Some colleges don't have all you can eat (buffet style) dining halls/commons?
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Anonymous
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I was really surprised yesterday when a friend was telling me her son really hasn't liked the University of California San Diego (UCSD) because he finds it hard to be social there. He is thinking of transferring out because he has not had a good freshman year.
She gave one example I found strange. Her son explained that the campus does not have any all you can eat/buffet style dining halls anywhere on campus. Instead students who live in dorms get food credit on their card and buy everything individually in places around campus or you can buy things from a market. There is also a mobile app but it can take an hour to get your food. So people aren't meeting up for dinner in larger groups. He often just get take out and eats alone. I remember when I lived in a dorm that people in my hallway often asked people if they were going down to eat in the dining hall or people joined others at long tables for dinner and for weekend brunch. She said her son explained that in his dorm no one seems to eat dinner in larger groups. It sounds so isolating. Are other colleges like this? This is something I would have never asked about on campus tours but I would never want my kid to attend a university like that. |
Anonymous
| I 100% noticed this and both of my ya’s collages and commented on it as you did. It’s more of a food court model, and while this might improve the variety of foods available, it did not seem to foster the group dining you mentioned, for better or for worse. I wonder also dining hall hours also make the difference. Maybe more open hours reduce crowding but result in less students gathering together? Who knows and as Dr. Rick says in the insurance ads, “Nobody cares.” LOL. |
Anonymous
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I think this largely comes down to large universities versus smaller schools.
I went to a large university in the 1980s which had multiple cafeterias spread out on campus, didn't serve any meals on weekends, and had a lot of students living off-campus. I ate most meals alone and felt super isolated. I went to visit my brother at a SLAC and almost transferred after seeing how super social meals were at the sole cafeteria on campus. My own kid is now at a SLAC where they have one cafeteria and unlimited swipes, which means that they can hang out with friends in the cafeteria even if they've already eaten. To be clear, this probably isn't an issue for most kids who have good social skills! I'm sure there are a lot of kids who couldn't care less and who prefer more variety. Also, a lot of larger schools have residential colleges or other sub-units that enable more sense of community today than my own experience a billion years ago. |
Anonymous
| I think all you can eat and buffet style is pretty gross. Are the past posters really old, because this is quite common. I don’t see how the boy could not say, hey want to meet up at 12 and grab chic fil on campus? |
Anonymous
| This seems more common now. Kids complained of no choice with one dining hall. |
Anonymous
| Yes, I am really old. I dunno. The dining hall food was all made on site and including salad bars and more ability to customize your meal. The thought of eating chik fil a on the daily is the grosser option to me. But I’m just old. |
Anonymous
| Colleague’s daughter was at UCSD with its residential college system in recent years. This was not her experience at all. She found at least one cafeteria on campus. Sympathetic for OP’s DC though. |
Anonymous
| Carnegie Mellon is like this. No huge dining hall - lots of small eateries scattered around campus. I don't know if any of them are buffet style. |
Anonymous
Yes, the dining hall was AWESOME. We had three, also unlimited swipes so you could go be social. Cereal for dinner? Yes please! Hungover at brunch? Just get the potatoes, three juices and three waters. That would have been ridiculous a la carte, but is pennies for a dining hall to prep for a bunch of students. Just feel like a grapefruit? Have a grapefruit. Oh, you're a swimmer before a meet? Have three bowls of pasta. Now I know to check this out diligently for my teens when searching colleges. |
Anonymous
| I was surprised too when my son told me that they don't have an all you can eat cafeteria too! How are these kids meant to put on the freshman fifteen? More importantly, the cafeteria was the place to scope out friends and potential boyfriends ... |
Anonymous
| These all you can eat haven't really existed on line 10 years starting in the latest 90s early 2000s it is a credit option that even if it's in a university dining hall you can get a certain amount of food. Sometimes students would use all the credit at one meal or whatever but they had to be used by the end of the year. |
Anonymous
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I went to Boston College in the 90s and it was all a points system. It was never an issue. So many people had points leftover at the end of the year that the dining hall (at least McElroy) put out big bags of candy and packs of soda for people to buy because the points don’t carry over. My brother loved getting giant bags of gummy bears from me.
These colleges gave been feeding students for decades. It’ll be fine. |
Anonymous
Yuck !!! Obviously a plot by local dentists and local diabetes specialists to drum up business. |
Anonymous
+1 Common problem at small LACs. |
Anonymous
DP. all you can eat and buffet is what DD has her SLAC. There’s only 1 dining hall on campus and everybody meets up there to eat or to just hang out all day long. It’s nice. Buffet options are plentiful. And the all you can eat option makes the athletes happy and kids stop by all day even if to just grab an apple or a banana. |