Um…my D has 3 roommates right now. But I don’t think any of them are going to cover her car repairs, medical expenses or other emergencies. All having a roommate does is help with rent. And, where my D lives now - they each pay $750/mo. Luckily, she’s moving to a lower cost uni next year where she can have a 1 br for $500/mo. Just saying…it is very hard for a TA to live on $24,000/yr in NYC, DC, or Boston. Not impossible - just hard.
Seattle is a very expensive place to live. Most young people I know have roommates, whether they are in college or not. If they live alone, they often have to move to one of the smaller cities nearby because it’s that much cheaper. My D had roommates until she could afford a small place of her own, like most of her friends. My son had several housemates when he first started out. They were all college students. He saved them lots of money by fixing their cars for them. I don’t know any young people who think they are “too good” to share a living space.
It’s a problem these days that I have noticed that a lot of people do not pack a lunch or snack or meal. Even those who least can afford to eat out. I’ve seen folks eating out regularly when they are struggling on close to min wage jobs and insufficient hours to make it go. My sons have had a tough time understanding that they cannot afford to eat out much at all. It’s not just a school problem.
It is a major concern of mine that people do not eat healthy foods, and my kids have been guilty in that too. Tried my best while and when they are at home, but once they leave the house, it’s up to them. For those who have not had the examples and patterns taught to them, it’s even more difficult I would think, and when peers are acting otherwise, it’s difficult too.
Since regular people have to make choices about which cities they can afford live, it’s not unreasonable to expect college students to do the same.
I wouldn’t dream of accepting a job posting in NYC on my salary.
It is also very expensive for one to retire in NYC, Boston, SF etc. And I have no right to expect to do so which among many other reasons is why I chose to retire in a much less expensive small city where we can live well on what we have… There are good college and even grad schools everywhere too.NOBODY has to live in NYC for college.
@emeraldkity4
NONE. Korea gives no money to their students studying in foreign country. By the way I go to UA.
Don’t get me wrong. I love my school but some stuff like Dining Dollar is just a pain. My scholarships are solely for tuition so I still pay dorms and stuff
Oh, and Korea government never cares about its people but itself…
@paul2752 If you start running out of food, please let me know. You do know that you can take food out of the Dining Halls at your school, right?
I know that Dining Dollars can seem like a pain, but if you were to pay for them, and not use the, then you do get the money back. I think the premise behind DD’s is that these 3rd party vendors come onto campus (like Starbucks, Subway, etc) to help provide a variety of foods outside of dining halls. Since kids have $300+ DD’s to spend each semester, many will logically spend them at those 3rd party vendors.
Wow the lack of compassion and classism from some in this thread is absolutely stunning.
How do dining plans work? Back in the dark ages when I went to school (on a federal grant, state grant, scholarship, loan, and work study job) I had a 3 meal/day meal plan, but choices on campus were limited. I remember a pizza place where I could get a slice of pizza, apple or banana, and a carton of milk for lunch. My roomie (also there on scholarships) and I supplemented our meal plan with whatever we could squeeze out of our work study (after buying books, toiletries, etc), but since we didn’t have a car we had to buy what was available on campus (ramen). I think when parents/students pay for a 21 meal/week plan, the students shouldn’t be hungry. Maybe colleges are different now, with better choices, but I’d have been happy with a high school cafeteria set up where I could pick a healthy entree, vegetable, grain, dairy, and some fruit. If I’d had access to a loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly, I’d have eaten that, but it wasn’t available. I think there’s something wrong if colleges are taking in $20k+ each for the majority of students and the young people are hungry.
Austinmsharui,
It is best to check the web site for the specific school. I have seen where each meal can be eaten at any dining center on campus (each meal is the same cost) or a combination of the dining center (a card swipe) and other dining locations that cost cash and are less than the meal swipe. A students card will have the amount of meal swipes and dining cash availability for each student. I also saw one which was all you can eat whenever you want. The campus had a 24/7 dining center.
