Will each have typical features regarding the students in it? Like maybe some are more academic, some more arty, some more quirky… sort of that.
Trying to make an analogy in the essay so wanna figure out something here. Thanks a lot!
That’s the premise but each tends to develop a “flavor” depending on that year’s composition. For instance, my college had an artsy reputation but over the years I was there, we developed into a more athletic college as we grew in our intramural strength. We still has the artsy side but the vibe shifted.
lol I see. Thanks a lot!
It is totally random. The only students who get to choose their residential college are legacies and they can opt to choose the one their parent(s) was in. Otherwise, they go into the random pool also. As T26EA stated, the flavor of each residential college changes over time based upon the totally randomness of the students placed in it. Jonathan Edwards is a different college for my D than it was when I was there 35 years ago but she loves it just as much.
Then would it be a good idea if I say I like the writing program in residence? Cause this program will only be held in one college and the school might think I am longing for something they can’t ensure to provide?
Nothing you say in your application, besides the legacy preference, will affect your residential college placement once accepted. Once place in a RC, you will be sent a very long questionnaire which the Head of College and Dean use to put together roommate groups. They will match night owls with night owls and those who want peace and quiet with similar souls. So, housing at Yale is not done like other schools where you have the options to live in the jock house, art house or the dorm for writing majors. This system has worked for years. This is probably too late to include in your essay, but it is good for future reference.
Thank you so much! No it’s not too late. I just had my best edition. Thanks again!
Sometimes it’s not random and deans or masters can put in a request for a student from a particular background. I know of a master / dean’s spouse who wasn’t American and requested to have a student from their home country each year (which they did). I’m sure there are other cases too.
There are a few small exceptions to the random assignment. Somebody mentioned the fact that a legacy can choose to be assigned to the legacy RC (or to be randomly assigned to any college but that one.) Another one is that there is one college that cannot accommodate an Orthodox Jew who cannot use electronic devices on the Sabbath. But there really is a random cross-section in every college.
My daughter was in a princess suite so her situation was a little different- she had a bathroom in her suite that had one stall and one shower for 6 girls. She had her own room but out of 6 girls there were only two with singles. There are kitchens in the actual residential college that can be used but not in your suite. It is nothing like any suite that I have seen at any of her friends schools. I have seen 4 different styles in her friends suites and for the most part they are bedrooms, one common room and a bathroom. Not all of the suites have the bathroom though. Some of the suites shared I believe. It depends on what building you were in.
In TD First Years live in the college. My DD was in a 4 person suite (2 bedrooms with bunk beds + a common room). Shared bath in the hall (shared between perhaps 10-12 people).
If you have a shared bath in the hall, Yale staff cleans it. If you have a bath inside your suite, you (theoretically) clean it.
This no longer applies, but there used to be a way that colleges would obtain a certain flavor. For some number of years. Back when I was an undergrad (Y '83) the school had programs for freshman called “Early Concentration”. They were a little like Directed Studies but focused on a single subject. The subjects rotated from year to year. My year, they had Music, French and Math. After being admitted to Yale, one applied separately to these programs if desired. Instead of 3 credits/semester like DS, they were 2 credits with the structure determined subject by subject. I took the Math EC program which involved a 1 credit seminar just for the 12 in the program and then we all took Math 230 (the Honors Multivariable Calc/Linear Algebra class) which also had other students.
Back to the point. All the students in a particular EC program were placed into the same college. The Math EC students were all in ES that year. So, of our 100+ freshmen, 12 were math geeks like me. 
I’m not sure when the EC programs were discontinued, but they certainly don’t exist any more. Interestingly, of the 11 other students in my program, I am still in regular contact with 3 of them.
That must have been a really short-lived program! I graduated in the late 70s, and I never heard about anything like that. It sure does violate the random-assignment ethos! I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s part of what killed it.
I was curious about Early Concentration, and found this: http://www.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/program_study.pdf
So it existed in 1966, and in Lvillegrad’s time in the 1980’s, so I suppose it must have also existed in the 70’s when JHS and I were there, but I don’t remember it either. I think I have my old Blue Book somewhere; I’ll take a look to further satisfy my curiosity.
Yes, the EC program that document refers to basically describes the program I took. The program was 2 credits (unilke DS which was/is 3). There are 10 listed programs there while my year (freshman in 1979-80) there were only 3 offered. Also, that document describes each subject being limited to 6 to 8 students, while we started with 12 (only 6 remained for the 2nd semester, though). It does mention applying to the program which in fact I had to do. The application was simply an open-ended question as to why one should be in the program. For math, there was also a requirement of a 5 on the BC Calculus AP.
I thought it was a very good program and am a bit disappointed that it’s no longer offered. I can see arguments for and against having all the participants in the same college.