At Jacobs University, we have a sort of Hogwarts-like housing system: four individual ‘colleges’ that each encompasses its own personality. Currently, the four colleges are Krupp, Mercator, C3 and Nordmetall, and admitted students are given the opportunity to fill out a housing survey to indicate which college they’d like to stay in at Jacobs. And even though Jacobs is a very integrated community, as in there are no serious divisions between colleges, there is still quite a sort of ‘college pride’ that resides with you and your fellow college mates. It’s not only a very distinct concept, but it also bonds people in particularly unique ways.
I currently live in Mercator College, and I had actually (very prematurely) chosen Mercator before I had even been admitted to Jacobs University. I was a huge nerd, naturally, about research and looked up the variating colleges and their specialities and images beforehand, and what I had gathered from the individual websites was that Mercator was artsy, Krupp was more studious, C3 was athletic and Nordmetall had wireless Internet. (Though all colleges have wireless internet now.) Additionally, Mercator had been described as ‘the most comfortable college,’ which as someone moving 5,771 miles away from home, sounded just, plain beautiful. Through my research and many, many questions to older students, I could genuinely feel that I would do well in Mercator, and the fact that its mascot is the house cat was just a tiny bonus.
I have been living in Mercator for almost a year now, and I can confirm that I had been wise in my choice. Mercator is a very tremendous college – casually ignoring my blatant bias, it holds some of the coolest and most puzzling people at Jacobs. A lot of my fondest memories here at Jacobs have occurred in Mercator, at Mercator activities or with people that also reside in Mercator. Colored hammocks, lazy floor decorations, a faulty foosball table and a relaxed basement pre-party; from being knighted into Mercator to winning the Arts Olympix, Mercator has been the right choice for me, and as well, for many others. Mercator College has become an instrumental part of my life here at Jacobs, and this is just me, taking a brief note to express my general appreciation for this wondrously strange and diverse group of people united under blueness and radness.
So in conclusion to all admitted or prospective students: make sure you investigate the colleges and talk to current students or graduated students or student assistants or the campus ducks or the admissions office (or basically anybody that you can find) about the individual colleges to find the one best suited for you. It will make your time at Jacobs significantly more pleasant.
Best of luck!
Jacobs Admissions 
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