<p>So I have heard bad things about the food and dorms here. Food is inedible and dorms are cramped. Is this true?</p>
<p>IMO dorms are average–nothing special, but as good as most other schools.</p>
<p>Food–you’ll hear different things, overall negative. Looking back though I actually think it wasn’t too bad at all–most people find a few things they actually like. Some new things this year: they’re replacing si senor which is an auto-plus, and more off-campus locations (including Chipotle I believe) are accepting Dinex.</p>
<p>Just think, I’m back from when Si Senor was considered one of the better dining options. ;)</p>
<p>(But we had The O on campus, so it was all good. Bacon cheeseburger with fries and a soda at 1 AM on a late-night block? Yes please.)</p>
<p>So the rumors are true?</p>
<p>Not really. People are just picky.</p>
<p>My double in Donner was really large by dorm standards, and while my year in Scobel was pretty rough I liked living in Shady Oak the following two years. The food wasn’t great, but that was when they used a different vendor and from what I’ve heard it’s improved since I went to school there. CMU also has a different system from a lot of other schools where there aren’t any real central dining halls with a large buffet meal. It’s more like a mall food court with a bunch of different options scattered around, each specializing in certain things. And, heck, once you get off the meal plan there’s the food trucks which offer a variety of different meals for really good prices (hot dog guy, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, middle eastern, Indian, etc).</p>
<p>I’m now at a school where the food is supposed to be really good, but, for the most part, it’s pretty mediocre. The only food that’s much better than what I was having at CMU is at a dining hall that’s not covered on the undergrad students’ meal plans.</p>
<p>Dorms are nice IMO compared to what i’ve seen at my friends’ schools, and the food is… well, the food is perfectly mediocre.</p>
<p>I would say get off the meal plan as fast as you can, because what’s available around the school is a hell of a lot better than what’s available on campus.</p>
<p>Get a quad in Mudge. It’s pretty much a god tier dorm room (slightly cheaper, suite bathroom, either a large room with a convex wall of windows overlooking Morewood Ave., or a slightly smaller room with a walkin closet!).</p>
<p>But honestly, the dorms in general are quite respectable. Every college has largely cramped dorms and people aren’t quite used to that, coming from home. Stever does have what I would classify as painfully small rooms, but it was intentionally designed to get people to hang out in the central floor areas and socialize.</p>
<p>Food is…middling. Portion sizes are generally too large, food skews greasy/overly carbed/fatty. But there is a nice variety due to CMU’s system of having different food outfits with different cuisine (as opposed to a central dining hall), and the non-caterer eateries (Prima Vera, I think? all the names are leaking out of my head over the summer…and the Exchange/Ginger’s, of course) are pretty good. Also, a few blocks away there’s a decent variety of food in the college-towny area.</p>
<p>Honestly, food and dorming conditions (which is different from dorm culture and community) won’t significantly affect your college experience. I definitely researched it a lot in high school, but I and most of my friends agree it doesn’t really matter. After freshman year you’ll likely be in different dorms or in an apartment, and cooking your own food. So your dorming and eating conditions change.</p>
<p>You will, however, have the same professors, athletic facilities, culture, major options, and peer group.</p>
<p><a href=“Edit%20to%20add:%20this%20was%20my%20251th%20post.%20Sorry%20to%20bring%20up%20bad%20memories%20for%20my%20fellow%20CS%20majors%20out%20there…”>i</a>*</p>