Check out the dining plan and choices for your state U and where you attended. It was a big surprise to me also the number of choices.
D’s school also started food bank last year in recognition that some students are stretching to be there. Paul, can you using dining dollars anywhere? Try to figure out where get most for money. Be sure you are getting max for a swipe/meal. Even if you don’t want it at the time, take a piece of fruit if it’s included. At D’s school breakfast swipes were good for 5 items - kind of a la carte, but that meant you could take 5 yogurts one day and put extra in room fridge. Not sure if that works at your school. Good luck.
It would be a great project for schools to set up a “soup kitchen” for the community as well as for students, several times a week using left over foods from the services. These days, the leftovers are a lot since the meal plans have less predictiveness as to where a student will eat. I know schools who have streamlined and gotten rid of their cafeterias as a result. Students can volunteer to work the kitchen as a community service, a project, a ministry, whatever. As someone who spent years working in such a capacity, and in the food pantries. it can also be a way to feed oneself and cut down on the food bills as one helps other in need of nutrition.
Reeds cafeteria allows you to buy food to take back to your room/off campus.
you also may give credits to classmates. When D was a senior, she technically lived off campus, but in college owned housing. ( a townhouse) She still had a meal plan but her roommate didn’t. This gave them the freedom to eat some meals in their place, but also could eat on campus as well.
It should be easy to check out the cafeteria before enrolling and its actually always a good idea to see if they will be flexible enough to accommodate your needs.
At my daughters’ colleges, x number of meals per week were included on the meal plans; food was not supposed to be removed from the dining halls for consumption later. They had dining dollars, but they didn’t receive money back for unused dollars, which expired at the end of each term. Great deal for the schools or the food service vendors, not so much for students.
I think it must be a big hassle for food buying to have to reimburse unused points, which is why some schools allow you to transfer points to other students- during the same term.
especially freshmen may need time to figure out how big of a plan they need.
It was nice at the smaller college to be allowed to buy raw materials ( pancake mix, etc) from the cafeteria to be taken back to the dorm/ ( there is a full kitchen on each floor).
Although Trader Joes, and an organic food store were about 5 blocks away.
This is pretty cool, they not only have an organic farm and restaurant, but they have a market that sells bulk food and is open till 11pm.
http://www.campusdish.com/en-US/CSW/EvergreenStateCollege/Locations/LocationsHome.htm
At my son’s tiny college (250 students on campus), the cafeteria has such short hours (5:00-6:30pm for dinner for example) that often he can’t make it to meals because of classes or rehearsals, etc. I don’t think he gets anywhere near the value of his meal plan. I’ve been trying to convince him to front-load at breakfast but he’s not a breakfast eater. He usually ends up spending his own money (part-time job) to eat out. I also sent him a “care package” of granola bars, crackers, raisins, etc. Freshman year, before he had a car, he lost almost 15 pounds. I am looking forward to him moving off campus so that he can eat more normally.
^Just needs to learn to boil pasta and eggs. If he was able to get himself to college, he should be able to obtain these skills. There are others who can pick up some items at the store for him in case of difficulty with car or time limitations. Kids help each other at college.
Do dorm rooms come with kitchens now? Ours had 2 beds, 2 desks, and a little closet. No microwaves, fridges, or hot plates were allowed. If you couldn’t make it with boiling water poured from a portable kettle, you couldn’t have it.
Sometimes there are kitchens or kitchenette facilities on a given dormitory floor which can be used by all.
My kid’s dorm doesn’t have cooking facilities - it’s a 1950s style dorm, pretty basic. He does have a fridge in his room, so he has yogurt and milk for cereal. He goes to a very tiny music school. One cafeferia with very limited hours, no convenience store, no grocery within walking distance, etc. The health center is only staffed once a week. It’s pretty basic. But he has a car this year, so he can get to the grocery and the main campus (20 minutes away by car) for the health center. Granted - he won’t starve, but it isn’t as easy to get food 24/7 as on some bigger campuses.