Some colleges don't have all you can eat (buffet style) dining halls/commons?

[Anonymous]

My kid went to admitted students day at the LAC he’ll be going to and ran into the one kid he knows who already goes there…in the dinning hall. Kid came over and chatted for a moment before going back to his table full of friends. It was lovely and my son said the food was really good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

It's pretty strange to assume public universities don't have this based on your experience decades ago.

My kid attends a big university and eats meals with others all the time. They have three main dining halls, and each one offers unlimited food. Yes, people can hang out with their friends.

We visited SLACs and large public universities, and all appeared to have buffet style. I'd never make an assumption SLACs are better or worse at this. Each school is different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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?

Buffet style is probably being used in different ways here. At my child's school, there is a taco bar, a homemade food bar, Asian-inspired food bar and so on. You can pick and choose what you want from these different areas. The food is fresh, and I'd gladly eat there myself.

Each station is sanitary and manned by people.

At the homemade food bar, they will cook recipes from scratch but it does take a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

This may shock you to hear, but it's changed. BC dining charges a la carte, for each item, and does not have the unlimited buffet-style meal plan. The dining hall (McElroy where most freshman and sophomores eat) is set up in the old dining hall style of long communal tables. Still, I haven't heard any complaints (besides the usual that it's expensive and it's not fine dining).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This may shock you to hear, but it's changed. BC dining charges a la carte, for each item, and does not have the unlimited buffet-style meal plan. The dining hall (McElroy where most freshman and sophomores eat) is set up in the old dining hall style of long communal tables. Still, I haven't heard any complaints (besides the usual that it's expensive and it's not fine dining).

Isn’t that exactly what PP said?

[Anonymous]

One of the schools DC is considering is Loyola Marymount. I was checking out the student newspaper and one article in the student paper was about how students are excited that starting fall 2026 some of the dining halls will use swipes instead of points.

I wonder if one of the reasons schools moved away from unlimited is because of food “theft.” I remember some students bringing Tupperware and packing food for later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of the schools DC is considering is Loyola Marymount. I was checking out the student newspaper and one article in the student paper was about how students are excited that starting fall 2026 some of the dining halls will use swipes instead of points.

I wonder if one of the reasons schools moved away from unlimited is because of food “theft.” I remember some students bringing Tupperware and packing food for later.

I always make a point to visit dining halls and "to go" containers are regularly available. So you can either get food and eat it elsewhere or eat your lunch and then take home more food for later. Kids won't do that for fun. They do that because they'll be hungry later .. maybe they'll have a lab or a job. You're paying for meals, these private colleges dont need to hoard food.

[Anonymous]

None of them are all you can eat!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t about all you can eat, it is about freshman having a sense of community and an opportunity to socialize every evening. Having a large dining room right by the dorms allows students to meet others in a way that having multiple eateries and markets to use your dining dollars does not.

So the colleges that do not even have one common dining hall that is all you can eat or where everyone gathers:

UCSD
Carnegie Melon
GW?

Any others?

My understanding is that GW does have one after years of not having such an option.

Another without it — UWashington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

This may shock you to hear, but it's changed. BC dining charges a la carte, for each item, and does not have the unlimited buffet-style meal plan. The dining hall (McElroy where most freshman and sophomores eat) is set up in the old dining hall style of long communal tables. Still, I haven't heard any complaints (besides the usual that it's expensive and it's not fine dining).

Isn’t that exactly what PP said?

Yeah, that was funny! BC has never had an all-you-can-eat option, but they clearly know how many points people tend to need because it has worked for decades.

That being said, The Heights has an article about a possible change.
https://www.bcheights.com/2024/11/13/bc-dining-considering-switching-to-swipe-meal-plan-system-ugbc-senator-shares/

[Anonymous]

My dd is at a SLAC with two three main dining halls (with food stations, salad bars, bowls, etc), as well as a couple of of grab and go's, a late night snack bar, a coffee shop, etc. She really likes it - esp as a freshman, it was great to be able to head down to dinner with your dorm friends and run into everyone else there. When another dorm is having a special dinner night, they head over there. She can do grab and go for breakfast and eat on the way to class, or do it for lunch on days she is tight on time. Or just walk to lunch with friends and eat there. She particularly loves weekend brunch. Her friend who goes to a mid sized midwestern university visited and loved dd's dining system and said that, at her school, they are always using the grub hub app to pick up food and mealtimes just aren't as social and she often eats alone unless she makes special plans. My younger kid is looking at colleges now and dining halls are pretty important to him - and to me. I don't really want him at a school where he can order Chik fil-A for half his meals every week (which he would, given the opportunity!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None of them are all you can eat!!!

