Hi @bearcatfan ! How did your daughter like the Food Science program? Did she go to MSU knowing FS was her major or did she change to FS while attending?
My daughter was just accepted to MSU for Food Science (w/president’s scholarship and study abroad) so we’d love as much info as you’re willing to share about your experience with the FS program and MSU. We visited last year and the FS facilities were pretty impressive compared to some of the other midwest universities we toured. And you’re right, the campus was gorgeous.
The biggest negatives for my daughter is the older dorms and not having AC and few residence hall living-learning communities (none that suit her). What was your daughter’s experience with the dorms? What activities/clubs did your daughter join to find her people and help make the giant MSU feel small?
Love that your daughter got a Pepsi internship-turned-job-offer. Congrats!
My daughter received acceptance 10/16 for Microbiology, applied on 10/3. Received an email first. Received President scholarship and study abroad scholarship (listed in separate tab on portal). IB diploma with uw 3.95.
Wooo another food science major! It’s a small but mighty group. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions.
It’s a great major, and you can do so much with it. Many chemical engineering majors add it as a minor. I would highly recommend reaching out to department chair Jeffrey Swada, if you haven’t already, for updated information on requirements. He is a great guy, very knowledgeable and easy to reach. We corresponded with him summer of 2020 when she was applying.
As a FS major she is not in any LLC, but the good news is she can live anywhere except the campus apartments. Currently MSU asks incoming freshmen their preferences but then they are placed into dorms versus choosing - my daughter was the last group allowed to choose, and it was a little nerve wracking. Mine lived in North neighborhood (soooo pretty) freshman year and Brody neighborhood her sophomore year before moving off campus. The more recently renovated dorm rooms are in Brody (not very recently, lol) but North has a lot of character.
You are right, there is no AC. That is only an issue for a few weeks, being in Michigan, but fans are necessary. If you have a medical condition you can apply to have an AC unit installed (there will be information in the housing portal on how to do that). And if you have conditions that might require more help (other diagnoses, physical limitations) I’ve heard the RCPD office is top notch. For a huge Big 10 school, there is a lot of help and advice out there. If you haven’t already, join the Facebook parents group where staffers answer questions.
MSU dining halls are really good, in my opinion. They are very mindful of the main allergens on their menu website, and Thrive at Owen is an allergy-free dining hall. Mine has a milk allergy, which isn’t much fun when the famous Dairy Store is right there on campus with ice cream and mac and cheese, lol. But she always ate just fine in the dining halls.
There are a lot of groups to look at (including Food Science club, which is career/internship oriented) but really anything she enjoys that gets her out of her dorm room is good. There is a huge event called Sparticipation every fall and a smaller one in the spring where the student groups have tables and information on joining. No lie, it’s a huge place and you have to give it time.
Hi- do you know if students typically move out of the dorms for junior and senior year and if so, if the estimated costs are comparable to the dorms? We are learning at some schools the housing shortages make junior and senior year challenging and expensive so wondering if MSU has a similar situation. Thanks!
Most juniors and seniors move off campus because there just isn’t enough campus housing for all of them. At the beginning of sophomore year students can enter a lottery of sorts to get into one of the campus apartments for junior year. There are only so many. Once the supply is gone, students need to look off campus.
The off-campus housing market is what you would expect at most schools - the nicer, closer apartment buildings are expensive, and there are some really crappy landlords around. For what I pay for my senior (a close, safe and updated apartment building across the street from campus) she can get a great apartment in her future city. The city bus system is good, and a lot of students opt for a bit further out - many apartments a few miles from campus offer free bus passes.
But, honestly, unless living on campus is important (and it might not be important to your student or become less important as they get closer to being a junior) I would not let that be the deciding factor in going anywhere. I was happy my first could live all four years on campus if she wanted (different school) and then she still moved off campus junior year lol.
It’s good, however, to go in knowing the potential for upper class housing.
OOS son applied on 10/13. Got accepted on 10/21. (Email received that is status has changed) 3.6 UW , 6 APs, 1460 SAT. Dean’s and study abroad scholarship. Education major.
We haven’t visited and it falls in the lower half of schools he is interested in but getting that first acceptance feels great.
Is it true they still send flags with the official letter?
My OOS son applied 10/11 got accepted business exploratory on 10/20 with $10M annual dean’s scholarship and $5M study abroad scholarship. 3.45 GPA and went test optional. No APs, rigorous HS
For those who already got accepted, did you set up your NetID? And did you try logging in to the email server? We set up the ID last week, but it doesn’t let us log in with it. It keeps saying “Unable to sign in” so not sure what we are doing wrong.
I finally reminded my S25 to check and he got the President’s scholarship and study abroad scholarship also. He was able to create his Net ID but I don’t know if he tried logging in. Congrats to everyone else on their acceptances and scholarships so far!
It’s more for communication now that they’ve been accepted. For housing, orientation, etc. We already put down housing deposits at a couple schools (even before she makes a decision because it’s so limited and first come first serve).
