Bucknell University supplemental essays
Bucknell University asks for one supplemental essay in 2026-27. Common App. Personal statement required (250-650 words).
That is one supplement plus the Common App personal statement: two pieces of writing in all. Early Decision closes November 1, 2026, Early Decision II closes January 10, 2027 and Regular Decision closes January 10, 2027. The prompts carry this limit: 250 words. Every Bucknell University prompt is printed on this page in full, with its word limit and who has to answer it.
Deadlines
| Round | Date |
|---|---|
| Early Decision | November 1, 2026 |
| Early Decision II | January 10, 2027 |
| Regular Decision | January 10, 2027 |
Checked against www.bucknell.edu/admissions-aid/admissions-dates-deadlines. Confirm on the college’s own page before you submit.
The essays, 2026-27
Required · 250 words
Please explain your interest in Bucknell University and your chosen academic program.
Get a free read on this essayPaste your draft, see the verdict before you pay.No draft yet? Pick a topic for this prompt
Your Bucknell University checklist
One supplement, required. The first deadline, Early Decision, is November 1, 2026.
- Common App personal statementRequired250-650 words
- SupplementRequired250 words
It saves these rows to your essay manager, where each one carries a status you set yourself and the prompt stays attached to it. Add your other schools and they land on the same page, in deadline order. Nothing written yet? The topic quiz is free as well.
Free: this page, the checklist, the essay manager and the topic quiz. Paid: a written review of a finished draft, $49 an essay.
Paste your essay for a free read
Have it in a document? or drop one here (Word, PDF, or Text).
Not sure what a review is? What an AI college essay review can and cannot do, and what a college essay grader leaves out. What the read checks against Bucknell University’s own prompts is on the Bucknell University essay review page.
Getting into Bucknell University
Bucknell University admits 28.9% of applicants. The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 1310-1470 on the SAT and 30-33 on the ACT.
About 1 in 3 applicants are admitted, at a college of 3,876 undergraduates.
| Enrolled students | 25th | Median | 75th |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAT total | 1310 | 1400 | 1470 |
| SAT reading and writing | 650 | 700 | 730 |
| SAT math | 660 | 700 | 740 |
| ACT composite | 30 | 32 | 33 |
What SAT score do you need for Bucknell University?
A 1470 puts you in the top quarter of the students who enrolled, a 1400 at their midpoint, and a 1310 at the bottom quarter, meaning one in four enrolled students scored below it. The same three points on the ACT are 30, 32 and 33. A quarter of an enrolled class scoring under the 25th percentile is not a rounding error, so a score below the range is a reason to strengthen the rest of the application rather than a reason not to apply.
US Department of Education, College Scorecard (2026-09-17). Percentiles describe students who enrolled, not everyone admitted. SAT totals are the reading and math bands added together, which is how every source in this market reports them and is an approximation of about 10 to 20 points, because the two sections are correlated.
- What SAT score do you need for Bucknell University?
- Bucknell University sets no minimum. Among students who enrolled, the middle 50% scored 1310-1470 on the SAT: a 1310 sits at the 25th percentile, 1400 at the median and 1470 at the 75th. A score at or above 1470 is a clear strength in the application; below 1310 it is the part of the file the rest has to make up for. These are the figures Bucknell University reports to the US Department of Education, released in the College Scorecard of 2026-09-17.
- What ACT score do you need for Bucknell University?
- The middle 50% of enrolled students scored 30-33 on the ACT, with a composite of 32 at the median. There is no cutoff: a quarter of the enrolled class scored below 30. Reported by Bucknell University to the US Department of Education, College Scorecard release of 2026-09-17.
- What GPA do you need for Bucknell University?
- The honest answer is that the federal data behind this page does not contain one. Colleges report their admit rate and their enrolled students' test scores to the Department of Education; they do not report a GPA distribution, so any site quoting an exact average GPA for Bucknell University is either reading that college's own Common Data Set or estimating. What the reported data does say is that Bucknell University admits 28.9% of applicants, and the more selective a college is, the closer to the top of the class its admitted students sit and the more the strength of your course load counts alongside the number itself.
- How hard is it to get into Bucknell University?
- Bucknell University admits 28.9% of the people who apply, which is about 1 in 3 applicants. Numbers inside the reported range put you in a real position here, and the application itself decides the rest.
What Bucknell University costs after grant aid, by family income, from the same federal data.
Sort your whole college list into reaches, targets and likelies, or find colleges that fit your GPA and test scores. Both are free and neither needs an account.
Bucknell University essay questions, answered
- Does Bucknell University have supplemental essays?
- Yes. Bucknell University asks for one supplemental essay in 2026-27. Every prompt is printed in full on this page. Word limits: 250 words.
- How many essays do you write for Bucknell University in 2026-27?
- One supplement, plus the Common App personal statement.
Schools with similar admit rates
Bucknell University admits 28.9% of applicants. The colleges either side of it in our set by admit rate, most selective first, each with its own prompts and deadlines: Villanova University (27.0%), Franklin & Marshall College (28.2%), Macalester College (28.5%), Trinity College (CT) (29.3%), Kenyon College (31.0%), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) (31.3%).