This discussion was created from comments split from: Question for current students/parents about housing.
Another housing question: If more than one student from a particular high school matriculates in any given year, does Yale try to assign them to different residential colleges?
My understanding (based solely on being a first-year parent of a Yalie) is that for non-legacy kids, the residential college is assigned randomly. That would mean that 92% of the time they are assigned to different residential colleges 
@IxnayBob Thanks—I was just wondering about this. I’d think they’d try to do this before the random assignment, just to mix things up more thoroughly.
IxnayBob is right. Except for legacies who get to choose the residential college their parent lived in, it is all random. It could happen by chance that they end up in the same residential college, depending on how many from the school are admitted.
@Planner, sometimes it’s easier to just be random; then you can’t be accused of favoritism
Small sample, but random worked in DS’s case this current year: 3 kids, 3 different colleges. Of course my son got the best randomly assigned one: Pierson
I think it is random, but that being said, I know someone who is in the same residential college as two of his high school classmates. Another person was in the same suite freshman year as a kid he graduated with. It’s random, but there can be overlap.
Thanks, everyone! @Bulldog2017 Amazing that someone was even put in the same suite as a classmate he graduated with!
FWIW: My son was admitted four years ago to Yale with 7 other student’s from his high school. Each student (all non-legacies) were placed into different colleges.
I guess it’s just the roll of the dice. Not sure anyone else from my son’s school will be going, but it could happen—no biggie either way, though meeting a completely different group of students would be nice.
@Planner, you will meet a completely different group of students; no worries. I think Old Campus tends to make that happen regardless of your RC. My son is in Pierson, but says he has more friends at Berkeley. That might change next semester
At least from what I’ve seen through my son’s eyes, many Yale freshman remain friends with their entryway mates, regardless of the college they are assigned to freshman year. For example, my son bonded with his entryway mates freshman year so-much-so that they all have managed to room together (in different configurations) for sophomore, junior and senior years. In fact, last year during Christmas/New Year’s break they all spent a week skiing together and this year all 20 of them (boys and girls) flew to Las Vegas and California for a vacation. I’m not sure how common this is, but it’s been a social highlight for my son throughout his four years at Yale!
@IxnayBob That’s really good to hear—thanks!
@gibby This sounds great—excuse my ignorance, but what exactly are entryway mates?
@planner: unlike dorms at other colleges, which usually have one main entrance, the dorms at Yale (and Harvard) have multiple entrances called entryways. An entryway services about 10 suites – 2 suites per floor, times 5 floors. Each entryway is coded, so that only student’s who live in those suites can access their entryway with their Yale ID. Take the virtual residential college tour: http://admissions.yale.edu/virtual-tour
@gibby Thanks—I thought they might be something like that. But wouldn’t each entryway be to a particular residential college? I’m confused about how students become friends with their entryway mates “regardless of the college they are assigned to freshman year”—does one entryway lead to suites in more than one residential college?
Each residential college has about 10-20 entryways. Student’s become friends with their entryway mates as they are your neighbor across the hall or up/down the stairs. See: http://historicbuildingsct.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Durfee.jpg. Notice the pointed archways in this old campus dorm? Each one of those pointed archways is an entryway, with about 8-10 suites of rooms. Also see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_wVyOCjHeM
Just to clarify, in most cases, all the freshmen on an entryway will be assigned to the same residential college. I believe there are one or two dorms on the Old Campus that house freshmen from more than one college–whether there are “mixed” entryways I’m not sure, but there couldn’t be many.
@Planner was confused because the above quote implies that an entryway services more than one residential college, which of course, it does not. It reminds me of an old Sesame Street (or similar) segment on how punctuation changes the meaning of a sentence. Perhaps the better wording would have been: “Many Yale freshman, regardless of the college they are assigned to freshman year, remain friends with their entryway mates.” 
Thanks for the clarification, everyone, and thanks for the links, @gibby!
The main entry at Bingham is shared.