"

Visit the pre-law advising page to learn more about how Bucknell students can prepare to apply to and attend law school.