Living and studying at Whitman College is expensive. Tuition increases every year, and living on campus is costly.  And what about those costs that students don’t necessarily budget in? Eating in town, going on a date, participating in Greek life and paying for alcohol are all expenses that new (and old) students end up stuck with. These extra expenses add up, and students don’t always see them coming.

Living on campus with a meal plan is deceiving when it comes to food costs. No Whitman plan comes with the option to eat meals in town or go out to coffee, but most Whitman students, including first-year Ana Greeley, find the lure of real food (and coffee that isn’t from Reid) too strong to resist.

“I go shopping at Safeway about once every two weeks, spending approximately $30,” said Greeley. “I also go to coffee from time to time, spending probably $10 a visit.”

Greeley encountered unexpected costs entering Whitman, including the bi-weekly trips to Safeway.

“I spend money outside of the meal plan because I find myself hungry at times different to those offered by Whitman, so will sometimes eat dinner at 8 p.m. from things that I have made rather than 5:30 p.m. in the dining hall. I also sometimes find myself not necessarily sick of the food in the dining hall but rather the atmosphere.”

Sophomore Hanna Mosenthal considers her primary extra expense a necessary one but found that this necessity became more expensive once she got to Whitman.

“I use Burt’s Bees chapstick, and at a regular store, it only costs three dollars. At the Whitman bookstore, it costs $3.80 with tax,” said Mosenthal. “It really adds up, especially if you use chapstick as much as I do.”

Extra spending at Whitman seems inevitable, but for most students, is ultimately unavoidable to complete the Whitman experience.