<p>momofmv</p>
<p>My son goes to the local Albertson’s once a week for groceries. Usually his roommate drives, but sometimes he takes the trolley. Just a note, we tried stocking him up with a lot of frozen items, but be aware that the freezer is not that big, and he must share it with 3 other roommates and their frozen pizzas, etc. Best advice is to spend the summer teaching your son to cook.</p>
<p>I usually eat at VG because it is closer to Cerro, and I usually eat dinner just because the meal plan gives you $12.95 on dinner (it is more than lunch and breakfast so it is more worthy). One good thing about living at Cerro is that we got our own kitchen, so I can make simple meal for my lunch rather than eating on campus. </p>
<p>For the grocery part, if your son has a car that would be great. But if he doesn’t (just like me), he could go to Ralphs or Albertson by taking public transit (Route 4 or 5). It would also be great if his friend who also lives at Cerro has a car so they could buy groceries together (if would be less inconvenient since he doesn’t have to walk back with a bunch of bags on his hand).</p>
<p>I hope these help.</p>
<p>ChunHui^ Thank you again for your helpful comments! My son does own his own car, but we are not sure about him bringing it freshman year. It costs $500 just to park there! Plus the added worry and responsibilty. I think he would benefit from learning how to use the bus and just get a few things he needs. Hopefully he will work this out with his roommates. i will tell him about VG and see what they have for dinners.</p>
<p>Yes, Cerro sounds good because of the ability to do some food prep at home. hbparents^ we do plan on teaching him about cooking this summer. At least some simple meals. Thanks for the info. about the small freezer. I could see that it would be hard to share it with 3 other roommates. We will buy a lot of dry goods like crackers, peanut butter, top ramen, cereal. </p>
<p>It is so great to have some current CP students giving advice. It is appreciated!
Good luck on Finals!</p>
<p>We went through this last year and I’d recommend leaving the car at home for the freshmen year. My son (lives in Sierra Madre) doesn’t miss the car at all. He rides his bike all over the place and takes the bus when he needs to pick up a bunch of groceries. It is expensive to have a car on campus and you end up being a chauffeur when everyone wants to go up to In-and-Out. He hasn’t had a problem finding rides back to the Bay area when he wants to come home. Also, you can get a break on your insurance - make sure you let them know if your student goes away to school without a car. They take them off your policy as a ‘full time’ driver yet they are covered when they come home for a weekend or break.</p>
<p>I agree on leaving the car home freshman year. The bus is free and you can get anywhere you need to go (downtown, grocery shopping, even to Costco which is fairly far away). There’s also the Amtrak bus for trips home, with a stop on campus. My son bikes to class from Cerro Vista which has worked out well for him.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I was worried about the other kids always bumming rides. That could be a problem. My son will take the train home or we will drive down to get him. I’m not willing to let him ride home with other students. It’s too far and they haven’t been driving that long really. I also wouldn’t know enough about them. I know this sounds over protective, I admit it!
