My son has Celiac and must maintain a gluten free diet. All the schools he is applying to say on their websites that they can accommodate a gluten free diet. But I’ve heard from various sources that some colleges do a good job with gluten free meals and others have problems with cross contamination and lack of training of cafeteria workers or have long waits for gluten free food or make the student call ahead for a gluten free meal. If anyone could share their student’s experience eating gluten free at any of the schools my son is applying to, I would really appreciate it. He is applying to the following schools:
UCLA
UC Davis
UC San Diego
UC Santa Barbara
USC
Santa Clara
U of Michigan
Tulane
U of Miami
U of Washington
Emory
William and Mary
U of Richmond
My DD has celiac as well as some food allergies. She is not at W&M or Richmond, but she applied to both. They both have very good food services people and gf options. W&M in particular was very impressive. When visiting we met with the head of food services and they were amazing.
I would suggest that when your S is down to his top few schools that you visit the schools, go to the dining rooms, and that you try to make an appointment in advance of your visit with the food services staff to discuss how they handle gluten free diets.
Contact the dining services offices and ask specific questions. My son’s roommate has Celiac and he managed fine freshman year in the dorm. He was careful and also kept foods in his room for unplanned eating. I don’t know how old your DD is but hopefully she knows what to do about the alcohol issues…forgive me for saying that but it could be something you hadn’t thought about and something she hasn’t dealt with. If she doesn’t drink that’s a plan. But if she’s planning on drinking she needs a plan.
While this is irrelevant to your son for obvious reasons, my D - at Wellesley - also needs to be gluten-free. As it so happens, there is just one cafeteria there that “promises” gluten-free (as well as nut-free, though students are allowed to have peanut butter in their rooms). There was a dorm complex that ate at that cafeteria, and that “bound” her (for lack of a better term) to that dorm complex all 4 years. This was not a problem for her, as she really liked and wanted to be part of that dorm complex, but it’s just something to be aware of – are there multiple cafeterias that accommodate gluten-free, or just one – and if the latter, are the students who need it given some kind of priority to get into that dorm.
Best of luck!
I’d suggest ensuring that your student has appropriate gluten-free bars (Larabar, etc.) and other substantial snacks to stock in his room just in case.
Thank you for all of your responses! I’m glad to hear that William and Mary and Richmond appear to be doing a good job of providing gluten free food. We will definitely be talking to dining services before my son finalizes his choice of college. We will also need to make sure the college can promise he will be in a dorm near a cafeteria serving gluten free food. I think it is common at the larger schools to only provide it at certain locations. I was hoping to hear from parents of gluten free students so we could learn what it’s really like at each school. What dining services says and what actually happens aren’t always the same. My sense is that colleges vary quite a bit as to what they provide. For anyone else in our situation, I can tell you that we had a very good gluten free meal at Tulane and our tour guide happened to have Celiac.
That is a very good point about alcohol. We have had discussions about alcohol and these will continue more in-depth.
We will definitely plan to keep his dorm room well stocked with healthy snacks. Kids who are hungry may take chances on food that they know is risky.
This is an interesting read. The mom describes her struggles with a large U’s administration to get some reasonable accommodations for her gluten-intolerant daughter. I think UW is not unique in basically telling this mom to take a hike - this can happen at any large school. Smaller schools like PG’s D’s college might get better grades in GF-accommodations.
My daughter is celic with many food insensitivities on top of that as well as numerous additional gi problems. She does not go to any of the schools listed above. We did have her identified as disabled through the disability office which i highly recommend you do. When my d was looking at schools the gluten free option were a driving force in choosing a school but not in the way most would go about it. For her it was off campus choices. Can i walk to the grocery store? What eateries are close to school. We requested she live in a dorm with a kitchen and we negotiated a reduced meal plan with her disability. However after attending university it became apparent the meal plan was not working. She is now officially off the meal plan as a freshman. From our experience eating on campus did not work with the limitations and restrictions in diet she has. She has a substantial size fridge in her room to keep her food safe from the community kitchen. And she is definitely living in an apartment next year. I think you need to consider that at many schools gf options are limited even if they are great about it because you need to read menus carefully as to whether they will eat the offerings. At just about every school we visited either she got sick from the food, didnt like the offerings such as tofu or fish, and/or had to wait a long time for the food to be prepared. It has been a big challenge and she cooks for herself mostly as that is the only way to stay healthy. When we visited schools we toured local grocery stores and restaurants.
My son is celiac and we looked at several eastern schools, and it’s surprising how differently the approach can be…we saw dedicated dining commons, dedicated service areas, but also “gf” stations that were open to everyone and anyone, so the cc was off the charts. You are smart to ask about reality vs. promotion concepts. Some schools have student advisory committees, so you could ask to speak to a celiac student about their experience. Ask questions – do they have to order in advance? who has access to any gf station? what if the food isn’t there – can more be accessed from a walk-in or do personnel have to go fetch and prepare it? What convenience items are available on campus? Do you pay the same rate for this, or is it something different? more? less? Where do the gf items come from – are they made on site, or shipped in ? From what suppliers? Does the menu ever change, or is it the same 5 gf items all year?
You need an appointment with an actual cafeteria/dining commons manager. Even Food Service department people will not know as much as dining staff. Find their number, and make an appointment directly with them. Now that so many people are optionally gf (they don’t react, or react minimally in minimal fashion) it’s important to advocate for celiacs and others who are medically required to have reliably gf food.
