What's Cookin'? - Meal Plan Options and Pitfalls

So, it’s time to discuss one of my favorite topics – FOOD! In just a few months, if you’re moving away from home, you’re not going to get to take advantage of those home-cooked meals anymore – at least not on a daily basis. And since the likelihood of your throwing together a meal in the kitchen of your residence hall isn’t likely (unless you’re in culinary school, that is), you’ll probably be spending a lot of time hanging around your dining hall. Now’s the time to check out meal plans. Mmmmm, my mouth is watering already…

The first step? Find out what kind of plans your college offers, and in some instances requires, and think about your own eating habits to pick the one that’s right for you. Sound easy? It can be, as long as you are honest about how (and how MUCH) and when you really eat. Some plans offer a set number of meals per semester, which means you show up for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and eat as much as you want. Sounds good, right? But are you really going to get up every morning to eat before class, or would you be just as content with a PopTart you can store in your room?

And what is your class schedule like? Do you have a 4-hour studio class in the middle of the day that would prevent you from making it over to the dining hall for lunch? Be realistic so you don’t wind up at the end of the semester with a lot of paid for, but uneaten, food. If there’s one thing worse than wasted food, it’s wasted MONEY spent on food.

See if your school allows roll-over dining dollars—some places do. Other plans offer an option in which you pay for each meal on a pre-paid debit card until your balance has run out. Again, think about how much you REALLY eat and whether or not your balance will last until the end of the semester.

Secondly, know the dates the plans start and end AND research the hours of your dining hall and other dining venues. Getting to school a week early to move in and meet your roommate? What are you gonna do when your meal plan doesn’t start for another seven days?

Plan on eating breakfast when you wake up every morning (ahem, every noon hour) to get to your afternoon classes? The dining staff just might turn that waffle iron off before you get there, buddy. It’s not like home where you can pop down to your kitchen in the middle of the night for slice of cold pizza or a bowl of ice cream (although some campuses do offer 24-hour coffee and snack bars).

Thirdly, find out what’s on the menu! Do you have a food allergy or other type of dietary restriction? Find out if dining services offers options and substitutions. Can’t bear the thought of eating in the cafeteria every day? See if your plans include meals from other on-campus joints that can offer everything from burgers and pizza to sushi and smoothies.

Lastly, prepare for the unexpected. What happens if you run up the balance on your meal card two months into the semester? What if your living arrangements change mid-semester and you wind up in an apartment where you decide to buy your own groceries, or you move into a fraternity house that has its own meal plan? Find out if you are bound to the meal plan you paid for, or if there is any penalty for canceling it.

Better go think about my own options – all-u-can-ear buffet? My nose knows where to find it.

Woof,

Clyde

Don't just rely on me -- ask the experts about college visits!

Pointers from the pros can be a big help. Check out Making It Count’s college visit checklist. They also have a big list of tough questions to ask on campus visits.

And, believe it or not, colleges have a vested interest in you landing at a place that is a good match for you. They want satisfied students. Here is my friend Ashley Frohock

Assistant Director of Admission at

telling me why a campus visit is important: (To view the video you will need the latest Flash plug-in. Download it for free here.)

http://media.monster.com/ads/trak/makingitcount/videos/MIC-clyde030910/

Next time she is going to share some campus visit no-nos with me and I’ll pass them on to you.

Woof,

Clyde

Personal Space Maze

For those of you graduating in the spring, March can be an exciting, exhausting, and exasperating month. Aside from the fact you’re getting closer and closer to graduation and all the celebration and hooplah that brings, you’re starting to hear back from the colleges you’ve applied to. And when that acceptance letter arrives, the next BIG question surfaces: WHO ARE YOU GOING TO ROOM WITH???

That’s right – as you consider the classes you’ll register for, the organizations you’ll join, the major you’ll eventually declare, you need to determine just where you will call home and who you’ll be sharing all of these experiences with. Or you might even ponder the possibility of flying solo in your living space.

