<p>Anyone have additional info on the off campus houses? Specifically 555 Catalina or 242 Catalina. Is internet connection provided(it doesn't look that way according to the resident guide)? Dishes and cooking utensils? Does one need to bring any stuff that wasn't needed in the on campus Hovses? Does it make sense to do a board plan or do students in the off campus houses tend to cook in the house? Is there anything else that might be important to know about the off campus houses? Thanks!</p>
<p>I lived in 555 Catalina a few years ago, so I will speak about when I was there. Yes they have cable Internet connection, which is very slow (especially when you have 10+ people on at the same time). Students often share their utensils. Students generally cook their own food or eat out because they do not like Board food. And if they do they just pay for individual Board dinners instead of sign up for the Board plan.</p>
<p>As of this Spring, the Fall</a> lottery info does not list any off-campus houses being available for undergrads. So unless the situation has changed, you won't be able to live there.</p>
<p>I think if you break down the cost of the board program versus paying for individual meals, its more expensive to pay for board than paying for all of the dinners individually + declining balance.</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://dining.caltech.edu/Meal_Plan.pdf%5DBoard%5B/url">http://dining.caltech.edu/Meal_Plan.pdf]Board[/url</a>] is $4,170 for the year, so $1,390 per term. </p>
<p>Dinners off-board cost $12.50 dollars individually for non-steak, non-formal dinner nights (55-6= 49), $14.50 for steak night (5 total), and $17.50 for formal dinner (1 total). So the total cost for buying dinners individually is 12.5<em>49+5</em>14.5+17.5 = $703. </p>
<p>Declining balance is $420 dollars, so if off-board members spend this much, they end up paying 420 + 703 = $1,123 for pretty much exactly what on-board students pay $1,390 for. The difference is a few minor perks like snake kits during finals. Moreover, I think everyone would agree that 1 dollar of declining balance is not worth 1 real dollar: I've certainly seen them go for 1.5:1 or even 2:1 or even for free (to friends!). Also, the flexibility of missing some of the more grotesque board dinners can't be understated in importance. Finally, some meals are simply free for off-board people like those during rotation or pre-frosh weekend or in-and-out night, etc.</p>
<p>Hence, economically it makes no sense to be on board when you don't have to. The fact of the matter is that board is way overpriced, but since everyone on campus is obliged to be on board, they can charge quite a bit for it. They can't charge the off-board people as much because if a normal dinner cost 18 dollars a dinner, no one would ever come.</p>
<p>To be fair, though, being on board at least forces them to eat decently as well as hang out in the houses everyday, which may be appropriate for some students.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! My S just got a message from the housing office yesterday and they've put him in the Catalina houses - it looks like it will be 555 Catalina. </p>
<p>So, if it doesn't make sense to be on board, but you go to eat in your Hovse do will the cost of dinners, etc just be charged to your bursar's account?</p>
<p>Yeah, you just have the waiters swipe your card, and it's charged the same way as textbooks and laundry are.</p>
<p>Referring to post #3, is "open kitchen" worth anything?</p>
<p>Ah yeah, I did forget about open kitchen. At most, I personally use open kitchen for something like a soda and a piece of fruit a day, though they also have some basic sandwich stuff. So for me, it was probably worth 1 dollar a day or so, which is sort of negligible. It's a really nice convenience, of course, but that's mainly for on campus people who have to pay for board anyway.</p>
<p>"Finally, some meals are simply free for off-board people like those during rotation or pre-frosh weekend or in-and-out night, etc."</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure you're supposed to pay for those meals if you're off board. I interviewed the previous CDS head a couple years ago about the cost of the board plan. At the time, they were just told to ramp up their profits since the school wanted to cut their annual deficit. Most of the costs goes to labor (30% of the costs is for the raw materials). If you calculate it, I think ~$1 per meal goes to pay for the student waiters.</p>
<p>Tom Mannion paid for meals for off-campus people during Rotation and Prefrosh Weekend last year I think.</p>
<p>Yeah, free rotation/PFW meals was only last year, though I think they'll probably continue it in the future. I'm pretty positive I wasn't stealing food, lol.</p>
<p>Erm no...I'll be paying 150$ for meals in the rotation week. I'll be in 242 Catalina, btw.</p>
<p>I checked about this last year since I was off campus and Tom Mannion had agreed to pay for meals during rotation and the week after. You should check on this again this year, since it really is a good idea to bring off campus people back for rotation.</p>