Residential Colleges

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>What's the difference between the two-year and the four-year residential colleges (besides the obvious)?</p>

<p>If you get assigned to a two-year college, does that mean you have to find new housing in your junior year? How do the housing people pick who gets put in the two-year vs four-year colleges? Is it something you indicate on your matriculation forms?</p>

<p>I'm reading the Princeton RC website, but it's confusing. Six colleges, eating clubs, upper classman housing...I'm hoping someone here can simplify. </p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>There really is no difference. You get to indicate a preference for two-year or four-year, but I’m not sure how much of an effort they make to honor that. Basically, each two-year college is “paired” with a four-year college. Rocky with Mathey, Wilson with Butler, Forbes with Whitman. When it comes time for you to pick a dorm for junior year, you receive priority in your own res college (if you were in a four-year) or in your sister college (if you were in a two-year). In other words, rising juniors in Rocky (two-year) and Mathey (the associated four-year) will receive the same preferential treatment in the Mathey room draw, that is, getting to pick a Mathey room before kids who are “transferring” from one of the other four res colleges are allowed to do so. Most kids, whether they were originally placed in a two-year or a four-year, leave the res colleges their junior year in order to be a member of an eating club, so the school “consolidates” the remaining upperclassmen this way.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, that makes sense.</p>

<p>Are the rooms inside the various colleges basically the same in size? I know for example the rooms in Rocky are older than those in Butler, but do they all basically have a bunch of doubles on a floor that shares a bathroom? Are the dorms/floors single-sex or not? etc.</p>

<p>My D missed the pre-frosh preview and we were never shown a dorm on the campus tour we took two years ago, so we’re clueless. </p>

<p>Are their triples, doubles, and singles and all levels of choices? Suites that have their own bathrooms? My D doesn’t really care, so it doesn’t matter, but I’m just curious.</p>

4

<p>There is some info. re; RC’s, dorms, rooms, etc. available here…</p>

<p>[Moving</a> In](<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/studentguide/moving_in/]Moving”>http://www.princeton.edu/studentguide/moving_in/)</p>

5

<p>If we choose to join an eating club during our junior year, do we stay in our res colleges (if we are in a 4year college)? If not, where do we house? Is it better to stay in a rescol and join an eating club or if you join an eating club, stay elsewhere?</p>

6

<p>All of the rescolleges have different housing options. </p>

<p>Forbes has mostly singles and doubles, and some triples. Lots and lots of forbes rooms have their own or shared bathrooms, since it used to be a hotel. </p>

<p>Whitman has quads (for freshman usually 2 bedrooms and a common room), singles, and doubles. Most whitman rooms have shared bathrooms, but since the college is new there are lots of bathrooms and you won’t have to walk up/down a floor to get to the bathroom. Also, whitman is set up around hallways, not entry ways.</p>

<p>Rocky has mostly doubles and quads, although there are some singles in witherspoon. All of the rocky buildings have been recently renovated, so most have hallways as well. Sometimes the bedrooms in the quads are really really small, but then the common rooms are huge.Very few if any rooms have their own bathrooms.</p>

<p>Mathey has a similar room choice to Rocky- but some of the buildings are older and unrenovated. Mathey probably has more singles than rocky. Very few if any rooms have their own bathrooms.</p>

<p>Wilson has a huge mix of rooms. There are lots of quads, but also 6 and 8 and 11 man rooms. Some of the large rooms are set up like the quads, with bedrooms and then a common room. Some of them are more like hallways. A decent number of the larger rooms hve their own bathroom.</p>

<p>I have no idea what new butler is like. 1915 which is still part of butler is single sex-- the building has two pieces. The female side is all singles, and male side is triples. Bloomberg has mostly singles. </p>

<p>As a junior/senior you have some choices. You can go independent and get into the independent draw. The independent rooms are near kitchens, or in Spelman which is like apartments. You can go independent and just enter the regular draw. You can join an eating club and enter the regular draw. The regular draw allows you to draw into all upperclass housing (minus the independent rooms), which is everything that is not in a rescollege. </p>

<p>You can also decide that you want to stay in a rescollege. If you do that you need to buy a small meal plan (95 meals a semseter). The clubs have a limited number of shared meal plans, where you join the club and pay your normal due, and the club gives some percentage of the money to the university to cover the meal plan. The number of plans varies by club and by year. Or you can join a club and stay in the rescoll and pay for both meal plans. Or you can not join a club and stay in the rescolleges.</p>

7

<p>New Butler has mostly quads - one common room, two doubles - and a few singles here and there. All of them have private bathrooms - there is no shared bathroom anywhere in New Butler.</p>

8

<p>1231233: Generally, those joining an eating club during their junior year (70+% of students) leave their res colleges, even if they were placed in a four-year. They then live in what is termed “upperclass housing,” which is any dorm not associated with either res colleges or independents. </p>

<p>There are some minor advantages to being in both a res college and an eating club (this is called being on a shared meal plan), but most of those spots are reserved for RCAs. However, it’s really not a big deal, and you’ll find that things usually work themselves out.</p>

9

<p>so is butler the only place with single sex? I wanna know so i can avoid it… :)</p>

10

<p>What about Forbes? Is it old? Updated? What are the room/suites situation?</p>

<p>We’ve been looking at u n i g o . c o m, but the videos only show the outside and never the inside.</p>

11

<p>Mathey also has some single sex entry ways, as does forbes (the island and the pink house). The vast vast majority of entry ways are co-ed. </p>

<p>The main inn of forbes is quite nice. It used to be a hotel. It hasn’t been renovated since the 70s or so when it was converted, but its been longer than that since the non-renovated gothic dorms or most of the wilson buildings have been renovated. The main inn rooms are large, and many have nice views. They also have AC. The addition? is pretty bad-- its the standard cinderblock dorm room with mostly doubles. These rooms are pretty small, and the part of the buliding that they are in is pretty ugly. Forbes tends to be a bit more insular than the other rescolleges, since its so far away from the rest of them. That is both good, in that you have a stronger sense of community and know more of your rescoll, and bad since the reason that happens is dstance</p>

12

<p>In your opinion, what is the BEST residential college in terms of comfort and fun?</p>

13

<p>BTW, thanks guys for all the insider feedback.</p>

14

<p>At this point I’d say Butler, because almost all of it is brand new. Also a great location (especially for the math / science people).</p>

15

<p>It doesn’t really matter which one is the best since you’re going to get randomly assigned to one of them and that one will automatically be the best.</p>

<p>Seriously, randomly. Even people who’s parents donated a building in a particular residential college have been assigned to other ones.</p>

16

<p>There is a dorm in the New Butler (WILF) and it is all singles.There is a bathroom in between each single shared by two students.It was an upperclass dorm within New Butler last year.My d lived there as a junior and will next year and chose to remain in the residential college.</p>