We did not register with disability; there was nothing to be gained. You will want to check with that, too. You also might try finding a FB page for the schools, and asking there. Have your student do that
This was my one big concern at both schools we toured this past weekend - visually, seemingly limited GF options, though both schools claimed to accommodate. My son is not celiac but sensitive to wheat (as we have seen for the past 7-8 years).
BunsenBurner–Thank you for the link. I too suspect that my son may do better at a smaller school. But I think the larger schools may vary a lot too. Michigan seems to have really worked on it’s gluten free offerings and has added gluten free pantries in 2 cafeterias, UCLA has a GF pantry and Davis posts its GF menus online which seem to have decent variety. UW only has a sentence or two on their website about eating GF so this may be an indication that they are lacking in this area.
scubadive–It sounds like your daughter is making it work. My son doesn’t enjoy cooking, so I hope to find a place where he can eat at least some things in the cafeteria. I agree that nearby restaurants and groceries are also key.
greenbutton–I am making a note of your list of questions. You’ve done a great job identifying the things we need to know. Thank you! Hopefully, the answers will be very revealing.
My son was diagnosed with Celiac about 16 years ago. We have seen so many improvements in the availability of good tasting easily available GF food, but it seems like colleges are one of the last frontiers. A few schools don’t even seem to provide the minimal standard of food that won’t make a GF student sick, but I agree with those of you who have mentioned that the student also has to like the food and be given some variety. I thought this would be a secondary issue when choosing a college, but I think it really is hugely important.
Not that we have looked at the schools on your list. Just some things to consider.My son was diagnosed in May, after his college choice had been made, no idea beforehand!
We did a tour with the food manager and his school was working hard to improve daily. However, it wasn’t always as great as it sounded in the beginning. My son did ok. I don’t think he got sick much the one year he was there. He did have the option to call ahead for anything he wanted at any time. I don’t think he really did though. They also could take food out with them to keep in their dorm room. (Like fresh fruit and veggies. He could use the dining hall like a grocery store.) Not sure he did much of that either. They were willing to do whatever he asked, he just had to ask. My son had a microwave and full size fridge in his room. They also had a great grocery store on campus and a few local restaurants that were acceptable. That was the hardest part for my son was the eating out with friends, he got tired of being “that guy” the one that had to talk to the waiter about everything or everyone trying to choose a restaurant that he could actually eat at. I would definitely look into what is in the area!
Most importantly, Make sure he knows to always keep some stash of food with him at all times. Dining hall hours can be weird and not open when you are free, labs can run over and then the dining hall is closed. Some dining halls don’t open on weekends, in bad weather or long weekends/holidays. Even at large schools!
Find out what the options are for cooking for themselves. My daughter who is GF and vegetarian found that dining halls had almost nothing to fit her needs. One school appeared to have an extensive GF menu, but she would have probably only had salad available daily. Not suitable for us and the dorms there had no fridge in the rooms and one microwave per floor or something crazy. Where she is she has a small kitchen in her dorm and the dining hall is basically useless. She said they try…cook a grilled cheese and then cut with the same gluten knife used for everything.She just buys coffee or prepackaged food on campus.
I would suggest looking at each college website to see if they have a gluten free link or support group. U Pittsburg has an entire website with GF menus from on campus and off campus dining options.
As for the disability registration. I read recently that it is a great idea to register your condition at the college. We have not done this. But in the case of a cross contamination that makes the student sick it can help the student get excused from an exam or be able to schedule a make up session.
One night last semester my son called me in a panic as he had just realized that what he ate for lunch was mislabeled at the restaurant and was in fact gluten! (After symptoms set in he went back and asked for the actual box with ingredients). He had a math test the next morning and was terrified he would fail. Brain fog and nausea and a huge problem for us! He made it through.
If he had been registered with his disabilities office, I think he would have at least felt like there were options if he couldn’t make it to the test.
I also have a friend who is fighting with the Sorority house about GF meals. Not something I would have thought about as a freshman. Apparently many have their own chefs in their houses. if there is a Sorority/Fraternity house, they tend to eat a lot of meals at the house. Definitely something to look into as this can be a lot of $$$.
diglass–Thank you for your insights. I hadn’t thought about the benefit of disability registration in case he gets sick. Definitely something to consider. We are still knee deep in this process. So far my S has been accepted at Tulane, Santa Clara, U of Miami and Michigan, so we are focusing on those schools first. He’ll attend admitted student days at Tulane and Santa Clara, so I’m trying to set up meetings with dining services then. At Michigan, he has applied for honors which if he is accepted would give him the opportunity to live in one of the dorms near the cafeteria that has the most GF options. If he’s not in honors, we’ll have to see if they will promise to put him in one of those dorms. He has become less interested in Miami, so we may not do much research there.
My daughter does not attend any of the schools you listed but she is celiac and we have found some strategies for success. We did discover smaller schools seem more willing to work with your student. Schools from 2000- 6000 we found most helpful.
Meet with dining services and student services before school begins. Find out what is available and when. We found once the cooks and food prep people get to know your student they go out of their way to help. ( we did remind our D to be thankful and express gratitude- she’s got a small cadre of ladies that take good care of her ) If the dining services offers a calendar of gluten free offerings take it! Helps students plan ahead. Keep lots of gluten free snacks in the dorm room. Find local establishments that serve GF food for off campus fun.
Best wishes, This can be a hard aspect of campus life to navigate.
Thank you, mommamocha. I’m glad it’s working out for your daughter. I agree that finding places to eat other than the cafeteria is important too. We’ve been doing that as we visit the schools. I have a feeling I am going to be a regular at the post office sending GF care packages.
