An Overview of Residential Life at Colby College
This article was written based on the information and opinions presented by Abigail St. Johns, a Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Colby College, in a CollegeVine livestream. You can watch the full livestream for more info.
What’s Covered:
Food and Dining at Colby
Campus life is an essential factor in the college admissions process for students. For many undergraduate programs, students can expect to live on campus for at least the first year of their program, if not longer. As a result, it’s not uncommon for dining options to play a big part in your college decision.
To be clear, your decision on where to attend college shouldn’t revolve entirely around food. However, you can’t underestimate the importance of available, quality food options in a happy college career. Located in Waterville, Maine, Colby College is home to three dining halls, each with distinct food cultures and options.
Bob’s offers bistro-style cuisine, while Dana serves more comfort food, pizza, pasta bar, and hamburgers. FOSS is geared more toward vegan and vegetarian cuisine. Colby’s dining options continue to improve and provide more options every day.
There’s a set of menus online that changes for every meal so you can see what is available at each dining hall at any time. As a student, you’ll have unlimited meal swipes to use on campus at each of the three dining halls, so you can go from dining hall to dining hall if you desire.
Colby also recognizes that many students have dietary restrictions or specialized eating plans. As a student, you’ll see notices on each food label that lets you know what you’re eating, whether it’s gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, or halal. Colby will also cater to special events or holidays for students who need specialized meals during religious observances.
On-Campus Housing at Colby
The campus is another important part of student life, particularly for students who plan to live on campus for their entire education. As a first-year student, you’ll complete a housing survey and be paired with one or two other first-year students in a double or triple room. It’s important to be honest on the initial survey. Colby will review the survey and pair you based on groupings that will result in the most comfortable living experience for everyone and not necessarily by who they think will become best friends.
After that first year, you’ll enter a housing lottery where you’ll be assigned a number based on seniority. At this point, you can room with anyone you’d like (regardless of class year) and select a housing option based on your placement in the lottery. Suites with singles, doubles, triples, and quad options are available to sophomores and above. The housing selection process happens virtually every year.
As a junior or senior, you’ll have the option to live in one of the downtown apartments. These apartments come with individual kitchens, and even though students can cook their own meals, they also retain a limited number of meal swipes so they have the option to eat on campus.
Additionally, students are allowed to have cars on campus. The policy for student parking and permits historically has included first-year students, but the policy is being updated this year, so be sure to check before bringing your car to campus. Students can also bring pets to campus, as long as those pets can live underwater.
Do you want to know what it takes to get into Colby College? Check out our other posts for a breakdown of admissions stats at Colby, along with tips on how to boost your chances of admission.