While the answer MIGHT seem easily apparent (of course I’ll room with my best friend), take some time to weigh your options before jumping to what you think is the obvious choice. While sharing a 10x10 space with your nearest and dearest high school friend may seem fun at first, think about your lifestyle – and think about your friend’s lifestyle. Is your early-to-bed, early-to-rise routine really compatible with your potential roommate’s pattern snoring the afternoons away and staying up until 3 a.m. to study?

Maybe you’re considering the potluck route. (I’m partial to potluck meals, but an evening meal is waaay different than a 24/7, entire school year roommate.) While rooming with someone from a completely different background, whose hometown is on the other end of the country (or even the opposite side of the globe), may initially seem daunting, the guys in the residence hall department really know what they’re doing. They spend a lot of time matching up people with similar behaviors, schedules and interests.

And while the person you’re assigned as a roommate may not turn out to be the one you share your deepest and darkest secrets with, wouldn’t it be nice to know you won’t have to argue over the remote because you’re both religious viewers of “The Office” every Thursday night? Or that you’ll never have to worry about a 6 a.m. alarm, because neither of you would ever THINK about scheduling a class before noon? On a 24/7 basis, little things may matter far more than you think.

And then there’s the option of choosing to NOT have a roommate. You may think you’d do better to have a room all to yourself so you can do your own thing on your own time. My friends have advised me of the following: when you’re a freshman (i.e. at the bottom of the totem pole) in a brand new world where you may be only one of 50,000 faces crossing the quad every day, it helps to have a buddy to help you feel not so quite alone. It can help to come back to a familiar face after class, especially when you’re just getting acclimated to campus. And who knows? This person may turn out to be a lifelong friend.

Bottom line: think about your habits, behaviors and schedule. How adaptable and flexible are you? Would you go ballistic if you opened the door to find three-day old pizza boxes on the floor and an unidentified smell coming from your roommate’s laundry hamper? Do you have to have the TV on to fall asleep? Do you have to leave the light on to fall asleep? 

Before I go on and on, never ever – I mean NEVER EVER – let your parents fill out your roommate questionnaire for you. It could be ugly, I mean reallllly ugly.

I better go work on my own list of preferences and sniff out my options.

Then I can get to the really serious stuff – meal plans!

Woof,

Clyde

What To Do, What to Do? College Visit Tips...Part 2

Talk to everyone you can on campus, not just the tour guides. Ask questions in the library. Are people helpful? Ask students who aren’t tour guides why they picked this school, what they like/dislike about it, and if they would choose this school if they had to do it all over again.

Ask about the worst and best things about campus life. What is the warmest/coldest/rainiest it gets here? My counselor recently visited a campus where it had been RAINY. Passing a group of enrolled students, one of the guys yelled: “Don’t come to school here – it rains every day!” Realize that students can be frustrated with the weather. Cold and rain get old. Heat and humidity do, too.

Make sure to get a realistic view of campus life. It’s easy to get that fenced in feeling, like my friend Dublin, or even, like Molly, feel like you are completely surrounded by snow if you aren’t accustomed to living in the tundra! By the way, life generally keeps right on going – classes and all – if you attend a school that regularly has snow!

Talking to everyone means seeking out info from the adults on campus who are resources to you: admissions, financial aid/scholarships, residence life, career planning and placement (while learning is what you go to college for, you do have to get out and get a job one day -- that is also a major reason you’re going to college, after all).

Visit the student center – read the bulletin boards. What is going on?

Ask students what life is like on campus on the weekends.

If you are a senior returning for a visit, it is possible that you are on campus for an admitted student day. Check out all those students who really could be in class with you next year – what kind of vibes are you getting?

Remember the

Get your parents to tell you when you can make a visit and then YOU, yes YOU, make all the arrangements for the visit with the admissions office. The more practice you get taking care of these things, the better. Your parents aren’t going to be there next year to contest a grade for you or to speak with your R.A. about roommate issues.

Woof,

Clyde

What To Do, What To Do? Put Those Paws on the Road -- College Visit Tips, Part 1

OK, this is a shopping experience. Really! This is all about finding a place to study that, in and out of the classroom, fits your needs. Keep in mind that there are plenty of schools to choose from; the hard part is ending up with one choice. Go from a big list to a small list – that will help.

