@CaliEd, I’ll echo what @AMCdad said. My son’s term for the campus food…“terrible.” It’s truly one of CP’s weakest spots. When we visited first year during Parent’s Weekend, he said that they temporarily made the food better to impress parents. 
The good news is, most students tend to move off campus as soon as they can, so it’s not an issue. The bad news is, in most dorms, they can’t cook at home until they do.
@CaliEd you don’t have an option for dining plans, freshmen just have plus dollars. It is a different amount for apartment vs dorm students, but with no apartments for freshmen next year, should be the same across the board.
@whaaa2022 I got invited to apply for Honors but never did. It’s pretty pointless (extra work, doesn’t really “mean” that much, etc) beyond early registration, which could potentially be helpful down the line. I don’t know a single person in it outside of a few (like, over all my classes in 2 quarters, maybe 2) classmates. Especially with an engineering workload, I’m not sure it’d be worth it, but to each his own.
Dining plan will totally suck for incoming freshman next year if apartments are only for upper classmen. Maybe it will improve with the new dining facility that is set to open up in fall across from the new dorms, where the old VGs was located.
Dining was a big concern for my DD, thus she chose Cerro because of availability to cook your own food. The red brick dorms do have a kitchen area for cooking that kids in North mountain may also use. Microwave ovens were located in the common areas. I’m assuming the new freshman dorms will also have some kind of kitchen area.
My DD did complain that shopping for groceries at campus market and village market was a hit and miss. One time she was looking for chicken, but found out they only stocked it once a week and they out sell quickly. Also, parents can keep a track of the student’s
current balance on the dining portal. I’ve had to email and remind her to use more of her dining credit since they won’t roll over to next year.
@kylieb317 @rxcat85 @eyemgh @AMCdad thanks for the information. It looks like next year there will be 3 freshman dining plans https://www.calpolydining.com/diningprograms/freshman/ After reading your on-campus dining reviews, the Mustang 150 Plan might be best for me?
@CaliEd My suggestion in regards to picking a freshman dining plan is… can you see yourself eating at the same place 2 to 3 times a day? The Mustang 150 plan has 150 meal credits/quarter which avg 13 meals/week. The main sticking point for me is those meal credits don’t roll over to the quarter unlike the declining meal balance (use to be called Plus Dollars). So use them or lose them. I would post over on Reddit and ask current students about 805 kitchen (the on campus all you can eat venue). They don’t post what’s on the menu, so there’s no ideal of menu rotation.
The difference between the cheapest and most expensive dining plan is $552. Unless you are on financial aid or on a tight budget , I would just suck it up and go with the most expensive plan that gives you all in declining balance funds (Plus Dollars). Why? You have the most freedom with it. You can use them at any dining venue and anything they sell at campus market.
But thank heavens my D is not a freshman this year, those dining plans are crazy expensive!!
@CaliEd I agree with @rxcat85 . I actually had no clue CP was reverting back to having “meal credits”- the only-plus-dollars system is fairly new, didn’t know they were getting rid of it. I have no idea why; I think the plusdollars system is fantastic, and your best bet. Let me just say, I have only been to 805 a single time in 2 quarters here, and I never plan on going back… there’s just way better options/variety with plus dollars.
What sucks about the new “plans” seems to be the different pricing- I agree that CP should have different meal plan options as far as $, but all the options should be ONLY plus dollars.
Those dining plans for the next incoming class are worst than the ones that were offered for my son in 2009. At least the “meal credits”
then could be used in 4 or 5 dining venues and the rest took only plus dollars. Yes, they had 3 different pricing back then also for the plans depending on how many plus dollars were offered. The consensus was to pick the plan with the most plus dollars and the least dining credits, which I remember was only 8/week. Just limiting you to one dining area for meal credits for the next incoming class is insane, I don’t care how many food choices they have. I can’t fathom looking at the same salad bar options, grill options, rice/noodle bowls options, and only have a small rotating menu for nearly 2-3 meals a day appitizing at all.
Unless you’re the kind of person who doesn’t really care about food other than filling your belly, you are gonna hate your food choices at 805 in a very very short time. And good luck if you have any dietary restrictions, you’ll most likely be offered the same food choices nearly every day if not every meal! If I was a parent of an incoming freshmen, I would he giving CP corporation an earful.
where are you going to study abroad?
@OzzDallas Thailand, this summer! Then traveling around SE Asia a bit after the program ends before interning at an infectious diseases lab in Singapore.
@kylieb317 How hard/easy was it to get your internship?
@Twinmma Very easy for me, because I’m actually just playing some family connections haha. As a first year science major, it would be difficult otherwise- we just haven’t taken enough classes to have the foundational knowledge/abilities necessary for most internships
Hi! I was wondering how good of a school is Cal Poly for design majors? I know Cal Poly is known for Engineering and CS and I want to make sure the college I attend works well for my major, which is Graphic Communication,
@kylieb317 I’m sure you’re busy finishing up school, but I was wondering if you could suggest tips for being selected as an RA.