<p>Anyone have any experience with the Residential College?</p>
<p>Without knowing what kind of information you're looking for, I can tell you my son is a freshman in the RC this year. His first choice was Reed College, but for financial reasons he ended up at Michigan. The RC seems to be a decent compromise. He describes the students in the RC, his friends at least, as those who either weren't accepted to or couldn't afford their first choice schools. </p>
<p>Other than the two year residency requirement (the school is in East Quad) another primary focus of the RC is the language proficiency requirement. He took 8 credits of Spanish last term. There are language tables at lunch (I think) for students to practice speaking. After passing the proficiency requirement students then take a readings/literature class in their selected language. He has found the speaking element the most difficult. One teacher was from Spain and the other from a South American country (sorry, I don't remember which one) so it was interesting for him to hear the different accents.</p>
<p>One class had only about 12 people. I'm not sure how big his largest RC class has been, but not very. So far he has really enjoyed his professors, some more than others, but he hasn't complained about any of them. The only class he hasn't taken in the RC is physics. That is one of those huge lecture classes with a smaller discussion group. </p>
<p>He is vegetarian and has been happy with the food in East Quad. Most of the friends he has made are from the Detroit area and New York City. The East Quad Music Co-op arranges for bands to perform at East Quad, and they also have other artists, such as Andrew Sean Greer (author) come to the RC. The dorm is about 2 blocks away from a street with restaurants, cafes and Ulrich's book store. It is also within walking distance of Big 10 Burrito.</p>