Applying for Admission

To apply for admission as a first-year student, please use the Common Application, available at commonapp.org, or Coalition Application, available at coalitionapp.org. For your application to be complete, you must submit the following:

• Common Application or Coalition Application, including the nonrefundable $40 application fee or fee waiver request.

• All supporting materials, which include:

  • Questions specific to Bucknell University;

  • The personal essay (no supplementary essay is required);

  • Secondary School Report and guidance counselor evaluation;

  • Official transcript from each high school attended;

  • At least one teacher recommendation, preferably from a core subject; and

  • The Mid-Year Report, when available.

• ​In the academic year 2019-2020, Bucknell will begin a five-year pilot program where students are not required to submit an SAT or ACT score as part of their application. However, all students who choose to enroll at Bucknell will be required to submit an SAT or ACT score before they begin their first year. If students choose not to submit SAT or ACT scores with the application, the scores will not be used in the admissions decision. However, they will be used in the assessment of the test-optional program. Note: If you have never taken the SAT or ACT and do not have scores available, you will not be required to submit a score upon enrollment.

• SAT or ACT scores, if the applicant chooses to include them on the application (SAT Subject tests and SAT/ACT writing sections are not required). Please note home school students, international citizens, and recruited athletes are required to submit SAT or ACT scores.

• Applicants may self-report SAT/ACT scores on their Common or Coalition Application for admissions consideration. If an applicant is offered admission and enrolls, an official copy of the SAT/ACT scores will be required.

• TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores if English is not your first language or if it was not the primary language of instruction for at least three years of your secondary school education.

• Early Decision applicants must submit the Common Application or Coalition Application Early Decision Agreement form, including all required signatures (applicants, parent/guardian, and school counselor).​

• CSS PROFILE and Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA), if you are applying for aid.
• All international applicants must submit a certified bank statement with either the Confidential Statement of Finance (CSF) or the International Student Financial Aid Application (ISFAA). NOTE: If you are a Canadian citizen applying for financial aid, you must also submit the CSS PROFILE with the ISFAA.

If you are applying as a transfer student, you must submit:

• Common Application or Coalition Application for transfer students, including the nonrefundable $40 application fee or fee waiver request.

• All supporting materials, which include:

  • Transfer Credit Summary Sheet, with descriptions of all courses taken in college;

  • Common Application College Instructor Academic Evaluation for Transfers;

  • Common Application College Report;

  • Common Application Transfer Mid-Term Report;

  • Official transcript for each college attended;

  • Official secondary school transcript;

  • SAT or ACT scores; and

  • TOEFL, IELTS, or PTE scores if English is not your first language or if it was not the primary language of instruction for at least three years of your secondary school education.
• CSS PROFILE and Free Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA), if you are applying for aid.

If you applied previously to Bucknell, the application fee may be waived and the official secondary school report may be retrieved.