January 2005

Briefly speaking: Apartments foster learning

Roommates Melissa Laine Skorka, left, and Shirley Hino stroll the grounds of their apartment complex, The Colleges at LaRue. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis)

Melissa Laine Skorka first became interested in The Colleges at LaRue residential complex because of its attractive appearance, its central campus location and its many amenities.

But like others who call The Colleges home, it is the community's unique learning environment that makes Skorka, a Roseville native majoring in economics, so passionate about being a resident there.

"At The Colleges, it has not been an uncommon experience for me to knock on a neighbor's door for a quick study break and then find myself spending the entire night absorbed in a mind-stimulating, intellectual conversation," she says.

Home to 500 plus students

Opened in 2000, The Colleges is a group of 197 apartments that house about 550 undergraduates and a small number of graduate students. Located on La Rue Road, The Colleges is managed by Tandem Properties, an off-campus property management company.

Undergraduate Melissa Laine Skorka, right, and graduate student Shirley Hino study together in the apartment they share at The Colleges at LaRue. (Debbie Aldridge/UC Davis)

But it is the learning opportunities that make The Colleges more than just an attractive place to live.

Through community events like film series, discussions, guest speakers, skill workshops and presentations by faculty members, residents have a chance to expand their learning in one of three specialty areas: Global Learning and Foreign Language Enhancement, Leadership Development, and Education in the 21st Century.

Applying to live at The Colleges

A 2.0 minimum grade point average is required to apply to join the program, but it is the essay and resumé portion of the application that determines which students will be chosen for a coveted spot.

"It's highly competitive to get in here," says Cheryl Singh, program manager of The Colleges. "It's done through a lottery system."

Applicants are admitted to the program first and then are allowed to enter the lottery for a living space. Singh says 400 applicants vied for 14 open living spaces last year. The deadline to apply for next year is Jan. 31.

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