<p>Northeastern allows freshman to have a fridge and a microwave. There are also gluten free options for dining, including a gluten free station for breads.</p>
<p>BU is on my daughterās list of schools. Good to know they will have a designated G-free dining hall.</p>
<p>Iām hoping to make more calls to the schools sheās accepted to and hope that they are honest about the their ability to accomodate her needs.</p>
<p>University of Washington Seattle has GF options in the dining halls. A minimum of one entree per meal. </p>
<p>Pomona and Claremont McKenna have options that are clearly labeled at each dining hall. Not sure about other of the CMC group. </p>
<p>I believe Stanford and UC Santa Cruz also have options at each meal.</p>
<p>Daughter is GF vegetarian in her freshman year at Rutgers. She was not finding much at first besides the salad bar, so she made an appointment with the Dining Hall dietitian and found out all they keep the GF food in the back, so all she needs to do is ask. She can get an amazing GF pizza every night if she wants and itās plenty for dinner and a late night snack. They also have GF bagels - she just needs to ask. They also have GF mac & cheese and lasagna that she said is not too good. (Rutgers provides a microwave-fridge in every dorm room.)</p>
<p>Smith has one dining room that always offers a gluten-free menu.</p>
<p>I have one child with celiac, type 1 diabetes and a dairy allergy, and things have worked out fine at her school. They do cook things for her on the spot (it said to ask in advance, but in practice, that has not been necessary) and dining services will order gluten-free products, dairy free yogurts etc. She gets by fine with a small refrigerator.</p>
<p>She/we met with dining services, including the head chef and head of the dept., during the summer before she first went. They were enormously helpful and reassuring.</p>
<p>This is probably a liability issue for schools, as well as a civil rights issue. They all seem to be getting on board.</p>
<p>I donāt know if people with celiac register with disabilities offices at schools. My daughter did because of the diabetes, anyway. Maybe not a bad idea for further protection.</p>
<p>^^yes, we were told to register with disabilities services at my daughterās schoolā¦but when I called, they made it clear that it was not necessary unless we were making a requestā¦at her school, every dining hall and eating establishment has GF foods and they are allowed micro fridges in the roomsā¦</p>
<p>We were told students who are diabetic, however, are given priority housing and registration for classes which is appropriate for their needs</p>
<p>@ rodney ā where does your daughter go?</p>
<p>My D does not have this problem but I remember reading a post from another Mom whose D did, and was attending Loyola in mD. She said they contacted the head of their dining services, Tony Hall I believe, who is a Sodexo employee. She could not have had more praise for him, describing how they worked out a special menu that is only for her daughter. Loyola does not have a ātraditionalā dining hall, it is all Sodexo āfood courtā stuff, but Mr Hall will go to great lengths to accomodate dietary issues such as these or kosher, halal etc. </p>
<p>I would say, look at the schools that meet her other needs, and contact their dining services to see what they do. There are more & more kids going to school who have these problems; the schools have to be able to feed them appropriately.</p>
<p>one of my sons went to the University of Denver and his roommate had celiac disease.
Iām not sure what the dining people did for him but I know he did eat a lot of meals in the dining hall. I also know that the university furnished an apartment-size refrigerator in their room so he could easily have a good supply of a variety of gluten free foods. (I distinctly remember vodka being among them!..I think more for the perceived cool factor than anything else, because neither my son nor his roomie were big drinkers).</p>
<p>shanghaimom: Hail!
This is such a change from what I recall eating in East Quad back in the Stone Age. I was a vegetarian and subsisted on cottage cheese, peanut butter and hard boiled eggs!</p>
<p>When we were at Northeastern cafeteria, I notices a āgluten-freeā toaster (I assume to avoid cross-contamination). </p>
<p>Northeastern also have an āout takesā program that allows student to use some of their dining hall points for pre-packaged food -that kind of thing might be a helpful too.</p>
<p>I think a lot of colleges are āstepping upā to this sort of challenge. One of the most important things of course is that your student learn in detail what they can and cannot eat, and take self responsibility for this. (I tell my patientās parents that they will be most helpful if they turn total responsibility for food choices over to the kid in senior year of HS, while they are still around for advice, rather than waiting until college. Esp for the diabetics!)
My studentās roommate last year was on gluten-free diet at Brown and did quite well (combo of dining services and own food in dorm). And I learned how to make gluten free cookies!
While on college tours last week, noted that Brandeis had items marked as āgluten freeā in the dining hall. At Tufts there was a service that students with any food ingredient avoidance issues could put that into a computer request and they got daily menus of all the āsafeā items on the days menus for the dining halls. I assume that includes āglutenā food.</p>
<p>Northwestern has GF menu and Kosher and other special need options. My son was there for a visit last week. Goodluck</p>
<p>We looked at many schools with claims to help GF kids, but ultimately, it was going to be an awkward experience. Despite a very accommodating dining hall staff, my kid felt uncomfortable asking for GF food constantlyāand having to wait for it (time management being an evolving skill). Through freshman and sophomore years he was hungry often. Since getting his own kitchen in upperclassmen housing, heās been able to cook for himself, which has made all the difference. Iād ask about getting housing w/kitchen.</p>
<p>Iām sure most schools have gf options these days. Good friend has Celiacās, as does her son. Once he decided where he was going (JMU), they had a sit-down with the head of food services before his freshman year. She reported that the guy could not have been more accomodatingātold the kid to come to him directly if he ever had any issues, but so far (current sophomore), he hasnāt had any problems at all.</p>
<p>@twopence, I agree completely. The problem is, then youāre looking for schools with kitchens in the dorms that are safe to use (as opposed to 1 kitchenette per floor, so you are sharing with so many people cc becomes an issue every moment). I feel frustrated by the whole process. PSU is S2ās top choice, and their response has been he can eat the same 5 things that are gf on the $$$$ mealplan as a dorm resident, or he can live at home. Living on campus is required of all PSU freshmen. Even if I wanted to lie and put him in an apartment (rejecting of housing/commuter status requires a legal waiver) Iād have to get the apartment before heās actually been accepted!
@myLB: no. actually, many many schools have no idea about celiac living and the issues, and/or donāt have any interest in being accomodating. and the āaccomodatingā ones tend to place the burden on your student. how would āmainstreamā students react to being told to choose their meal, dining hall, and time to eat in advance every single day?</p>
<p>^^exactly why we didnāt wait until acceptances were in to craft the list or talk to the appropriate people. There were very few schools that didnāt put the responsibility on my daughterā¦her list consisted of 5 schools, and even then she still applied ED to the one that accommodated her bestā¦</p>
<p>This was a deal breaker in some schoolsā¦</p>
<p>^^weāve done the same thing ā we had one school tell us they really didnāt āfeel the needā to discuss anything about food until S2 was accepted. My son said , well, we can cross them off the list!</p>
<p>Grinnell has a dedicated gluten free station at every single meal with several food options. No need to ask for it specially, just go and get it like every other station. Several other stations have gluten free options depending on the day or sometimes if you ask, but thereās always the station open with convenient gluten free foods without worrying about asking.</p>