<p>I had Seattle orientation today. I got good classes at good times, which I’m very happy about. It was a little difficult to enroll in Spanish 251 and Math 223, but luckily there were advisors there who helped. The only problem is that they didn’t put me in Engineering 102. That should be worked out soon though.</p>
<p>Any views/thoughts about the program? Any info about the resources they provide? (ie. Internships, connections, networks, equipment, facilities) </p>
<p>Any info would help. Thanks!!!</p>
<p>Hi, Im contemplating applying for an exchange program that would send me to UA (from Australia). Im just wondering if you could tell me a bit more about the college. Im after the unofficial stuff, is it hard to enroll in the classes? Whats the party atmosphere like? What are the food halls like (should I get a meal plan) etc. Any insider knowledge you could share would be great!</p>
<p>Aussie</p>
<p>Just so you know, there are no cafeterias or “food halls.” You can get a meal plan which is like an account that you can use at all the restaurants around campus. Getting the plan gives you a discount. More info here: <a href=“https://union.arizona.edu/mealplans/[/url]”>https://union.arizona.edu/mealplans/</a></p>
<p>Wow thanks Kait… wasn’t expecting that.</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up!</p>
<p>Any places in particular you’d recommend? Which plan did you get (if you got one)?</p>
<p>I shall cut right to the chase: I think meal plans are a waste except the commuter plan. The commuter plan isn’t really a plan but more of a debit card pay as you go. No bonus % discounts, but no sales tax is the big attraction.</p>
<p>The +4/6/8 whatever plans have a $30 application fee right off the bat. The commuter plan has none. The 4/6/8 does not allow extra funds to roll over at the end of the year unless you pay a fee (25/50/125 respectively: [Mealplans</a> - FAQ](<a href=“Mealplans - FAQ)…you%5DMealplans”>Mealplans - FAQ)…you) pay more if you want the funds out as cash and not rolled over. All of this sucks away from the “extra discount” attractiveness. Plus, who really wants to be constantly doing mental gymnastics over “if I spend an average of $10 a day for X days I’ll use exactly $2000”.</p>
<p>And finally, I feel that even the +4 plan encourages overeating and wasteful spending on junk like candy and whatnot. You’d have to be overweight or a football player to use the +6/8 plans (again assuming reasonably thrifty spending habits). I’ve been on the commuter plan since day one, and I just pop in $50 every month. It’s instantly available (ie I’ve funded +$50 and used it 5 minutes later in the union).</p>
<p>BIG HINT: The pricing of food on campus is insanely high. Think along the lines of airport food pricing or full sit down restaurant pricing for a simple sandwich. You will burn cash like a mother if you eat 3 meals a day on campus every day. Store food under your bed, in your dorm fridge, go shopping, etc. Eat on campus only if you don’t have time to make something for yourself or you’re completely out of food (happens to me end of semester exam time when I get too busy to go to store).</p>
<hr>
<p>EDIT: Let me restart this paragraph by saying the Subways slightly off campus but kinda still on campus are a really good value. $5 footlongs with various toppings could literally be your entire nutrition supply.</p>
<p>Regarding places to eat, I’ve only ever bothered with Cactus Grill. I sometimes hit up The Cellar (now called Cellar Bistro) when I want something a bit more uppity than CG, but it’s expensive ($7 for a meal with no drink) and the wait is long even if hardly anyone else is there. I’ve done Cafe Sonora and felt like the price was just way way too high for what I got (1 strike you’re out forever). Core…yeah right I’m not paying $5 for a f-ing salad…but the rich parent sorority chicks can have at it. The food court is OK…Papa Johns ends up being like 4 bucks for 2 slices of pizza (I can get a large off campus for $5)…Panda Express and Chick-fil-A are OK too…but I try to avoid the food court in general because it’s all really fast food and thus not healthy.</p>
<p>TBH though cooking for yourself isn’t all that hard. I’m a pretty lazy guy…so you can take my word that if it isn’t hard it isn’t hard. There’s tons of meals you can make in 10 minutes with as much skill required as needed for boiling water. Even a simple sandwich with bread, cheese, and lunch meat is all stuff you can keep in your dorm fridge and will last a few weeks. Dorms do have community freezers, so you can always put a few TV dinners in them too.</p>
<p>WOW thanks a ton; that was VERY informative!</p>
<p>So in that case, if I were to be cooking meals, which grocery store would be best? I tried a google search, but being out of state, the only name I recognized was 7-11 :)</p>
<p>It looks like “Circle K” would be closest off-campus, but then again, the UA website says Boost, UMart, Highland Ave and Park Ave Markets also have groceries.</p>
<p>Thanks again</p>
<p>[grocery</a> store - Google Maps](<a href=“Google Maps”>Google Maps)</p>
<p>Points C and E are the only real grocery stores “near” campus. The Safeway is within walking distance if you don’t mind a 20 minute walk. If you have a car…life getting groceries is good because you can go to the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Grant and Alvernon . I’d typically make runs to Safeway since Cattran had a stop there during the weekdays or I could take the city bus and it was just 1 bus. They might be killing the Cattran stop though after this summer for some reason. But since my parents live in driving distance, they’d also visit me and take me grocery shopping. Lots of dry/canned foods can be stored under your bed or in your closet.</p>
