<p>Overdone, I know, but I really want to get as many opinions as possible. What is it like in each? Is one more prone to I guess "partying" types? (I'm not much of a partier/drinker). Is the "first year experience" in the first year dorms really worth it? </p>
<p>The residential college I have in mind is the IRC by the way, but I'm open to opinions from anyone in any of the residential colleges.</p>
<p>I’ve posted about this before, I regret nothing from not living in first year housing (I lived in Brown). I didn’t even understand the first year experience until I went to O-Hill brunch one day late in my undergrad career and saw all of the first years I was a TA for hanging out, and realized they got to do that all the time. However, I got to each lunch 4th year with people I had been eating with since first year, which I think is awesome. I definitely do not mind that trade off. My friends who lived in the IRC loved it, though I don’t know any of them who lived there first year. Another good point, when I went overnight to visit UVA, I asked people about Brown and they all said, “Oh, I thought about applying there.” I asked them why they didn’t follow through, and they didn’t have a good answer. At least one of them appeared in Brown the next year with me. So if you are thinking about it, you may be the kind of person to regret not doing it, regardless of what is right for the masses, you know yourself better. HTH</p>
<p>Are residential colleges more “close-knit” in a sense? While I don’t exactly have anything against that, I really want to spend my first year branching out and meeting all kinds of people without really being part of a “tight” group. Maybe for my other years I wouldn’t mind that, but I want to be as open as possible for my first year. Would a residential college style of living hinder that in any way?</p>
<p>I had like 20 groups of friends my first year. There were definitely people in Brown who stayed together all the time, but that wasn’t me. I don’t think IRC has anything similar to that kind of cliquiness.</p>