What I mean by this question is that, I know that the residential colleges result in really tight communities within the colleges, but do they limit interaction with everyone else? How else do students interact with each other?
They go to classes, they go to bars, they belong to sports teams, they sing with groups, they meet at the library. It works. DS probably has more friends at a neighboring college than at his own.
It’s definitely not isolating. Remember, a residential college at the end of the day is just a dorm. Yes, it has a lot of things to foster a “family-like” feeling, but you’re in no way confined to your college. Class, clubs, and random campus encounters open you up to the entire campus community. Plus, every dining hall is open to every student, so you’ll see friends from other colleges there.
As I understand it, one of the goals of the Schwarzman Center aka Commons is to create a central gathering place on campus for both undergraduate and graduate students. That’s not to say that students are isolated in their colleges today though.
Through classes and extracurriculars you will gain many friendships outside your residential college. The residential college provides a home base and “family” for you but you are by no means isolated by it.
It is only 5,400 undergrad so it should not be that hard to make friends outside of your RC.
I agree with shoremom22 above. My son already has good friends in his college and from is ECs. The only hiccup I see (help from upperclassman parents welcome!) is when it comes to picking suite mates for next year. It seems like his closest friends are from one of his ECs, but they can’t live together since they are scattered among the colleges. I’m sure he’ll be able to find people, but it would be nice to have a more cohesive friend group that could be together.
That aside, I think the residential college program is great, especially as freshman. The staff and frocos really help them get settled. I know when my son had a particular issue, he was able to get the needed advice from one of them right away. They also plan lots of activities, so if you are not in ECs right away, this gives you social things to do.
Absolutely not. You’ll find a mix of people in all of your classes/extracurriculars! The only time I really spend with people from my college is at Family Dinner on Sunday night (when you have to eat at your own RC). I love the friends I’ve made in BK (Berkeley College), but as an athlete I spend more time with people from other colleges (I’m 1/3 people on the team of 30 who are in Berkeley). My friends from classes are all in different colleges. You definitely are not restricted to your own college (but, to be honest, I’ve yet to visit TD and I only go to Silliman for lunch because it’s in between two back-to-back classes)
Ditto ^. I am a freshman and my residential college has been such a great welcoming community that only complements the friendships I’ve made in my classes and ECs. Hard to remember not being at Yale, the transition from high school was way easier than I’d imagined it would be thanks in large part to all the RC activities and care taken to assign my suite mates.