Does anyone know if students are allowed to have mini fridges and microwaves in the dorms at UCF (we are not considering the apartment style/full kitchen housing for next year)? If so, does UCF have a rental program that allows students rent them for the semester/year or do you recommend purchasing them? My daughter’s college has a rental program for $100 a year and thought I would ask.
Also, we are looking into not purchasing a meal plan for my son next year to hopefully save a little money. If anyone has a current student who does/did live in the dorms at UCF and did not get the meal plan, I would love to hear your thoughts on that as well. Thanks!
Yes, fridges up to 5 cu ft and microwaves are allowed in the dorm rooms. There is no rental program. I think some students sell theirs second hand but many keep them when they move off-campus to keep in their bedrooms for their own drinks and snacks. Nothing with an open heating element can be used in the room, like toasters or air fryers, but they can be used in the community kitchens. Neptune has a kitchen with a range and sink on each floor. I’m not sure what the setups are in Hercules, Nike, Apollo, etc.
My freshman son who lives in Neptune did not get the meal plan. He takes the shuttle to Publix each Tuesday (he doesn’t have a car) and makes breakfast and one other meal each day at the dorm. Since he has to carry the stuff down to the kitchen, he uses a toaster as opposed to a toaster oven and he carries everything down in a crate. (I had suggested he push a little trolley and that went over like a lead balloon.) One of his friends loves to cooks and makes full on meals like steak and potatoes in the community kitchen.
He usually gets takeout from places around campus 5-6 times/wk. He also uses Uber Eats for delivery when he wants to change it up but that gets expensive fast. I always look for coupons for him to use. He spends about $100-120/week on all his food/meals and that seemed about average according to parents budgeting similar type eating.
I had hoped he’d go to the dining hall 1-2x per week and load up on food to bring back but he said the food looks really terrible (he is really picky eater). One of his suitemates ended up in the hospital with food poisoning from the dining hall back in Oct.
I’ll give you some meal plan feedback from two sources.
Our daughter is in Tower IV and does not have the food plan, nor does she have a car. She either rides to Publix with one of her roommates or takes the Tuesday Publix shuttle for food shopping. The girls cook most of their meals, but there is also a good bit of dining available on campus. Students can also visit one of the meal plan cafeterias and just pay cash if they want. (Our daughter has not tried that due to negative feedback from other students.) She has had zero problem with food and has actually enjoyed cooking.
A friend’s daughter is in Tower III, and has the meal plan. Unfortunately, none of her roommates showed up, so she was alone in a 4 bedroom all Fall semester.
She has found the food quality poor, selections very limited because of covid, and really a waste of money. She is not getting the meal plan again, even though Knightro’s (food plan cafeteria) is right outside the door of her dorm.