What schools have residential college systems?

[Hoggirl]

I believe these exist at Chicago, Rice, and Yale. Are there other schools that have these?

TIA!

[mathmom]

Harvard .

[momofzag]

University of Michigan, Bucknell

[Pizzagirl]

Northwestern

[JHS]

Princeton, Penn, Vanderbilt, University of Toronto, Vassar.

The Michigan version is optional and fairly small. Only some of the Princeton colleges are 4-year colleges, and at Toronto I think only one of the the colleges offers residence for 4 years, although students remain members of their college forever. At Vassar, students generally live in the same house for their first three years, but move out as seniors; at Harvard, freshmen do not join a house until near the end of their freshman year, and move in as sophomores.

At lots of colleges with residential college systems, so many students move off campus, into fraternities or sororities, or around different dorms that the residential college system is not really meaningful as a three- or four-year affiliation.

The gold standard is really Yale, Harvard, and Rice. And, of course, Oxford and Cambridge.

[Hoggirl]

@Pizzagirl - are residential colleges an option at NU, or are they for everyone? If an option, do you know how hard it is to get this option? Thanks!

[megpmom]

It may have changed, but when I attended NU, you needed to write an essay for application to the residential college and select first, second and third options. You had to accumulate points during the year (attendance at events,etc) in order to stay in the house. In my day, there was a good mix of freshmen through seniors.

[Marian]

Cornell, but it's optional and fairly small, and it doesn't start until sophomore year.

West Campus House System

[bopambo]

U C Santa Cruz.

[ChoatieMom]

I think the Res College at Michigan is a bit different than the "house" system some of you are describing. At U-M, membership in the Res College means living in East Quad AND taking your classes in EQ as well (although the college has moved to West Quad this year while EQ is being renovated), so you live where you learn. Students can and do take classes outside of the quad if they want, but the experience (at least in the 70's when I was there, ha!) was total quad/community immersion and, as someone else noted, the community is quite small. It's not just living and studying with the same students under a shared roof. Classes, prof offices, and a couple of ECs (like RC Singers) share that roof as well.

[sm74]

Would add Notre Dame to the list of schools with a comprehensive residential college system

[coureur]

UC San Diego

[Catria]

I think Rice does.

[Pizzagirl]

Hoggirl - they are an option for NU -- not everyone belongs to one (neither my husband nor I did, FWIW, but our son does). There are several non-theme residential colleges and several theme residential colleges (e.g., current affairs, fine / performing arts). You need to apply, but it's my understanding that it's reasonably easy to get into. My S, a current sophomore, is in his second year at a residential college with a theme. Having said that, the residential college experience there does not seem to be as intense and as lifelong-bonding-building-rivalries as what I hear at Harvard and Yale, where alums cite what house they were in and have a real sense of ownership / belonging.

JHS said:

At lots of colleges with residential college systems, so many students move off campus, into fraternities or sororities, or around different dorms that the residential college system is not really meaningful as a three- or four-year affiliation.

I think that's a fair statement. At NU, both the north and south campuses have a mix of dorms, Greek housing and residential colleges - they are all mixed in with one another on the quads -- and off-campus living is a block or two away, which I think is a very different set-up from the type of place where everyone lives in residential colleges and if there is a Greek system or off-campus housing, it's physically far removed. So for my son, currently in a res coll, he's likely going to move into his Greek house jr and sr year, so his affiliation with his res coll is more "come and go" rather than "I pledge my troth for all four years."

[mathmom]

Rice does, though because of space problems, sophomores (I think) usually live off campus, but remain attached to their colleges, and they move back in as juniors and seniors. At least that's my recollection of what my nephew had to do. He loved his residential college.

BTW for what it's worth Harvard houses all the freshmen together in the Yard (well mostly in the Yard) on the theory that this builds class cohesion. I chose to live at Radcliffe my freshman year (not an option any more) and in retrospect, while there were pluses to being with upperclassmen I think I missed out on some important parts of the Harvard experience.