<p>Circle K and 7-11 are both convenience stores so they might be a good bet if you need milk (which is a pain in the ass to have because it expires so quick), but otherwise the prices can be high.</p>
<p>All the on campus “grocery” places are hyper expensive. Think $5 for a tiny box of cereal which would otherwise cost $2.50 at a store. Even though I’m not paying for my own groceries (thanks mom and dad!), I can’t justify buying items that over-inflated in price.</p>
<p>Yeah, I figured there would be price gouging at every corner. This is college after all ._.</p>
<p>I’m not going to have a car, but that walk is fine. Thanks for the help :)</p>
<p>–> UAKid: do you know anything about the Media Arts program?</p>
<p>@JSviray No I don’t. It might ring a bell though that it was one of the programs that was consolidated with another program last year for budget cutting (theater + broadcast + something else maybe).</p>
<p>I got a package in the mail from the Residence Hall Association about buying bedsheets. It seemed more like a third party advertisement than something necessary from the school. Is it recommended that I buy sheets from them (are they good quality for the money)? I feel like they are just trying to sucker in na</p>
<p>I found this CC thread about Residence Hall Linens:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1150825-residence-hall-linens-they-good.html?highlight=residence+hall+linens[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1150825-residence-hall-linens-they-good.html?highlight=residence+hall+linens</a></p>
<p>And this review site about RHL and other linens:
[Best</a> Dorm Bedding - Twin XL Sheets and Comforters for College Dorms - Good Housekeeping](<a href=“http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-testing/reviews-tests/cleaning-products/dorm-bedding]Best”>http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/product-testing/reviews-tests/cleaning-products/dorm-bedding)</p>
<p>D found a set she liked at BB&B for a reasonable price.</p>
<p>"I feel like they are just trying to sucker in na</p>
<p>@UAKid
What do you eat on a typical weekday? Please be detailed, if you don’t mind.</p>
<p>How much groceries are you able to store in your room? Thanks.</p>
<p>@Mom2 I’ve lived in an apartment since last January (2010)…so I don’t know precisely how much I can remember about my dorm eating days. So watch out for rambling as I remember stuff by association.</p>
<p>In my room I was actually able to store quite a bit of food. It was a single, but a double is usually twice as big as a single so same amount of room either way. Using a wire shelf / cardboard box, you can also stack 2 layers on the closet shelf which every dorm I think has. Under my bed I stored soda, Vitamin Water, and juices (Ocean Spray, Grape Juice…unopened obviously)</p>
<p>Above my desk (wall mounted shelf) I stored boxes of cereal. In my closet I had styrofoam bowls, paper plates, paper towels, plastic spoons, forks, cups. Disposable is good. In the fridge I would have individually wrapped sliced cheese (really far expr. date), hotdogs, yogurt, lunch meat!!!, milk, half dozen eggs (expires surprisingly slow), butter, and mayo. In whatever freezer space was available in my room I would cram it with hot pockets, corn dogs, chicken nugets, etc. I’d try to keep bread around as much as possible but it expires really fast.</p>
<p>Canned goods can be put everywhere…under the bed, closet, desk drawers, extra plastic organizer bins you bring. Tuna fish, chili, lots of soup, microwaveable mac and cheese. You can also get a bit creative and combine stuff like the chili and cut up hotdogs. Tuna can work on crackers plain or with a bit of mayo. Yeah keep saltines + graham crackers handy along with peanut butter and jelly. I also had 2 bags of chips on hand, cheez-its (I’ve eaten maybe 20 boxes of them over the past few years). Spaghetti noodles and ragu if unopened can make 2 meals. Oh…forgot about pop tarts and granola bars…those last forever too.</p>
<p>In the community dorm freezer I stored a few meat patties. They can be fried directly to make a burger or mashed up and thrown with taco seasoning to make tacos…or added to the spaghetti + ragu combo. Oh yeah, so I obviously had my own cheap chinese cookware. A simple flat one and boiling water one are good enough. I’d also have some frozen chicken strips as well.</p>
<p>From experience, you can store about 1.5 months worth of food in your room if you eat on campus once a week ish. Beyond that you have to go shopping or do what my parents did…visit and drive me to walmart 
But everything I mention above I was able to store in my dorm most of the time (give or take on the refrigerated goods), but I had the place stuffed like a squirrel packs nuts.</p>
<p>Now at my apartment with space not being an issue I can have pretty much everything I had at my dorm except in 3x larger quantities. The big PITA is still expiration dates so I eat a lot of TV dinners which I have ample freezer space for. At a dorm freezer space is a premium.</p>
<p>@UAKid Thanks! This helped a lot.</p>
<p>Has anyone been able to accept/decline their loans for the fall yet??</p>
<p>Hey I was wondering if you know of any packing list made by a current student at the U of A</p>
<p>So the National Merit award for out of state is $30,000 + an Ipad.
After adding up the cost of attendance it looks like you would still be short about 5 to 8 thousand dollars.</p>
<p>So in reality the national merit award is not a full ride?
Is this really the case or are the expense estimates online inflated?
Also are there other merit scholarships or department scholarships for incoming freshman that can be stacked with the National Merit award?</p>
<p>Thanks, I’m trying to find out how affordable Arizona can be for an out of state student.</p>