When you are on campus or doing your research, be a first-class detective. You are going to live there 24/7. Don’t just aimlessly wander around campus “oohing” and “aahing” at the pretty buildings.

Whenever possible, visit when classes are in session. I’m not saying you can never go during a college break time, but realize that the feel of campus is very different when students are not present. Summer visits can be screening visits, providing ways to determine if you might like to come back to this campus when classes are in session.

Plan ahead! Colleges want notice that you are coming. They want your visit to be good.

Go to class. In fact, go to several classes, if possible. This allows you to size up the professors and the students and see how you feel about working with both groups. (I like art, so visiting this class was a natural for me.)

Eat the food in the dining hall. Investigate meal plan options. Mom isn’t going to be there to cook for you. While you will indeed eat out now and then – pizza is, after all, a requirement for many college diets – eating out costs money and money is hard to come by for most college students. There are tons of places to spend it and never enough of it to go around.

If the college permits it, spend the night in the residence hall. Leave the hotels to the parental types. Lifestyles in residence halls can vary dramatically from college to college. When you check out the options for housing, remember to ask to see a typical first-year room, not the not-a-thing-out-of-place model unit that many colleges have. Seeing where real students who are currently enrolled live is the best option – you see how rooms are arranged and how real students use the space assigned to them. Remember that residence hall options can arrange from the palatial why-would-anyone-ever-want-to-leave places to that variety that has you asking: isn’t this a broom closet?

Check out the laundry facilities. Yep, you’ll have to do your own laundry in most cases. If you aren’t sure why, you better ask someone at home why you don’t wash everything in hot water and why you don’t wash the navy blues with the stark white items!

All this talk about laundry makes me tired. I need a nap in a nice comfy chair!

TTYL8R,

Clyde

I've got a fever...SPRING FEVER!

First of all, to answer the question of inquiring minds, it did in fact SNOW ON THE BEACH! It was just a flurry, mind you, and it only lasted about five minutes. In fact, by the time I got my camera out to document this momentous occasion, it had turned into a nasty sleet and I had to run for shelter as my furry coat was getting soaked!

But now, after too many weeks of cold and dreary weather down in my neck of the woods, it is beginning to feel like SPRING! The sun is out, the daffodils are blooming, and my foster brothers and sisters are eagerly kicking off their boots and sliding on the flip-flops that had been gathering dust in their closets. Yes, the first hint of warm weather brings Frisbee games, driving with the windows rolled down, and SPRING FEVER!

Spring Fever – you know, when you walk outside to embrace the smell of green grass and clover and the sun is shining so bright it makes everything beneath it just glow and it makes you so happy you forget all of your worries -- like the paper due tomorrow, the test you have on Friday, and second semester exams!

All of your obligations seem to disappear as you trade your schoolwork in for a walk on the beach or a late-night excursion with your buddies because it’s been ages since you could open the sunroof and touch the stars. And who could possibly blame you for setting aside Madame Bovary to catch up on Lady Gaga as you soak up the latest tabloid news on your front porch swing? After all, where I live, it seems like SPRING!

Heed this warning, however: Don’t get BURNED or BLINDED by the sunshine! What do I mean? It’s fine to enjoy the warmer temperatures, but don’t get so absorbed in the carefree mood the weather brings that you completely neglect your schoolwork, deadlines and other obligations. You know they call them beach BUMS for a reason.

There CAN be too much of a good thing. Take a minute to tiptoe through the tulips, but take your books with you to absorb the best of both worlds. Those tests and papers don’t just magically float away like dandelion fluff.

Better go stock up on my sunscreen…and grab my backpack on the way. I have to get back to work and give you some more information about college visits.

Woof,

Clyde

Laissez-Les Bons Temps Roulez! (or, to the lay dog, "Let the Good Times Roll!")

And roll, and roll! The parades have been rolling down here where I live for three weeks now in preparation for the Big Event: MARDI GRAS!!!!

