<p>One of the main draws about Yale for me is the college program that they have there. I like the idea of living with the same kids for 4 years and having more of a small college environment within the larger university, but i'm worried about getting placed in a bad college. How does the selection process work? Is it totally random or is there a choice involved? Also are there any exceptionally good/bad colleges on campus? Any input would be appreciated</p>
<p>What's the college system look like for transfers?</p>
<p>If you are a legacy or have a sibling that attended Yale, you can choose to be in the same college that your parent or sibling was in. Other than that, you have no choice. The people who assign the residential colleges try to make each college a microcosm of the larger Yale community, so it isn't entirely random. The microcosm of Yale aspect means that there isn't a party college, an artsy college, a preppy college, a science college, etc. Every college has all types.</p>
<p>There are no bad colleges. Some colleges have better locations, some have prettier architecture, some have better rooms, some have better dining halls. Most people think whatever college they are in is the best college. Getting placed in a "bad" college is nothing you should consider in applying to Yale.</p>
<p>Transfer students are divided up amongst the colleges, so there isn't one college that gets all the transfers. I assume that the legacies-get-to-pick-their-parents'-college rule still applies but otherwise transfers have no say in which college they go to.</p>
<p>LOL: I had an applicant once ask me if the college system was equivalent to Hogsworth's houses! I chuckled and had to admit that it's a relevent comparison!</p>
<p>I would agree that there's no "bad" college. But of course, mine (JE) was the best. LOL</p>
<p>Go Spiders!</p>
<p>lol, JE is definitely one of the worst (its either JE or stiles)</p>
<p>Saying one is worse than the other is kind of like arguing that the Louvre is worse than the Prado. You can make the argument, but from a wider perspective (i.e., the state of college dormitory systems in general), it is completely absurd.</p>
<p>Honestly, there are some colleges that a good portion of the Yale community will admit as being less preferable. No single college is objectively worse, but you were to poll the campus, I would say that JE, Morse, Stiles, and perhaps Calhoun would top the list of the "colleges I am thankful I was not placed into."</p>
<p>That does not mean you will be less happy in these colleges; it just means that the world is not idealistic, and all residential colleges are not created equally.</p>
<p>Entropic is pretty much right, though renovation could very well change the situation for Calhoun and JE.</p>
<p>Entropic, of course "the world is not idealistic" :) But that's kind of like saying that there are certain Bentley, Rolls, and Lamborghini owners who wish they had Ferrari Enzos.</p>
<p>I saw Calhoun during my visit. What's bad about it?</p>
<p>virtuoso's question underscores the whole discussion.</p>
<p>The only thing that's bad about Calhoun is that it's not Berkeley. As far as campus housing goes across universities, most students at other schools would LOVE calhoun.</p>
<p>
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The only thing that's bad about Calhoun is that it's not Berkeley. As far as campus housing goes across universities, most students at other schools would LOVE calhoun.
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</p>
<p>In fact, when my friend from Penn was visiting me, I told him I live in the worst housing on campus (L-Dub, freshman housing for Saybrook and Pierson). When he saw my room, his reaction was something on the order of "THIS is the worst housing at Yale??" I remember a similar reaction from someone else's friend from Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>I'm just a mom of an admitted student, but whenever I see someone claim one college is the best I am assuming it is because that's where that person lives. We toured the campus three times and each guide was from a different college - each claimed he had the best college ( and seemed to really mean it!). </p>
<p>I do have a question. Have Stiles and Morse been rennovated? Are there plans to do something with their exteriors (I think I am talking about the right colleges - the ones with the odd exteriors). Also how do the freshman feel from the two colleges that do not end up in the freshman quad?</p>
<p>There are objectively definitely worse and better colleges in terms of their facilities, worknprogress, but you'll find of course that if you happen to be placed into, say, Calhoun then you will most likely find a way to love it. Or you can decide move off-campus, like a bunch of my friends in Morse did, when they got fed up with not having common rooms sophomore and junior years. I also have two friends who transferred from JE into Stiles because the rooms in Morse and Stiles are much much bigger and almost all singles. Basically, take this all with a grain of salt. The system works out for almost everyone.</p>
<p>Morse and Stiles have not been renovated, and their exteriors will stay the same after they're renovated. I don't know what the plans are for the two new colleges.</p>
<p>I find that TD and Silliman freshmen are actually very happy with their placement. No, they don't see the other freshmen around on Old Campus, but through extracurriculars and classes they hang out with freshmen all year anyway. Plus, it means that TD/Silliman freshman start getting to know older kids much earlier and go to upperclass parties, etc., in the college.</p>
<p>Believe it or not Morse & Stiles are considered architectural landmarks because they were designed by Eero Saarinen. Not only will the exteriors remain unchanged after the renovation, the additions to the colleges will be in a sunken courtyard so as not to interfere with the original architecture. The interiors will be completely renovated into suites like the other colleges have, however.</p>
<p>As one of the few Yale Freshman not to have lived on Old Campus (I'm in Silliman), I can honestly say the advantages and disadvantages of being separated from most of the Freshman class outweight one another. I have absolutely no regrets about moving directly into my college Freshman year.</p>
<p>There is so much involved with being in a college, that whatever negatives one may have, it has positives to compensate.</p>
<p>The location, the exterior architecture, the interior beauty and style, the particular students, the specific master and his or her family living in the college, the dining hall, the "extras" like gyms, libraries, pottery rooms, game rooms, the advantages of old campus versus the advantages of all four years in your college--- all of these factors are at play when one evaluates a college. Each college has things about it that are unique and special to it, and all have something that isn't ideal. The students appreciate those special qualities and grow to love the other students in their college. That's why they often think their own college is the best.</p>