College eating?

[johappy]

I'm headed to college soon and my school requires that I purchase a meal plan, but I wondered what some of you guys might have eaten during those college days! Were you on one of those "ramen noodle every night" budgets or were you doing okay? Also, any tips on staying healthy and avoiding the pesky freshman 15?

[CommMayo]

I had a meal plan my first two years of undergrad. I did okay with the weight until I started drinking. I think the partying is where more of the freshman 15 comes from. I ate fine in college...it was graduate school where I hung around the farmers market until all the vendors were getting ready to leave and would practically give me their extra produce.

[johappy]

Interesting, it was the alcohol. Thanks for sharing!

[CommMayo]

Also expect to see pizza everywhere. Even as an adult in the workforce people still use pizza to get you to attend meetings and presentations....

Are you going to a big university or a smaller college? I went to a small college in Maryland for undergrad, with about 1,800 students and then I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for graduate school. UW is a huge school (40,000+ students) and I don't think I would have been very successful as an undergraduate student in that environment.

[johappy]

The college I plan to go to has around 10,000 students. So it's not huge but kind of big.

[CommMayo]

That isn't too bad for size. They all have their advantages. The small school was nice because I never had any classes with more than 30 students in it, but if you skipped class the professors really noticed and would run into you on campus. Big schools are nice because there are more people to meet and generally better facilities. I had a friend at Penn State who had multiple cafeterias to choose from, one even in his dorm. At my school, we only had one building that served food. Lucky for us, it was really good food. Lots of fresh veggies to choose from and healthy options like seafood.

[johappy]

I think it's so interesting how all colleges are so different!

[Carol Cisne]

I had to purchase a meal plan all my years of college. I didn't mind the food but I didn't like that it was a mandatory purchase. Especially since most of my classes went through cafeteria open hours and when my friends went to eat.

I was on a less-than-ramen budget. If there was food left out after an event I was that person asking to take that tray of cookies or sandwiches. Of course, I shared, I would never hoard food. Showing up back home with hungry drinkers studying students with a tray of cookies or pizza? Not a bad way to make more friends.

We had a commons kitchen I shared with maybe 30 other people. It had a stovetop/oven, microwave, sink, and dishwasher. Was it clean? Mostly. Freshmen year was the worst but by Junior year people had become more community conscious. So if you have a kitchen, make use of it.

I had a minifridge stocked with food I got from the cafeterias, grocery stores, and anywhere else. I had a box to store dried goods (oatmeal, cereal, pasta, rice, or couscous). That way I can make simple filling meals that ended up being cheaper and healthier than ramen. I also would ask for gift cards to Target or the local supermarket 'to do fun shopping' but really it was so I could buy food and not worry my parents.

Freshman 15 happened a bit. Mostly because of drinking, chronic stress, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise. You sit a lot and walk some...If you can be even a little active and sleep then weight gain doesn't happen and you feel less stressed.

[CommMayo]

Carol has a good point. Bring Tupperware to events and folks will usually let you take extra food home. It isn't always pizza, sometime there are veggie and fruit trays.

Hot pots were big when I was in college(2000-2004), and would let you cook easy stuff in your dorm room. I shared a dorm kitchen with about 100 people.

[johappy]

Wow, I never considered taking leftovers from events! That's a good idea. I haven't ever tried food from the college I'm going to, but I hope it's decent since they're making me purchase a meal plan.

[CommMayo]

May I ask which college you are going to? There may be some alumni on this forum who could give you better advice.

[johappy]

Most likely Southern Utah University; I'm leaning a lot farther towards it than any of my other prospective colleges. I mean there's a chance I won't go there but I'd really like to so I probably will!

[CommMayo]

Good luck making your decision. I was lucky, I only wanted to go to one college and that was the school I got into early decision. I applied to more schools for grad school, but decided on the University of Wisconsin. I think where to go is an easier decision to make once you are a little older. It is a tough choice to make when you are 18!

[Archie Tewksbury]

We used to stay in hostel during college days.We missed homely food so much that we use to eat from our friends lunch box.They even bought food for us.

[CaitlinGonya]

I like Ramen so I did have that a lot. But I also mixed it up. Like I would have a whole week where my dinner was a Veggie Potato. One giant potato with different veggies cut up and placed on it with cheese melted on top. not a lot but enough to give it flavor. another week I was all about the salads.