Yep, me and thousands of other revelers have been crowding the streets, barking a “Throw me something, Mister!” for MoonPies, doubloons, peanuts, cups, toys and, of course, BEADS!

My friends and I look forward to the Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, season every year, when the indulgence of the holiday season culminates in a few glorious, colorful, mystical days of parades, balls, and FOOD! And when the final bead is thrown and the last, lingering slice of king cake is consumed, the Lenten season begins.

This year’s Mardi Gras is especially eventful as we celebrate BOTH the holiday AND the Super Bowl! As I told you earlier, I live smack dab in the middle of Saints’ Territory and we are so stoked to see them come marching in with that beautiful trophy.

This will be my only entry this week, but when the celebrating is over, I’ll be back to focusing on the college visit process. For now, it’s time for fun.

Gotta go. It’s time to get my zydeco on.

Woof,

Clyde

M, T, W, Th, Fr -- What matters on a college visit anyway?

Newsflash: Colleges care if you are interested in them. Don’t believe me? NACAC’s (the National Association for College Admission Counseling) 2009 State of College Admission report noted that demonstrated interest as a factor in admissions, for the colleges reporting information, went from 7% in 2003 (the first year it was reported as a factor) to 21% in 2009. That is a big jump!

My counselor would be the first to tell you those are dog scrap numbers compared to the influence of an applicant’s GPA, rigor of courses taken, etc. But she’d also tell you that showing interest in a school has skyrocketed as an admissions factor. Now before your paws fall off from fretting, while the admissions impact of demonstrated interest has sky rocketed, lots of other factors still play a far larger role -- things like GPA, rigor of the high school program, and, in some cases, standardized tests. (Also remember that www.fairtest.org has a list of more than 800 colleges that no longer require standardized tests as part of the admissions process.)

My counselor would also tell you there are tons of ways to show interest without jetting to campus and zipping around like Sherlock Holmes while you are there. Here are some other ways to show a college it is on your radar screen:

• Write for information–the old-fashioned way with a stamp or use e-mail
• Go to a college fair and talk with the rep
• Fill out an information card from a poster at your school
• Attend an area, state, or regional presentation by a college or group of colleges
• Have an interview with an alum in your area that the college has designated for such purposes
• Talk to an admissions representative when they visit your school

Visiting colleges should be fun -- if it isn’t you’re doing something WRONG! But it is also work if you do it correctly. Here’s what my counselor tells me: Never, ever -- not one single time -- has she had to “teach” a prospective college student or a currently enrolled student how to have fun on a college campus. However, learning how to study when you are in charge of yourself 24/7, scheduling your time wisely, budgeting your money -- that’s a different story. These tasks take effort, discipline, and real paw pressure! Frankly -- hmmm makes me think of hot dogs...makes me think of eating. Visiting a college takes discipline. If you’re going to spend the money to make the visit, get all you can out of the trip. More on that later.

Weather bulletin newsflash. We have snow in the forecast! Anybody know if they make ice skates for dogs? Do you remember where I live? Let me remind you.

Sun, sand, water? Back with you later with more visit tips–gotta go cover up the azaleas!

Clyde

Road Trip

Spring definitely hasn’t sprung where I live. It was twenty-five degrees colder here this morning than it was yesterday morning! Oh, well, at least I’m not pawing around in the snow and ice like so many of my friends. Take Lilly and Molly -- right now Hawaii and Florida are looking better and better as possible places for them to go to college.☺  

 
My friend Dublin hates the winter weather–gives her so many bad hair days.

However, I know you can’t just consider the climate and weather when you select options for education after high school. I am thinking about taking a trip to check out some more schools. I want to make sure I have really good options and good information. Not every individual can hound around on campuses. If you can’t go in person, remember to go virtually -- the Internet makes most everything available at the click of your mouse. Ask your counselor for information. Talk to former students from your school. Talk to college alums in your area. I mean D I G for all the information you can get.

While I was thinking about my situation, I realized juniors will soon be heading out for college visits. Some of my foster siblings at school who are juniors have already been on college visits and lots of them have talked to our counselor about plans for after high school. If you are a junior, what are you waiting for? Get into your counselor’s/adviser’s office for a barking good conversation about your future!

