my child is coming on USA for degree but we need vegetarian hostel
You are unlikely to find an entirely vegetarian dorm, but most college dining halls have vegetarian and vegan options. What schools are you applying to, or does your child already have an offer confirmed?
@poojapatel The number of options would also depend on which part of the country you are applying to, and also the type of university/college. Also, American style vegetarian and vegan options may take some getting used to. You can possibly check out the various dining options in the universities’ websites .
It will be fine. Almost every college dining facility will have good vegetarian options these days.
US schools have public and private dorms- the term hostel does not apply. There can also be on campus and off campus (private) apartments. The dorm room and dining facility will be two separate things- whether or not in the same building (options depend on the school).
There will not be separate dining places for vegetarians. Vegetarian and various ethnic foods availabilty will depend on the specific school. In current times schools usually will have sufficient vegetarian options for a student to have a healthy diet (proteins being the main factor).
When you look at schools that are appealing for the academic fit you can also check out the room and board (dining) options available to students. Often there will be sample breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack bar et al menus. Sometimes Indian foods may be on a menu, alternating with other ethnic foods. Overall menus will reflect the local area/region. Like India (“Patel” sounds Gujarati like my H) there are regional differences such as “grits” in the south.
Do not worry about finding a balanced vegetarian diet. Do not expect many familiar foods. Many/most college/university towns are likely to have Indian restaurants and grocery stores where a student can find comfort foods from home. It is a very different food scene in the US than in India. Part of the experience of attending college abroad.
In the college search be sure to contact the various foreign/Indian campus student groups for answers to questions. These will be found on the website, likely under a student activities heading.
PS- I know the current term “international” is often used, “foreign” is the same and just as good. Semantics, sigh.
As others have said we don’t use the term “hostel” for university housing or food. Students can live on campus in dorms or off campus, usually in shared housing of some sort. Many universities require freshmen to live on campus. Food is provided by cafeterias. A few universities require freshman to eat all their meals on campus, but many will have a variety of meal plans where students can eat some meals on campus and others in off campus restaurants, or they may be able to buy food in other campus eateries. I haven’t seen any cafeterias that didn’t have a wide variety of vegetarian choices. Indian style meals are less common, but most large cities will have Indian restaurants.
Check the colleges. Some require that students live on campus and have a meal plan as freshmen. This shouldn’t be an obstacle because as noted, most colleges have a wide variety of food in their dining halls, and there are lots of college vegetarians.
If he wants Indian food, that might not be regularly on the menu, but other vegetarian food probably will be. You can ask the schools!
Even if it’s not required to live on campus, most likely when sending your kid to college on the other side of the world you’d prefer them to live in dorms and eat in dining halls, at least for the first year till they’ve figured out the local stuff. Indians are well represented among international students generally so the kid hopefully will be able to network and figure out best food options etc.