Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved the residential college system of Yale and the residential housing system at Harvard. Both make the big university feel more like a SLAC.

What does this mean? As far as I see, it means a grad student and family live on the first floor of the dorm. True? What else? (DD is looking at a school that claims to have the same modeled after Yale -- and I can't get the gist of it.)

Yale has 12 residential colleges. You stay in that "college" the full four years, unless you decide to move off. Almost all of the colleges (except the brand new one) are gorgeous. You must have a student ID to get thru the iron gates into your college and then another pass to get into your dorm, and then key to your room . . . .so if you are worried about security, don't. Here's the wiki on the 12 colleges. My son stayed at Jonathon Edwards College. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_residential_colleges.

Harvard's system is a little different unless it has changed when I went there. There you spend your first year with all other freshmen in the freshman quad. At the end of the year you select which of the houses you want to live in for sophomore years and up. Certain Houses have certain reputations so there is much talk about which House to choose.

In both schools, a headmaster and wife live in with the students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved the residential college system of Yale and the residential housing system at Harvard. Both make the big university feel more like a SLAC.

What does this mean? As far as I see, it means a grad student and family live on the first floor of the dorm. True? What else? (DD is looking at a school that claims to have the same modeled after Yale -- and I can't get the gist of it.)

Yale has 12 residential colleges. You stay in that "college" the full four years, unless you decide to move off. Almost all of the colleges (except the brand new one) are gorgeous. You must have a student ID to get thru the iron gates into your college and then another pass to get into your dorm, and then key to your room . . . .so if you are worried about security, don't. Here's the wiki on the 12 colleges. My son stayed at Jonathon Edwards College. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_residential_colleges.

Harvard's system is a little different unless it has changed when I went there. There you spend your first year with all other freshmen in the freshman quad. At the end of the year you select which of the houses you want to live in for sophomore years and up. Certain Houses have certain reputations so there is much talk about which House to choose.

In both schools, a headmaster and wife live in with the students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I loved the residential college system of Yale and the residential housing system at Harvard. Both make the big university feel more like a SLAC.

What does this mean? As far as I see, it means a grad student and family live on the first floor of the dorm. True? What else? (DD is looking at a school that claims to have the same modeled after Yale -- and I can't get the gist of it.)

Yale has 12 residential colleges. You stay in that "college" the full four years, unless you decide to move off. Almost all of the colleges (except the brand new one) are gorgeous. You must have a student ID to get thru the iron gates into your college and then another pass to get into your dorm, and then key to your room . . . .so if you are worried about security, don't. Here's the wiki on the 12 colleges. My son stayed at Jonathon Edwards College. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_residential_colleges.

Harvard's system is a little different unless it has changed when I went there. There you spend your first year with all other freshmen in the freshman quad. At the end of the year you select which of the houses you want to live in for sophomore years and up. Certain Houses have certain reputations so there is much talk about which House to choose.

In both schools, a headmaster and wife live in with the students.

!!!

Even Hogwarts has had headmistresses...

Anonymous wrote: Yale was our DC's (rising freshman) first choice after researching and visiting. My sense is that many of the kids who go there do so (rather than some other great schools) because they value what they sense is a warmer culture there that is focused on undergrads and really values intellectual interests -- not just professional success. The residential college system -- while not perfect -- does seem to be in a league of its own in terms of helping to create a more intimate school experience. But we really tried to mute DC's expectations and I suggest you do the same. If your child has the stats she should go for it, but it is really a crap shoot and no one should expect to get into these schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Yale was our DC's (rising freshman) first choice after researching and visiting. My sense is that many of the kids who go there do so (rather than some other great schools) because they value what they sense is a warmer culture there that is focused on undergrads and really values intellectual interests -- not just professional success. The residential college system -- while not perfect -- does seem to be in a league of its own in terms of helping to create a more intimate school experience. But we really tried to mute DC's expectations and I suggest you do the same. If your child has the stats she should go for it, but it is really a crap shoot and no one should expect to get into these schools.

In this sense, Princeton is another good option. Since it is a relatively small school, where undergrads outnumber grad students 2:1, and there are no Professional schools (No Law, No Med, No MBA), the education is very focused on the undergraduate experience. And you graduate without any student debt (parents pay their portion of the FAFSA parental contribution, that's it) -- I think other Ivys do the same, right?

Beautiful campus, though, like many Ivy league schools, there are a lot of legacy/wealthy families so there can be an adjustment if you are not in that crowd (though if OP is coming from DC region, I'm sure she is already in the upper middle class or at least used to navigating in such social waters, so no issue).

Anonymous wrote: Yale was our DC's (rising freshman) first choice after researching and visiting. My sense is that many of the kids who go there do so (rather than some other great schools) because they value what they sense is a warmer culture there that is focused on undergrads and really values intellectual interests -- not just professional success. The residential college system -- while not perfect -- does seem to be in a league of its own in terms of helping to create a more intimate school experience. But we really tried to mute DC's expectations and I suggest you do the same. If your child has the stats she should go for it, but it is really a crap shoot and no one should expect to get into these schools.

Anonymous wrote:The idea that someone would rank the ivies from worst to best is hilarious.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: Yale was our DC's (rising freshman) first choice after researching and visiting. My sense is that many of the kids who go there do so (rather than some other great schools) because they value what they sense is a warmer culture there that is focused on undergrads and really values intellectual interests -- not just professional success. The residential college system -- while not perfect -- does seem to be in a league of its own in terms of helping to create a more intimate school experience. But we really tried to mute DC's expectations and I suggest you do the same. If your child has the stats she should go for it, but it is really a crap shoot and no one should expect to get into these schools.

Did you see OP's comment in 08:33?