Our daughter will be working in the Harvard admissions office this summer and will also be participating in a Harvard sponsored internship. She is a Harvard student, so she has her student ID. She will be there from June 1st through the beginning of the new school year in late August. She is being provided with housing but is not being provided with a meal plan. She will have a refrigerator in her room so she will prepare the vast majority of her breakfasts and lunches from her room. She will likely eat at Annenberg or other dining halls that are open from time to time and grab meals in Cambridge as well.
Have any of you experienced a similar situation? Our primary concern is her evening meal, she will likely pay the retail price for students or guests in Annenberg or what ever other dining halls are open. My sense is that she will be able to eat in Cambridge more reasonably and likely have equal or better nutrition and more flavor.
My daughter spent the summer at Harvard one year working at the Loeb. She was provided with Harvard housing as well (in the Quad) but was not given a meal plan. She was able to purchase yogurt, milk, fruit and cereal for breakfast at the local market and store it in her small fridge in the dorm. Then, we purchased serval meal cards for her from Harvard Square restaurants that she liked, and then periodically topped-up the cards on-line when needed. This turned out to be a much cheaper option than paying the retail price at Annenberg, which I believe is the only dining hall open in the summer. See
http://www.harvardsquare.com/restaurants
http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2009/8/20/the-best-cheap-eats-in-the/
Thank you gibby, that was our sense as well. The retail cost of dinner in the dining halls is a few cents less than $20. It would seem likely she could purchase a dinner meal more reasonably else where. There are nice markets where we and she can stock up with breakfast and lunch foods. There are a gazillion restaurants in Cambridge and at least one place that has an excellent salad bar where she can get a nutritious and reasonable meal. There is a great store that is within walking distance of Annenberg, there is another store that has a similar type salad bar in the square and there is a Whole Foods that isn’t far from Mather. There are meal plans available but they don’t make economic sense and if it comes to pass that there is a favored place for she and her friends to eat and it isn’t one of the dining halls that money is wasted.
Thank you for the links! We will discuss her options with her.
@GreatKid I am sure your daughter will find her way around the campus!!!
Or do what my older son did the summer he stayed in Cambridge: Cook a big, huge pot of lentils and eat lentils every night. My too-thin son came home even thinner that year. I’ll ask my younger son what his dining plans are this summer, as he’s staying in Cambridge.