I definitely think that's true at Michigan, but the Residential College does seem to be sort of a "sorority type" community where they have smaller classes together, live in the same dorm for two years, have foreign language immersion meals together and extra curricular activities set up right in their dorm. It is sort of an artsy/creative living community that you commit to for your first two years. It is designed to be a smaller college experience within the University of Michigan massive community.

I don't think being a hipster is a hindrance to Greek Life at Michigan (I think there are LOTS of hipsters at Michigan) but I think the live in requirements and additional activities might make it hard to do both.

Exactly...my impression is the RC program and students are not much of a gateway to Greek life, because they are their own family/community. The rep. that we spoke with said that some RC students do join sororities and fraternities, but not too many. She did say you could definitely go through recruitment if you want to, and some students do, but most entered the RC because they want that as their home. Most are not even going through recruitment nor are they interested: it's not that they're being rejected by the Greek groups. That's what I mean by mutually exclusive; there just isn't much overlap in interest or students. They're operating in two different spheres.

I do think the 2-year RC live-in requirement would be tricky, though, and I have wondered about that. My daughter definitely wants to go through recruitment if she attends a school with Greek life. The houses at Michigan are big and they all had a live-in requirement when I was there, unless you were living at home, studying abroad, or doing an internship/student teaching elsewhere. We really had to hold to that to keep our house filled. This could be a factor during recruitment for houses that need or require all new members to move in the next year. Maybe they wouldn't want to deal with that with an RC student. Or maybe they make an exception for RC students. This is a good question and definitely one to ask when it comes time to make final decisions!

Something else to think about the RC that you and your daughter should consider. The university I advise at has a program very much like this and the students all like the idea of it coming in as freshmen. The parents all seem to want their kids to live on campus so they are moving to a system that would require all freshmen to live on campus and give them housing in these types of residential or learning communities if requested. The idea is small college group within larger campus. The problem comes up in the second year or even the second semester of the LC. Change your major or change your mind about your career focus and you can't schedule your classes to keep even one or two still with the other LC students you started with. The kids in the Honors College - that has preferred space in particular dorms and smaller class sizes, seems to do a better job of building the type of communities that are the idealized RC.

The neighborhood around University of Chicago is very tough. I worked at the U of C hospital there one summer. The neighborhood problems do sometimes flow over on to campus. In the summer while I was there, some teenage girls stole a car and crashed it by my building; certain patients were gang affiliated and brought weapons into the hospital; someone was mugged for a backpack and a bike; stuff like that. Any campus in a big city is going to have problems, but U of C campus seemed a little dicier to me than most.

The campus is beautiful, though. The faculty is top notch. It's a very academic school. The students are very smart and very serious.

Washington University is awesome. It's a pretty low key campus for being an academic stand-out. There's a decent amount of stuff to do in St. Louis. The campus is beautiful and close to a wonderful neighborhood and Forest Park. The student housing community is very cool. Sororities don't have housing, but the Greek community is pretty vibrant. Academics are top notch. The campus is pretty safe. It's a wonderful place to spend four years.

I did a graduate degree there. I really liked it.

I'm afraid you're rubbing salt into the wound...AGDee posted that her daughter was not accepted. :(

Yeah, after visiting U of C, she didn't end up applying there and applied to Wellesley instead.

No worries, she didn't have her heart set on Wash U and she's fine with not being accepted. Going on college confidential and seeing some of the stats of kids who didn't get in... it's amazing. She's in very good company in being rejected from Wash U!

I heard that Wash. U. has been mass-marketing in an attempt to increase applications and lower their admission rate, thus making them look even more elite. I wish I could remember where I read this...it was a "real" article, not a internet posting. The article stated the admissions stats. and how they had dramatically decreased over the past 2 years. Also, U of C went up from 9 to 5 on USNWR rankings, and selectivity is one of the criteria. I think they're doing the same thing. I believe that my daughter received 30+ mailings, postcards, e-mails, etc. from U of C and many from Wash. Univ., too. They are great schools, but after I read that, I did wonder whether they were over-recruiting with their copious promotional materials and invitations to apply. The more Harvard brags about their 6% admissions rate, the more the other top schools have to try to compete. I'm just being cynical, but I'm ready for this whole college admissions ordeal to be done with!

Yes, my daughter received more stuff from U of C than anywhere and the marketing was brilliant, likening it to Hogwarts! It did look like Hogwarts when we visited...lol.

Tell hypoallergenic my vote is for Hogwarts, wherever that is to her. :)

Someone said Hogwarts?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-_Feb_2008.jpg

That's where I went to graduate school...turrets, cloisters, etc. But don't be fooled, even though the university itself was established in 1451, the building is a 19th century Gothic revival mash-up (and it's awesome).

Is that the University of Glasgow? I was there for a conference in July.

Argh! Like I said earlier, it sounds like she's got some good acceptances to cushion the blow from this.

This time of year--college admissions season--is such a stressful time, ugh. Honestly? I don't think I've ever been as stressed as a working, bill-paying adult as I was during my junior and senior years in high school.

I can't see it letting up anytime soon, though. I see my niece, who went to the same HS and has many of the same teachers, and it's ridiculous how much higher the bar is raised for these kids. Spanish V and calculus for a junior? Those were senior classes back in my day, unless a kid had studied in a Spanish-speaking country or was a math whiz. Now? It's virtually standard. Granted, my HS was--and is--extremely competitive, but it's still a small HS in a relatively laid-back town. We aren't talking Fairfax or Westchester or Fairfield counties! :(

If she doesn't get more acceptances, it will be the University of Michigan for her. Spending time on college confidential has actually been good for her. With U of M in her backyard her whole life, she didn't really realize what a well regarded school it is to people everywhere.

My cousin who brought her daughter here from Alaska to visit U of M is really glad they made college visits. Her daughter is going into naval and marine engineering and has been accepted to both U of M and Webb Institute (on Long Island). After visiting both, she has officially decided on U of M. She was happy to meet family here that she had never met before and said she would feel comfortable calling us if she needed something or coming here for Thanksgiving without her mom. I'm kind of excited about that :)

I believe UM has an AGD chapter. So maybe your cousin's daughter will head that way?