Hello, I have accepted my offer to McMaster for Medical Radiation Sciences and have decided that I will be living in residence for the first year. But I have a few questions, before I actually start the res form.

- If I want to live in a bunk and loft type room, am I guaranteed that type of room?

-What exactly is the lottery process?

-Are there any female only buildings that have the bunk and loft type of rooms?

-Which building (for females) is the most comfy/cozy looking?

-I have decided that I will get the regular meal plan, which is $3390. Is this enough for food for the entire school year (Sept - Apr) ? And if there is money left over by the end of the year, can I get my money back or will it go onto next yr? If my money does get moved to next yr and I don't decide to live on residence can I still use it? :S

-How exactly does the Meal Plan work? Is it kinda like a debit card, that you use at whatever restaurant you eat from? How are the prices like?What restaurants does McMaster have on campus?

-Can I have snacks (like granola bars, juice boxes, etc) in my room?

I really don't want to to buy a Meal Plan, but it says on the hospitality website that you must buy one...Is there anyone I can live on residence and not have a meal plan?

I know I have a lot of questions, but please help if possible. Thank you so much if you're able to help me!

there is a girls only res. idk how the process works for it. if you wanna live there then apply for it. unless you have 95% avg for guaranteed single room then you have pretty much no say in what kind of room you will get so you dont need to worry about the room types and all that too much. just put down your preferences and hope for the best.

also for your meal plan i would lower it by a lot, prob go low as possible. lots of ppl dont finish their meal plan and always have leftover money they need to waste at the end of the year. even if you do run out of meal plan, you can add money on it whenever you like.

- If I want to live in a bunk and loft type room, am I guaranteed that type of room?
No you are not guaranteed. From what I remember you get 3 choices that you order from 1-3 but all of my friends who went to Mac got what they wanted.

-Which building (for females) is the most comfy/cozy looking?
-My guess would be Les Prince, its a nice new smelling rez

-I have decided that I will get the regular meal plan, which is $3390. Is this enough for food for the entire school year (Sept - Apr) ?
Yes, it should be. Especially if you are a girl. All my female friends got the regular plan and had like $500 left 2-3 weeks before school was over

-How exactly does the Meal Plan work? Is it kinda like a debit card, that you use at whatever restaurant you eat from? How are the prices like?What restaurants does McMaster have on campus?
Exactly, its like a debit card without a pin number. The prices are expensive a proper diner with meat veggies carbs and a drink will usually be about like 9-15$. There's lots of variety but u can go off campus to restaurants that take your meal plan such as Boston Pizza, Kelsey's.. ect.

I really don't want to to buy a Meal Plan, but it says on the hospitality website that you must buy one...Is there anyone I can live on residence and not have a meal plan?
-If ur rez has a kitchen then you can get a discounted one i think. But Every first year who lives on campus must have a meal plan.

-I have decided that I will get the regular meal plan, which is $3390. Is this enough for food for the entire school year (Sept - Apr) ?

NO. Things on campus are extremely over priced. If you feel like eating three times a day (meals, not counting snacks and drinks) it'll cost you over 30 dollars a day. That will last you only just above three months.

-I have decided that I will get the regular meal plan, which is $3390. Is this enough for food for the entire school year (Sept - Apr) ?

i would suggest getting the cheapest meal plan possible... then if you run out of money on your meal plan, you can add more money to it. its better to add money than having a ton left over. i got the regular meal plan and i had like 300 left at the end of the year, i wish i bought a cheaper plan and just added more money to it when/if i ran out

- If I want to live in a bunk and loft type room, am I guaranteed that type of room?
No lottery system but there are some things in place that might consider the decision such as Edwards tends to be international, Keyes tends to be the quieter res etc

-What exactly is the lottery process?
From http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence...s/Res_FAQ.html

• A computerized lottery is used to determine the order in which residence rooms are assigned. This process takes into consideration, but does not guarantee the preferences you list on your application.
• As each student is assigned, the computer checks to see if the first preference listed on the application form is available. If so, the student is assigned to that room. If not, the computer checks the next preference. This continues until the student is either assigned to one of their preferences, or in the event that none of the preferences are available, assigned to another bed space.
• During this process, the computer also checks to see if the student has applied for any lifestyle-themes (i.e substance-free) and/or whether they requested a roommate.
• Your profile question responses on the online application are also used to determine your placement with other students.

-Are there any female only buildings that have the bunk and loft type of rooms?
From http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence...llingford.html

Wallingford is girlonly res. Rooms house one (single), two (double) and four (quad) occupants
Thus it may be possible

-Which building (for females) is the most comfy/cozy looking?
Each person's cozy is different. In terms of a cleanliness or whatever appeal probably Keyes/Les Prince since newer

-I have decided that I will get the regular meal plan, which is $3390. Is this enough for food for the entire school year (Sept - Apr) ? And if there is money left over by the end of the year, can I get my money back or will it go onto next yr? If my money does get moved to next yr and I don't decide to live on residence can I still use it? :S
Meal Plan Policy http://hospitality.mcmaster. ca/mea...ce/policy.html
Off campus dining http://hospitality.mcmaster. ca/loc...offcampus.html
Most of what im writing is here http://hospitality.mcmaster. ca/mealplan/faq.html
Your money is split mostly into the Basic plan with a bit of it into freedom. Freedom allows you to use your meal card for off campus places in second link There is a meal card list somewhere which I'm lazy to find since I did enough googling.

The flex account is money added after your basic runs out. The difference is Basic/Flex gets no tax while cash does. It states in the second link that flex is the same as basic which is tax free. Hence most people would recommend to just get the smallest plan and add more when required. As stated, only flex/freedom can be kept for next year, only refundable when you leave university.

From a diet perspective it depends where you go to buy/what you eat. I sometimes ate breakfast and bought their overpriced drinks and had enough to last the year on a not so good diet around 2.5 meals a day. Some restaurants more expensive than other so it depends on what you eat and how often

-How exactly does the Meal Plan work? Is it kinda like a debit card, that you use at whatever restaurant you eat from? How are the prices like?What restaurants does McMaster have on campus?
List of available places on campus http://future.mcmaster.ca/student/dining/
As standard university policy everything is overpriced. Imagine a giant marketplace , pick/order your food and on way out you pay.

-Can I have snacks (like granola bars, juice boxes, etc) in my room?
Ya bring whatever. Ramen noodles in room ftw
I really don't want to to buy a Meal Plan, but it says on the hospitality website that you must buy one...Is there anyone I can live on residence and not have a meal plan?
Only in the apartment suite styles (Keyes+Bates) can you choose to have no meal plan. But if you calculate it out with groceries or what not it's roughly the same