<p>All reports from my freshman S are that the food IS dreadful.</p>
<p>"Out of curiosity, where is the cafeteria? The only thing resembling a cafeteria I could ever find was on the second floor in the corner of the student union building, and it seemed to be more for faculty."</p>
<p>CMU has more than a dozen small places for students to take their meals; many are like mall food court counters. So there isn't a traditional student cafeteria. The one you observed was likely "Schatz All You Care To Eat," which is open for student breakfasts and dinners, but turns into the faculty club at lunch.</p>
<p>"Erm, I remember going downstairs of Morewood, I think it was called the O... if I am not mistaken."</p>
<p>The basement of Morewood is The Underground. The O, which is in the University Center, is a branch of The Original Hot Dog Shop, a Pittsburgh institution (The O's main location is a few blocks from campus). As much as I love The O, I wouldn't want to live on their food. </p>
<p>"Apparently the longer you have to live with it the worse the food seems.</p>
<p>This is what we hear too. S says it's mostly sandwiches, fast food, and (according to him) inedible stuff at Schatz.</p>
<p>Perhaps it's CMU's way to encourage the students to explore the environs and support the local businesses. Keeping you on campus 7/24 isolates and insulates you from the wider world. However, having nearby and immediate food service, no matter how bad, is a plus for harried students who do student hours. </p>
<p>If you think food is bad now, you should have tried real, cafeteria food 40 years ago. Students should feel this near heaven and be grateful that this is all that they have to complain about.</p>
<p>As a resident of Pittsburgh I thought I would chime in and say the campus is quite nice actually. Do your best to take off and see the sights. Oakland is right down the road and you can find many nice resteraunts and shops there. Also, have to catch some Pitt basketball games, because CMU well.. concerning sports... Pittsburgh doesn't get much sunshine, but it is possible to have fun in the city, and go to Frick or Shenley Park or check out the cultural district. And how about those Steelers? You can probably count the number of games the Pirates win during your four years in the 'Burgh on your one hand, but it's expected. And concerning the O, great food, but it may kill you...</p>
<p>wait a minute jacquesier CMU basketball team is ranked #14 D3 they're 15-3. They actually beat D1 Princeton about a month ago at P'ton...I went to the game. There was a decent crowd which seemed to be rooting more for CMU than princeton from what I could surmise.</p>
<p>I'd recommend get the smallest meal plan you can, there's plenty of restaurants in Oakland, Squirrel Hill and Shady Side, you could actually walk to dozens of them. For those interested in living in a frat or sorority most of these (at least the frats) have their own cooks. S said his cook was excellent.</p>
<p>I just visited CMU last weekend and I have visited about 10 other schools and CMU had the worst or second to worse food that I have had on a college campus.</p>
<p>Question here - when a student is weighing options and considering enrolling at a school like CMU - or any of the others widely thought of as being more rigorous than most (am thinking of the engineering and fine arts disciplines here)....if you are truly that serious about a program or that dedicated to your art that you are thinking of attending a school known to be way more work than many other programs...is the food really a make-or-break in the decision???</p>
<p>I mean, it's all institutional - no school has truly great food all the time -CMU's is not the best, but is a school's food alone going to turn you away from an otherwise great program?</p>
<p>Nah, I don't think anyone would really weigh bad food over a good program..... but it is still good to know in advance what to expect. Rather than believe Carnegie Mellon is a perfect school with no flaws.... its better to find out about the poor food so you know what you will expect. Otherwise, having your hopes of your perfect college will go straight to the gutter.</p>
<p>Maybe so, Tooyah...but it seems somewhat naive to think that ANY school is going to be perfect. Nearly all college food is institutional - bland and cooked in mass quantities - it's difficult and expensive to get it to anything near gourmet standards.</p>
<p>Just seems odd to me that food enters into one's decision-making about a school at all...it is what it is....especially funny to hear these comment from kids who have eaten a lot more fast food over the years than they should have...now they suddenly have standards???</p>
<p>Well you have kids complaining about the bathrooms, so why not the food? The fact of the matter remains, Freshmen are forced into being on the college meal plan, which, imo, sucks. Did it stop me from applying ED and getting in? Hell no! But, some people have different type of priorities, best thing to do is sit back and respect the fact that everyone is different.</p>
<p>Let them complain now because by the time they become 2nd semester Sophmores; They won't know the difference, because eating will be so far down the list, next to bathing.</p>
<p>Hang on - we jumped from food quality to the food plan...two different animals! I couldn't agree more about the mandatory frosh food plan - giant rip-off....try managing it as a vegetarian!</p>
<p>But you kind of added weight to my point, Tooyah...bathrooms have been awful at colleges for a hundred years. Have you ever heard anyone say 'I want to go to XXX because they have great bathrooms'? How is complaining about them adding anything new to a conversation?</p>
<p>It's just that bathrooms and food quality are givens (usually bad ones) in college life. And you're right - people have a right to vocalize their complaints...just as people listening to them have a right to view them as....maybe whiny, lightweights, not-to-be-taken seriously, etc., etc....</p>
<p>My S just attended SBW and thought the food was "OK" - the students doing the presentations seemed to feel fairly positive about the variety of choices in particular.</p>
<p>Let me add that it was not exactly a typical Sunday night in the dorms - all the SBW attendees got Terrible Towels and were invited to the Superbowl party in the University Center, after which they were free to join the cheering throngs in the street. According to my S the only fire he saw was a couch in front of a couple of fraternities. Apparently the Pitt students were quite a bit more raucous than CMU - they tore down and burned a Subway sign on Forbes Avenue right in front of the restaurant we ate at last spring (Joe Mama) when we did the official admin session and tour. </p>
<p>But if anyone thinks CMU students pay no attention to football, let me assure you that is not the case!</p>
<p>food is very important, everything before u enroll in college is highly idealized. U think it is not, but once u get to experience college life, u'll realize how important things like nice dorms, good dorm food, social attractions are.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Maybe so, Tooyah...but it seems somewhat naive to think that ANY school is going to be perfect. Nearly all college food is institutional - bland and cooked in mass quantities - it's difficult and expensive to get it to anything near gourmet standards.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I might point out that my son ate at a college cafeteria 3 meals a day for two years going to high school. He couldn't image that the food at CMU could be any worse than the meals there, especially compared to the notorious food item students called "fried", because, down here in the South where we'll fry anything, they couldn't find anything in it.</p>
<p>He most sincerely would rather be back to that than eat at CMU. YMMV</p>
<p>You know you don't have to eat on campus. There are like 10 restaurants within a block of campus and even more if you are willing to walk a bit farther or take a bus.</p>