<p>Hello! I was wondering whether having a lot of meal points will be a good idea? Would it be cheaper & healthier to eat out? Can students cook in their dorms (i.e. with a steamer & etc?). Thank you!</p>
<p>The dorm contract comes with a standard meal plan of about 1250 points. This is more than enough for most students and you’re allowed to buy more if necessary. The points can be used at the dining commons and at on-campus cafes. I don’t think rice cookers are allowed in the dorms so you’ll have to make do with a microwave and minifridge.</p>
<p>what about for out of state students who can’t go home on the weekends?</p>
<p>The meal plan should cover most of your food needs, and there are a variety of places to choose from so you won’t have to eat at the same dining commons every time. Points can also be used at the Peet’s Coffee next to Crossroads and to buy snacks and non-food items at Bear Market. </p>
<p>There are also tons of cheap and diverse restaurant options near the dorms so you don’t have to eat dorm food if you get sick of it.</p>
<p>@yellowbus: Just wondering, which restaurants do you consider “cheap”? Besides Subway and Pepe’s Buffet.</p>
<p>Not a big fan of Pepe’s… but pretty much anything on Durant and Telegraph is reasonably priced, especially compared to the off-campus fare of other schools I have visited. Just to list some off the top of my head, everything in Asian Ghetto, Chipotle, La Burrita, Top Dog, IB’s Hoagies, Fat Slice, Blondies, Sam’s Market Deli, Cheese ‘n’ Stuff, Sun Hong Kong, Cafe Durant, Smart Alec’s, etc. </p>
<p>After I moved out of the dorms I found it most economical to cook for myself but when I was lazy I didn’t have to spend too much to eat on Southside.</p>
<p>yellowbus knows where its at. the student meal plan was plenty for me, but most of my friends would run out with like a month to go. It really depends on how much of the munchies you develop (drug-induced or not). Bear Market and Late Night can be huge drains on your meal points if you go too often. Its not about how much you eat at the dining halls, its about how often you go in combination with the a la carte options we have.</p>
<p>You receive 1250 mp per semester. They expect you to only use around 13-15 per day if you expect to eat at the Cafeteria every day for the whole semester (which is unlikely b/c you will eat out 10-20% of time here). </p>
<p>Remembers its 8 for dinner, 7 for lunch, and 6 for breakfast. So your typical meal each day would be:
1x Brunch on campus (rice bowl, salad, wrap, burger, etc…) ~ 5-6MP
1x Dinner ~ 8 MP</p>
<p>If you do that, you’ll have plenty to spare. If you eat out sometimes, you’ll have spare MP to spend on late night + other food options for brunch. </p>
<p>You’ll be fine with the regular meal plan. If you do need to cook (which I doubt will happen; we’re all lazy lol), there is a kitchen at the ground floor of each unit. You can cook in your room as long as it doesn’t involve flame or smoke… So microwaving + rice cooking + water boiling are all fine.</p>
<p>Let me stress: You won’t run out of MP unless you eat like a beast each day lol. I was paranoid about it before I came to Cal, but you eventually will eat out and will have spare meal points. Don’t stress over it :)!</p>
<p>edited: Oh… felt like I didn’t answer your question lol. Oh well. But anyways, most of the food here aren’t that healthy in my opinion… Maybe Chipotle is healthiest choice after a good green salad. Everything seems to be drenched with oil/fried, etc… </p>
<p>I eat way too much fries since I’ve been here… so guilty :(</p>