Yeah. Actually a lot if not most universities with large number of freshman living on campus have all you can eat dining. Here are some:

USC -Each residential community is anchored by an all-you-care to eat dining venue. Specific meal plan participants enjoy unlimited access to all three dining halls. There are rows of very long tables.
Cardinal Plan ($4,014/semester)- gives you unlimited access to our residential dining halls, no matter how often you'd like to visit them. They offer a comfortable space and a variety of food choices for a meal, a snack, a visit with friends or a convenient place to work on a class project. Since you may need to grab a quick meal between classes when you're not near a dining hall, the Cardinal Meal Plan also includes two Campus Center Meal Swipes per week that can be used for meal combos at many locations at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center.

Cornell- Has residential all you can eat dining halls and the five West Campus House Dining Rooms hold House Dinners every Wednesday from 6-7pm, open only to members of each House.

UC Berkeley- Our dining commons including Crossroads, Cafe 3, Clark Kerr, and Foothill are all-you-can-eat locations where food is meant to be eaten on the premises. While you are welcome to grab a piece of fruit or a small dessert (like a cookie) to take with you, additional carry-out is not permitted.

University of Wisconsin- All-you-care-to-eat or buffet style service means diners will pay for their meal upon entry to the market. In order to help manage food waste, these locations will have trayless service. Diners are able to return as many times as they would like during the meal period to enjoy additional servings

MIT- Are dining halls all you can eat- Yes, you can eat as much as you want but be mindful of food waste. Take what you want but eat what you take.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My dd is at a SLAC with two three main dining halls (with food stations, salad bars, bowls, etc), as well as a couple of of grab and go's, a late night snack bar, a coffee shop, etc. She really likes it - esp as a freshman, it was great to be able to head down to dinner with your dorm friends and run into everyone else there. When another dorm is having a special dinner night, they head over there. She can do grab and go for breakfast and eat on the way to class, or do it for lunch on days she is tight on time. Or just walk to lunch with friends and eat there. She particularly loves weekend brunch. Her friend who goes to a mid sized midwestern university visited and loved dd's dining system and said that, at her school, they are always using the grub hub app to pick up food and mealtimes just aren't as social and she often eats alone unless she makes special plans. My younger kid is looking at colleges now and dining halls are pretty important to him - and to me. I don't really want him at a school where he can order Chik fil-A for half his meals every week (which he would, given the opportunity!).

Can you please name the SLAC where dining is social, and where her friend attends and dining isn't social and her friend eats alone? I can't believe I never thought of this before because I assumed all residential colleges had social dining set-ups, but if people are just pre-ordering food or you pay per item it really seems like it would be such a different experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It isn’t about all you can eat, it is about freshman having a sense of community and an opportunity to socialize every evening. Having a large dining room right by the dorms allows students to meet others in a way that having multiple eateries and markets to use your dining dollars does not.

So the colleges that do not even have one common dining hall that is all you can eat or where everyone gathers:

UCSD
Carnegie Melon
GW?

Any others?

Exactly. This was an important part of my college experience, dining with friends and then the easy friend of friend opportunity as others stop by and join your table group. My student lived adjacent to the dining hall freshman year and small groups or even a roommate pair walked down the hall and were then joined by others and more who arrived later on to join in. Now as an upperclassman in an apt., the dining hall trips are rarer & replaced by the eateries and running into someone by chance or text (though you know far more students by then). Still, for the first year, it serves a great socialization need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My dd is at a SLAC with two three main dining halls (with food stations, salad bars, bowls, etc), as well as a couple of of grab and go's, a late night snack bar, a coffee shop, etc. She really likes it - esp as a freshman, it was great to be able to head down to dinner with your dorm friends and run into everyone else there. When another dorm is having a special dinner night, they head over there. She can do grab and go for breakfast and eat on the way to class, or do it for lunch on days she is tight on time. Or just walk to lunch with friends and eat there. She particularly loves weekend brunch. Her friend who goes to a mid sized midwestern university visited and loved dd's dining system and said that, at her school, they are always using the grub hub app to pick up food and mealtimes just aren't as social and she often eats alone unless she makes special plans. My younger kid is looking at colleges now and dining halls are pretty important to him - and to me. I don't really want him at a school where he can order Chik fil-A for half his meals every week (which he would, given the opportunity!).

Can you please name the SLAC where dining is social, and where her friend attends and dining isn't social and her friend eats alone? I can't believe I never thought of this before because I assumed all residential colleges had social dining set-ups, but if people are just pre-ordering food or you pay per item it really seems like it would be such a different experience.

I wouldn't be surprised if the friend's school is WashU. I hear this complaint from many friends with kids there.