For seniors, there could be interview visits at colleges for scholarship programs, second trips to reassess possible college matches, and the highly popular accepted students sessions that are cropping up all over. Those are visits at colleges where students who have been accepted are invited to a scheduled get-together to do a final run-through at a given college. The plus to these sessions is that you can be on campus with students who, unlike the traveling packs of students and parents on traditional college visits, actually might be in class with you in the fall following your senior year.

So, for a few of our chats to come, I’m going to talk about college visits. But, I’m also gonna woof about some fun things cause I’m about to go on winter break. I live in the land of Mardi Gras (and, I’m technically in Who Dat Nation territory).

Before I head out, I need to pack.

Do you think dogs have to pay extra for checked baggage?

Woof,

Clyde

Will Work for Bones

So, you’ve sat down with your parents and worked out an estimated budget for next year. They’ve told you how much they can send you every month, you know about how much you’ll be getting in scholarship and grant money, but you look at the bottom line -- and you’re STILL in the red! What are your options? Well, you can consider student loans, but don’t forget, you eventually have to pay those back. Newsflash—if you leave school early without graduating, you don’t get to wait until you would have graduated to begin repaying the loans! Can you say UGLY? What else can you do? Consider the unthinkable: GET A JOB.

A job? In college? Aren’t you going to have enough on your plate just going to class, writing papers and studying, not to mention adjusting to a whole new environment, trying to make friends and establish some sort of social life for yourself, and exploring clubs and other organizations to feel like a part of your college community? Of course! But -- let me share with you a few things my buddies in college have told me about the benefits of having a job in college (aside from the paycheck).

First let’s talk work study. What is this? If you qualify for it, work study is a form of financial aid that offers you a job through on campus to offset some of your tuition and expenses. The benefits of work study are numerous. First of all, you will have the opportunity to set your work schedule around your class schedule. Additionally, if you are able to get a position in the department of your major, you will have the chance to become more immersed in your own career path. As an added bonus, you will have a greater chance of rubbing shoulders with the very professors you maybe in the classroom with later on, which can always help you down the road.

As for a job off campus? The benefits are tremendous here, as well. First off, if you’ve never had a job until this point, there’s no time like the present to start BUILDING WORK EXPERIENCE. Take the opportunity to beef up that resume! Worried about the time commitment? This is a good point to consider, however, for some for my friends, the added responsibility of a job made them more adept at time management. A job enabled them to stay more focused during their time spent studying and their final grades were a positive refection of this. Some other pluses? If you take a position at a restaurant or retail store close to campus, chances are you’ll not only be working with other students, but you’ll in a constant environment of other students and, there could be free food or a discount associated with these types of jobs. I like free food! What a great way to meet new people! Furthermore, it says a lot about a person who is working to help fund his or her own education. It shows you understand that it is important to invest in yourself! Not only is this another excellent resume builder, but the boss you have in college is a prime candidate to provide you with a glowing letter of recommendation down the road when you’re applying for that job you’re going to class for.

A final word about student loans. For some, they’re an inevitable resource; and don’t forget: a degree you have to borrow money to pay for is better than no degree at all. A word to the wise, however: DON’T BORROW MORE THAN YOU REALLY NEED. Case in point, my buddy Roscoe accepted the full amount he was eligible for every semester, even though he only needed about half to cover his expenses. What did he do with the residual cash? He equipped his apartment with a brand new entertainment center and furniture. Don’t get me wrong, I think his roommates got a lot of mileage out of Guitar Hero and the satellite service with 800 channels. And I know Roscoe enjoyed brushing up on his Chem. homework in that La-Z-Boy, but do you know how much that stuff costs with a 6.8% (or more) APR over 20 years. Well, Roscoe graduated last year and as he now adjusts to life in the REAL WORLD, he’s just beginning to find out. Lucky for Roscoe, he hung on to that recliner, because right now he’s feeling a little…trapped.

Woof,

Clyde