<p>Any advice on the facilities/residents of the different dorms?
West side of campus vs. east side of campus?
My son is on the alternate list for the Bryan hall living/learning community but I just found out that 2 floors are female and only 1 is male so his chance of being invited is possible but less likely.
Are there any dorms to absolutely stay away from?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>stay away from Dorman, Deviney, Smith, Kellum, and Salley....choose a school on the east side of campus if possible...BUT east siders are going to be required to buy a meal plan...which sucks.</p>
<p>What is so bad about the meal plans? wouldn't having to buy food from a restaurant everyday end up being much more expensive?
- Oh, does anyone know how the meal plan works? I mean, do you have to eat at some sort of cafeteria, or can you eat in your room, for intance?
- Thank you.</p>
<p>My daughter reports that the food on campus is decent. Especially with the new facility on the east side. I've eaten there many times as well and it's fine.</p>
<p>No matter how good it is though, expect that you'll need go out to eat at times. Have some money, if possible, to do this. Garnet Bucks seem to work well.</p>
<p>actually...the food on campus isnt bad...it just gets old very quickly. And also...it's actually cheaper to buy food off campus sometimes. McDonalds is def. cheaper than the Suwannee Room...and Chik Fil-A has college night on Tuesdays and Thursdays where you can get 50% off. $2.63 for a chicken sandwich combo is a bargain.</p>
<p>The meal plans are expensive...and you eat in the cafeterias (theyre nice). they also have take out boxes but you're giving up your all-you-can-eat priviledges to stuffing as much food as you can in a box.</p>
<p>OH! about Garnet Bucks...and this is mainly toward parents...</p>
<p>If you don't trust your kid will buy food with cash you give them (you run out of money quickly as a student)....then you can give them the Garnet Bucks...I had them my first semester and they're nice to have...it's quick and easy. But by second semester...i realized it was cheaper to eat downtown than in the on campus dining halls which charge $8.50 a pop.</p>
<p>OH! about the Meal Plans....almost no one has one...and if they do..then they cancel them quickly. The meal plans restrict where and what you can eat. It doesn't give you much freedom to choose what you want for dinner because you're limited to what lame food the cafeteria has to offer. Most kids end up having to give out swipes to friends because they just dont want to eat in the cafeteria every day.</p>
<p>I never would have considered not getting a meal plan until I read this thread, and I have 2 questions about the meal plans: 1.) If you had to buy a meal plan, which one would you get? 2.) Only one of the 4 dorm preferences that my daughter listed on her housing application is a dorm that requires buying a meal plan. If my (Freshman) daughter ends up where a meal plan is not required, should we really consider NOT buying a plan? I will appreciate any information or opinions or experiences with/without the meal plan from FSU students or parents. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>1.) the smallest one possible...7 meals a week i think.</p>
<p>2.) yes im serious about the meal plans...do not buy them. You'll find that no one else has them...or they eventually cancel them. They are not as convenient as everyone may think. they limit where you eat to Fresh Food Company and Suwannee Room...you can't use them in the union or anywhere. Especially in college...your meals usually arent regular and end up eating when you have time...the dining schedules in the cafeteria arent always convenient. And honestly...ive mentioned this somewhere else...most of the time it's cheaper to eat off campus. One dinner in the cafeteria costs $8.25...with that kind of tab...you can eat a BETTER meal at a cheaper price. If you really would like to use the school food system...i recommend Garnet Bucks which work everywhere on campus.</p>
<p>I started off with garnet bucks, then eventually stopped using them in the second semester. My other friends started with meal plans....then canceled them and got garnet bucks as well...and some even canceled their garnet bucks. </p>
<p>I realize I'm the only one that's commenting on this lol and some of this info is a bit redundant...but i figured id contribute. </p>
<p>I come from an italian family where a nice dinner is made every night. Going into college...i didn't like the cafeteria food so I didn't buy a meal plan that would restrict me to the suwannee room, etc. I guess it also depends on how your daughter eats. But feel free to ask me any questions..</p>
<p>Thanks, beech, for the great information! I didn't realize the dining hall schedule would be so limited. This was the problem at the small liberal arts college where my son went, and I assumed this would not be the case at such a large school. (I obviously have a lot to learn lol) These are my follow-up questions:
1.) Do you have any idea how much you end up spending for food each semester?
