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<li>How is the food at UW Madison Cafeteria? I looked at menus at different places. It looks the same to me. Not much variety. Don’t you get tired of the same old stuff everyday?</li>
<li>On average, what is the monthly budget for food, assuming that you eat occasionally at local restaurants? I am not talking about getting wasted everyday at bars......</li>
<li>What is the best option for buying a notebook computer? Does the school sell computer with service plans? I guess you can buy either Mac or PC notebook.</li>
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<p>If you buy a Dell computer, you can get it serviced on campus. My son bought a Toshiba at BestBuy which failed 2 months into the semester, and had to be sent for repairs, parts weren’t available and we had to get a replacement. Wish we had bought a Dell. We did buy the Microsoft office suite software through UW at the student price of something like $99 (also got good deals on noise-cancelling headphones, a printer for $30, ink cartridges, other needed cables and a cool Bucky laptop sleeve). Visit the DoIT store when you are in Madison for SOAR this summer.</p>
<p>[Buying:</a> Advice and Info | Students | DoIT | University of Wisconsin-Madison](<a href=“Information Technology - University of Wisconsin–Madison - UW–Madison Information Technology”>Information Technology - University of Wisconsin–Madison - UW–Madison Information Technology)</p>
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<p>The food is pretty decent for housing, I liked it. A lot better than having to cook for yourself as you will find out later haha. There is a pretty good variety of things and they recycle on about a 3-4 week basis. There are some staples they have all the time like, pizza, burgers, fries, tace salad, nachos, fruit, salad bar etc. They also have entrees that cycle around so it really doesn’t get that boring. </p>
<p>If you are in housing, I would estimate ~800 to 1000 bucks a semester with the occasional eating out on State. Your average meal is probably 4 bucks I’d say.</p>
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<li> There is no one option for dorm residents using Res Halls dining facilities. Anyone can eat in any facility- whether or not they live in the dorms (dorm residents get the food at a discount). Check out the UW housing dining services website. All a la carte. Different dining halls will have different specials on different days, including foods from different cultures.</li>
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<p>Of course you get tired of the same choices and atmosphere every day- one reason people choose to go out to eat even with the best home cooking. Compare the variety to that of your home. Do the count of different items- from yogurt flavors to daily vegetables and salad bar items. Likely your parents usually stock the same foods most of the time- and far less variety than in the dorms. Notice how often your mother repeats the same suppers- I doubt there are fewer repeats possible at Res Halls.</p>
<p>It is nice to not have to prepare your meals (mothers tend to want to dine out more than the rest of the family for that reason) but needing to stand in line gets old as well. You also have the daily burden of needing to decide what to eat- no prechosen meals served to you at the table like at home.</p>
<p>Some will be thrilled with the variety and quality, those whose parents could afford gourmet meals and were fantastic cooks less likely so. Most probably will settle on a few favorites and ignore most offerings. None will likely be the same versions as mom cooks.</p>
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<li><p>Res Halls lists the average amount spent by students in their facilities (including delivered items such as pizzas and subs). Check to see what allotments are given for scholarships, need based aid.</p></li>
<li><p>DoIT is an excellent source for information on which computer to buy- both desktop and laptop, Windows and Mac.</p></li>
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