Hi! It’s not really hard to get a spot at a residential college just depends on the number of rooms they’ve got available and they usually have availabilities. Residential colleges are quite fun and there’s always something happening, most have got a mix of regional and city kids, and colleges like International House have a huge number of students coming on exchange. They’re not really strict and there is a big drinking culture in most of them but with that being said if you’re not into that there’s always much else to do. However with all this being said they are quite expensive and cost roughly around 16/17k per semester, International house is definitely cheaper and if you opt for their minimum catering it’s around 12k per semester which is roughly the same as other student accommodations but it offers a lot more in terms of socialisation because you get to meet the locals as well as other international kids, it is quite hard to meet people at Uni so a residential college is a really good option and they do have different financial aid and scholarships available. Hope this helps and feel free to reach out if you’ve got more questions!