<p>What are some schools with interesting dorm/living systems- like Vandy has the commons, Yale/Rice have the colleges within colleges- can someone explain this system?</p>
<p>what are some others that are not so traditional/what do people think abt these?</p>
<p>Rice has a similar residential college system as does UC-San Diego</p>
<p>UC San Diego is more academic-focused, however. For example, one 'college' is ~50% engineers -- obviously, the antithesis of the diversity that the UCs are trying to maintain.</p>
<p>Miami University: Celebrate</a> the Arts</p>
<p>Lehigh University: South</a> Mountain College</p>
<p>Collegiate Way: Residential</a> Colleges and the Renewal of Campus Life:</p>
<p>
[quote]
What does private and wealthy Princeton University have in common with the public and less-wealthy University of Central Arkansas? What does the Chinese University of Hong Kong share with with Vanderbilt University in the American South and the University of Sydney in Australia? How is the new Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany, similar to Murray State University in Kentucky and to the Universidad de las Am</p>
<p>
[quote=Franklin & Marshall]
All first-year students and sophomores are assigned to one of the four College Houses (Bonchek, Brooks, Schnader or Ware) which are made up of several residence halls that face a common green area, an attractive place for spur-of-the moment games, soaking up the sun and meeting friends.</p>
<p>Many sophomores, juniors and seniors also can choose the College Houses for their residences, which leads to a diverse mix of students, ranging in age and outlook, living and working together.</p>
<p>Each House receives a substantial annual budget that students may spend on social programs, d</p>
<p>Caltech has "houses".</p>
<p>any others guys? thanks</p>
<p>I checked out the Vanderbilt commons website and forgive me, but I cannot figure out what makes this dorm system unique. Please enlighten me.</p>
<p>MIT has a system in which you rank dorms based on provided info and get a tentative assignment in the summer, but you don't pick for real until you have been on campus for a couple of days and experienced Dorm Rush (aka REX), in which you go around on your own experiencing the dorms and talking to the people. Once you have a final dorm assignment, you do in-house rush to pick where in the dorm you want to live. As a result, most dorm communities are very tight-knit, and some have cultures and traditions going back decades. Unlike with many college dorms, there's a real sense that people want to be there and are emotionally invested in their living groups. And there's the wide variety of fraternities, sororities, and independent living groups to choose from as well.</p>
<p>I loved it. I chose my dorm, and my hall within my dorm, as a freshman, and lived there all four years. I had friends from all over and there were places that I regularly visited, but no question, my living group was my home base and my community and my primary source of moral support.</p>
<p>Here are schools with residential colleges Residential</a> college - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Rice's was great for my s. He had wonderful masters (faculty that live in a house next to the colege) and established wonderful friends. Vanderbilt has a brand new commons area for freshman (dorms, dining hall, rec area, etc) that gives a cohesive group feeling amongst the freshman. And, its brand new and not yet wrecked up by previous freshmen!</p>
<p>^^well, Vandy's Commons is in its first year, so the Class of '13 will get "used". :D</p>
<p>But the broader point is that, unlike typical college dorms, the all Frosh Vandy Commons also has a living space for a faculty member, who will hold office hours in the dorm, sponsor social functions such as speakers and movies, and serve as a resource, among other things. But, unlike Yale the residential living is not permanent for all four years -- just Frosh year.</p>