<p>Hello!</p>
<p>Can someone explain to me about the 10 residential colleges?
To be honest, I have no clue what it's for and such & I don't remember choosing one when I applied to UCSC...</p>
<p>You only get to pick after you get accepted! And it’s not so much picking as it is making a list of your top 5 and hoping for the best. :P</p>
<p>The 10-college system is awesome for a couple reasons. You have a smaller number of students under the same affiliation, which creates tighter communities. Each college has its own advising office, housing office, computer lab, event committee, and so on. You have a lot fewer people to compete with when it comes to getting help. The events will vary from college to college, which helps create a unique experience and draw together the community at that college. The best part are “college nights”- the dining hall is open only to the students of a specific college, and there’s themed food and entertainment. 
Recent themes: Greece, Camping, Disney, India, The Beatles</p>
<p>The other thing it effects is which core course (writing) you take your first quarter. But don’t choose your college based on this. Just don’t. Having a slightly more interesting class one quarter is not worth living in a community that doesn’t fit you.</p>