I think he can walk, ride a bike if he wants and learn to take the bus.<br>
I have heard about the reduction in insurance rates. That sounds good!</p>
<p>When my son lived in the freshman dorms, he was on the Freedom meal plan. He went to Albertson’s for groceries weekly by bus and got cereal & milk, so he ate breakfast in the room. Mainly ate dinner with the dining plan. He had so many leftover meal plan dollars at the end of spring that, when we picked him up, our family ended up eating meals on campus to use up the extra credits.</p>
<p>That summer, he learned to cook his favorite meals.</p>
<p>The next year in Cerro, I loaded up the Campus Express, rather than use the dining plan. He caught car rides to Food 4 Less each weekend. Again ate cereal for breakfast in the apartment. On the weekend, he cooked a meal that would feed him throughout the week. Otherwise, Campus Express was used for dinner meals.</p>
<p>momofmv, we live in the Bay Area and my son has grabbed rides with students a number of times. The problem has not been safety but reliability (leaving and returning times) and pick up/drop off locations. He has found it much more convenient and enjoyable to take the Amtrak bus (pick up is on campus) to San Jose and then hop on to CalTrain. It only costs $37 and he can study, watch movies or just chill. The bus even has WiFi! Downside is it takes 4-5 hours.</p>
<p>All this dining info is great–thanks to all… This may sound a bit crazy, but one of my sons main concern relative to attending Slo is “dining”. Obviously the dining situation works or is made to work for most students but my son was hoping for a school with an all you can eat option. Going to the grocery store, costco… is definitely an option but should the students be forced into that option. He has been accepted into UCLA and UCSD’s (as well as several other) engineering programs and might ultimately pass on attending slo because of the dining options. It is truly unfortuante that Slo is a bit weak in the dining arena.</p>
<p>Gotpeter^ yes, I have heard the same problem and I like the idea of the bus. I am sure it takes a little longer, but I like the idea of safety and a predictable time schedule. I’m sure my son would be on the computer or sleeping! I have heard that many CP students use the bus. thanks!</p>
<p>Crunch^ The dining situation is less than ideal from what I have seen and heard, but there are so many other great things about CPSLO. Congratulations to your son for getting in to UCLA and UCSD for engineering as well. I am sure the food is better at those schools, but I don’t know about the engineering programs. They are top schools, so I am sure they are excellent. It comes down to where your son feels comfortable and where he wants to live. the students who go to Costco and the grocery stores at CPSLO are usually the ones who live in the apartment style dorms (Cerro and Poly Canyon) . they have less $ in their dining plan because they have a kitchen.</p>
<p>I agree that an all you can eat plan is the best for freshmen. They have enough todo that first year without need ing to go shopping and make meals. My son will go with the Cerro apartments because he really isn’t that big of an eater. He will make do with the dinner meals on campus and breakfast and some lunches in his dorm.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son on his decision.</p>
<p>Thanks “Mom” Son is really hoping for acceptance to USC and if that happens I think it is a done deal even if he gets accepted by UPenn or Cal. Like your son he has lots of choices (has been accepted to several other top engineering schools) -unfortunately they are on the east coast and he wants to be on the West Coast-- We are currently living on the East coast but we lived in San Diego for many years (and we all consider CA home–eventhough we will be paying OOS tuition). Slo is just such a great option–wish I could enroll!</p>
<p>Welcome back to CA! I have never lived anywhere else! Sadly our economy is not doing well and the education system is suffering. I guess that may be true for other states too. Of course USC may be doing fine. It looks like an amazing school…just be careful leaving the campus. I have heard the area around it is awful!</p>
<p>What type of engineering is your son going into?</p>
<p>Son is planning on EE and honestly the concept of being committed to a specific major as a freshman is also a bit of concern. If I remember correctly your son is going to be doing materials correct?</p>
<p>I have a son in bioengineering at UCLA who is graduating in June. I also have a son at Poly in the business program. We’ve eaten at UCLA and the food is very good…all you can eat as well. Made to order omelets…etc. Haven’t eaten at Poly but my son who is there is a bit of a foodie and says it’s nothing special. He is in Cerro so he cooks some and eats off campus.</p>
<p>wow, only only $360 for dining plans? I was a freshman 3 years ago, and our dining dollars prices included $800-$1200 per quarter. I think they changed it due to the economy.</p>
<p>What I would recommend is maybe your son could just buy groceries for the first quarter and watch what he spends on campus and then wait until more money is added to his card the next quarter. That way the dining dollars from the first one and the current one will be together and he’ll have more money to spend.</p>
<p>^-- That’s what I was thinking; $360 isn’t alot, but their meal credits seemed to be worth more. $12.95 for dinner?! We only get $10.75 :[ But I don’t really go over that price unless I get a bunch of extra stuff. Maybe they’ve lowered the costs of the food a bit?</p>
<p>Has Cal Poly dining options for freshmen improved in the last 3 years?</p>
<p>I know that the Freedom plan now has 525 “Plu$ Dollars” instead of 360.</p>
Hopefully it’s better now… cal poly’s reputation for bad dorm food hasn’t improved at all.