About the Residential Colleges Program

 
  
  

 Exchange Ideas

The Residential College Program involves students with different interests and background in a living, learning community: a friendly environment where social activities build on classroom learning.  There are seven colleges: Arts, Environmental, Global, Humanities, Languages & Cultures, Social Justice, and Society & Technology.  Each one offers a small, engaging class during the fall semester.  The class meets the Foundation Seminar requirement for students in the College of Arts and Sciences, and can meet other requirements for students in the College of Engineering.

Students will develop more effective writing skills and learn how to articulate their ideas in challenging class discussions.

  

Participate in Activities

As a residential college student, you'll have an opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities outside the classroom. Here are some of the examples of recent activities sponsored by the colleges:

  • Trips to New York to see "Avenue Q" and "Phantom of the Opera"
  • Touring the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim
  • Discussing issues of terrorism at a Washington, D.C. think-tank
  • Touring the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.
  • Organizing the campus-wide "Stop the Hate" march
  • Hiking and camping at several destinations
  • Enjoying authentic Indian cuisine at a campus-wide international dinner
 

 Make Friends

All 285 students in the Residential Colleges - one third of the incoming class - live together in either Smith Hall or McDonnell Hall. With 16-25 hallmates in each coed hall, and 45-60 students in each college, students will form friendships within their college, with students in other Residential Colleges, and throughout the university.

In each college, upperclass students - called Junior Fellows - live alongside first-year students and help them adjust to college life, plan programs and activities, and help them connect to students and organizations campus-wide.

Faculty members - Senior Fellows - teach the Foundation Seminars in the college and serve as academic advisors. Senior Fellows actively participate in college programs and activities.

Students have frequent opportunities in the Residential Colleges to interact with faculty and staff in informal settings and to foster close relationships that last beyond graduation.