Current Yalies, why did U chose yale?

f.scottie
Sun, 13 Aug 2006 17:27:30 +0000

Among universities, Yale has the only true 4-year residential college system.



wrong, and on many levels. first, in any “true” four-year residential college system, freshmen would live together with upperclassmen IN their residential colleges, not segregated together in one area of campus, as at yale. in this respect, yale’s system falls short of “true.” second, both harvard and rice have college systems at least as complete as yale’s. harvard, in fact, beat yale to the punch in instituting its system. it was, as quipped at the time, a princeton idea, instituted at harvard, with yale money - that of disaffected but rich yale alumnus edward harkness.



Other schools have tried to copy Yale’s system (for example, in 1986, Princeton instituted a “college system”) but to no avail - you simply can’t replicate something that’s been around since the 1930s and has so much funding, dedicated buildings and dedicated staff.



it is not “yale’s system.” the system originated at oxbridge, centuries earlier, and was advocated for adoption at harvard, princeton, and chicago as early as the 1890s (see alex duke, “importing oxbridge”). yale, despite having little to say on the matter until the 1920s, implemented the system only after having its hand forced when the aforementioned harkness took his money to harvard. as for princeton, it created its first college not in 1986, but in 1968 (woodrow wilson lodge, now wilson college). it created four others in 1983. after the completion of $110-million whitman college next fall, princeton will have three “true” four-year colleges, to yale’s none.



Harvard’s system is not anything like Yale’s, even if it was founded around the same time



they’re as similar as any two college systems in the world, with freshmen segregated together (harvard yard, old campus) and three-year colleges for sophomores, juniors, and seniors.