<p>“Princeton recently moved to a similar 4-year res-college model”</p>
<p>It is not “similar” to Yale’s system except in name. In fact the two systems have very little if anything in common with one another. Yale’s colleges have traditions and massive funding sources stretching back for almost a century. Basically, Princeton randomly chose a few dorms and called them a “college” in 1986 in order to attempt to compete with Yale (obviously it didn’t work too well, considering Yale is far more selective). </p>
<p>The residential colleges form a center of campus academic and social life at Yale – for undergraduates of all four classes as well as many graduate students and faculty – while at Princeton they are totally marginal to campus life and poorly-funded by comparison. Yale’s residential colleges are important to freshmen even before they set foot on campus. When Yalies meet, their first question is usually “what college are/were you in?” Even 50 years later, the colleges are always the main topic of conversation, because they were so important in shaping students’ experiences. Advising and fellowships are provided by the colleges at Yale, which helps explain why Yale students received 4 Marshall and 3 Rhodes Scholarships just last year, more than the rest of the Ivy League (which has about 10 times more students) combined. </p>
<p>In other words, you can’t compare a simple marketing ploy (Princeton) with a system that physically consists of the most elaborate collegiate architecture in the world, is funded by massive endowments and has been an integral part of all aspects of campus life for almost an entire century.</p>
<p>And yes, Yale’s colleges are quite popular among undergraduates (rightfully so, considering they represent a 4-year academic and housing system that is unique in the world), and on many levels they do help eliminate any separation or exclusiveness in the student body based on class/major/race/age/activities or other proclivities, that are typically evident at other universities.</p>