2.) When going off campus to eat, do you have to drive or are there decent choices within walking distance? (We're also deciding on whether our daughter needs to bring a car or not.)</p>
<p>I agree with beech - our older daughter did not buy a meal plan and used Garnet Bucks for the first year. Garnet Bucks seem to work well - until the student adapts and finds what they like, like beech did. Then they just need money (wow - who'd ever figure a college student would ever want infusions of cash?? ;^> ) </p>
<p>Our younger daughter must buy a plan because she will live in an east-side dorm and now all such residents must buy a plan. I suspect we'll do what beech suggests, buy a minimal plan and Garnet Bucks. It's more economical to make most of their own food at home, which is what I suspect most do when eating out gets old.</p>
<p>While I found all the food on campus good, all cafeteria-style food gets old. Have to say, though, the variety they have now is MUCH better than what we had in the 1970s!</p>
<p>An interesting side note - my older daughter suddenly discovered she could be very thrifty when she started spending her own (scholarship) money to live. Now she takes food home for later meals if she cannot eat it all and found a lot of organizations that offer free suppers to students (that's thrifty!). When she was at home, cost was no object....wonder how that happened?</p>
<p>If you move into a renovated dorm that requires a meal plan...
I agree that the 7 meal plan ($1349 per semester) seems like the best choice even though it would cost $7.13 per cafeteria meal for 119 meals assuming 17 weeks in the semester. You get $500 of flexbucks to spend at the other dining facilities on campus. This would allow flexibility for missing meals and going away on weekends and more variety instead of always eating the same old cafeteria food. All of the dorms say they have kitchens so they could also eat some meals in the dorm too. It seems the TRADING POST sells groceries and I think they take flexbucks.</p>
<p>The two overall less expensive block meal plans
($1279 for 150 block (saves $70) $7.52/meal with $150 flexbucks and $999 for $90 block (saves $350) $10.54/meal and $50 flexbucks) are more expensive per meal with less flexbucks.</p>
<p>The other meal plans seem like you will have a lot of wasted meals or your student will come home extremely overweight. I also agree that many campus organizations will offer free food to entice students to come to events so they really don't need to overeat in the cafeteria.</p>
<p>to answer knuckles:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My parents gave me $400 a month and it ended up working just right for 3 meals a day.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes there are places to eat within walking distance, though it was very hard to do things without a car. A lot of places happen to be near the school but its a very looonnnggg walk. The campus itself is very large so even walking from the east side to the west is a chore sometimes.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Like cybermom was saying...you can buy some groceries on campus, but they're expensive..so everyone with a car runs to Walmart and Publix which is a lot cheaper. The only drawback to bringing your car is 1. finding a place to park and 2. of course, paying for gas. I will be bringing my car next semester though..</p>
<p>Well, if anyone applied to Landis for a single....I just gave up mine. I'll be transferring to Georgetown School of Foreign Service for the fall. Good Luck to everyone at FSU!</p>
<p>Good luck to you, too Beech! Have fun in DC...and maybe you'll explain what a "Hoya" is...</p>
<p>:^></p>
<p>haha well...according to the website...at a football game..the team was playing the "stonewalls" and back in that time..gtown students were required to learn greek and latin...so one student started screaming HOYA SAXA! Hoya is latin for 'what a' and saxa is greek for 'rocks'. so...What Rocks! so the term stuck.</p>
<p>Even if you did not get a letter yet with your dorm assignment you can probably tell what type of room you got by looking at the housing fees on your account that are available today. Add the amount due for housing to the $225 deposit and then lookup the dorm rates. The prepaid dorms are now $1890 instead of $1800 for 2005 rates. The good thing about getting one of those dorms is:
1. The hall bathrooms are cleaned. (Especially good for guys.)
2. Halls encourage more socialization than suites.
3. The price is cheaper (free for prepaid dorm plan participants)
4. You don't have to buy a meal plan.</p>
<p>I found out that with garnet/flex bucks you get $1 off the price of meals in the cafeterias but no discount for the other restaurants.
Discounted prices are $5.95 for breakfast, $6.95 for lunch & $7.95 for dinners in Suwanee or Fresh Food Company using garnet bucks.</p>
<p>More meal plan info...</p>
<p>Why "stay away from Dorman, Deviney, Smith, Kellum, and Salley"?</p>
<p>Those are dorms that are not as newly renovated as others. However, some kids like them because they are very social. </p>
<p>Go and visit them to be sure. A lot of these opinions are personal preference.</p>