User:M-Sarge/sandbox

College is said to be some of the best years of your life. From football games at the stadium and study sessions in the library, to your daily classes around campus, these years are busier than you thought, and you may not feel adequately prepared for this on-the-go lifestyle. Lunch time is no longer automatically scheduled into your day, so it can be difficult to find the time to satisfy your hunger. It's a good thing snacks exist. But which snack is the best? When you're hungry, you need the right snack, right now. To help with this agonizing decision, we made a list of our favorite snacks that help get us through the day. We also want this to be your decision too, though. Every person has different things that make a good snack a “good snack.” That’s how we decided on our criteria: price, satisfaction, availability, and portability.

The price is obviously an important factor. College may be the best years of your life, but they’re also the most expensive years of your life as tuition prices rise and employment is difficult to find. We ranked lower prices as more favorable and higher prices as less favorable in this subsection.

“Satisfaction guaranteed” is often plastered over every purchasable item when you shop. But is it really guaranteed? If you ask your stomach, not all snacks are created equal and this ranking reflects that. The better a snack achieves the right not too much and not too little amount of fullness, the higher it scores in the availability criterion.

If it’s not available, how can you eat it? A steady go-to snack needs to be found anywhere and everywhere, from the grocery store in the commons to vending machines in your laboratory. More favorably ranked snacks are more often available, while snacks with worse availability are ranked lower.

No one likes fumbling with their food on their way to class. Streets, halls, and elevators can be crowded and particularly uncomfortable to snack in, but when one lecture ends just minutes before your next one starts, sacrifices have to be made. Portability is a significant component of a snack. The less messy and hard to handle a snack is, the higher it scores in this criterion.

We've also decided to use a point scale from 1 to 3 for each of our criteria, with 1 being the lowest and 3 being the highest.

Hostess Donettes - Chocolate

Each doughnut in the six-pack is a ring about an inch and a half in diameter , covered in a chocolate ganache that gives it its iconic flavor. They are horizontally stacked on top of each other in a plastic packaging. It is sticky to the touch, especially after being handled for more than a quick moment, but the actual doughnut part is soft. Chocolate Donettes taste like the rich, artificial, and almost too-sweet chocolate flavoring that is easy to love. The inside is visibly airy and light. Are these classic mini doughnut enough to satisfy a college student on the go?

Price: 3 Coming in at about a dollar , six mini donuts is a good bargain. That's around 17 cents per mini donut. The six pack is around three ounces but you can get a much larger ten ounce bag for about two dollars . That's an even better deal and worthy of the 3 rating.

Satisfaction: 2 Donuts have a very wide appeal and I've met very little people who dislike donuts. The mini donuts are great because you don't have to eat a whole donut to satisfy your donut craving. However eating more than three donettes at a time can fill you up and all the carbs can leave you feeling rather bad after eating too many. It can be a bit too much for a snack if you aren't careful.

Availability: 2 These can be found in practically every grocery store and convenience store. They are massed produced and a rare treat for many so it's not often they'll be sold out. However, you aren't likely to find them in a vending machine which can be a deal breaker.

Portability: 2 Donuts are crumby by nature so they aren't the most portable. However this particular brand of donette is significantly easier to eat than other flavors (like the white powder donettes). The chocolate icing doesn't really stick to your fingers or come off like most chocolate icing so it's a pretty easy cleanup. It's a typically not portable snack that is saved by the specific flavor.

Chocolate Donettes register at a fairly average rating of 2.25 out of a possible 3. They excel in their price point, but fail to keep up with other snacks that are often more portable, satisfying, and commonly available. If you're looking for a snack that falls closer to a meal, Donettes should be a top choice for you.

Oreo

Oreo-Two-Cookies

Oreos, otherwise known under the generic name along the lines of “sandwich creme cookies,” are a snack is made up of two black chocolate cookies that are circular and flat with an ornate design that sandwich a layer of white, sugary icing. The cookies diameter measures 1 3/4th inches wide and 9mm thick, fitting easily in the palm of a hand . This snack food tastes very sweet, but it is not too overwhelming as the cookie part balances the sweet flavoring. It has a crunchy texture when you bite into it. Every three cookies have 160 calories, making it a relatively low-calorie snack . “America’s favorite cookie” is extremely popular, but is that popularity warranted for college students?

Price: 3 A large package of forty cookies can be found at Walmart for about three dollars, while snack packages are often six cookies priced at $0.99 . Oreos give you a lot of bang for your buck at these low prices and rank very well as a result.

Satisfaction: 3 Oreos are not an overly sweet snack, so you can easily finish the whole package in one sitting. The cookie component serves as a rewarding and solid way to curb hunger until your next meal while not being too filling to ruin your lunch.

Availability: 2 These cookies are a staple in every grocery store, market, and snack stand on or off a college campus, making them ideal for those with the time to stop into stores or have the conscience to pack a snack before leaving for their first class. However, Oreos are not commonly found in vending machines, which is a severe setback for many.

Portability: 2 Crumbs from the cookies can get on you, but otherwise, Oreos are very clean as the residual crumbs are not sticky in any way and can be easily brushed off rather than requiring a detour from your route to class. In comparison to many snacks, Oreos are a responsible choice to carry on-the-go, but not quite the superior option.

Overall, Oreo's scores average out to a net score of a 2.5, making it a fantastic snack for college students on-the-go to choose. Their excellent ratings in price and satisfaction propel them close to the top of our snack food rankings, but "Americas favorite cookie" lacks when it comes to portability and availability.

Chex Mix - Bold

Like the regular brand of Chex Mix, the Bold flavor includes wheat and corn chex, pretzels, rye chips, crackers, and breadsticks except with a much zestier flavoring. This combination creates a very satisfying and savory snack food that won't fill you up but will definitely leave you satisfied. It can come in snack size bags or family size bags, both of which can easily fit in a backpack on the go. With such a strong and unique flavor, could this be the favorable snack choice?

Chex-Mix-Pile

Price: 3 According to targets website, a 15 oz party bag of Bold Chex Mix is 2.99, giving you a lot of snack for a low price.

Satisfaction: 3 Bold Chex mix is composed of many different substances and is very savory. This allows you to feel content after consumption, but not too full or sluggish as you make your way to your next class.

Availability: 2 This snack can be found at more grocery stores, which is good for college students who shop for their food. Unfortunately, it is not normally found in a vending machine which can make is less accessible for a mobile college student who is in the middle of campus.

Portability: 1 This snack is coated in savory dust that has a habit of coating your fingers as you eat it. A trip to the restroom to wash your hands is required after you're done eating which makes it not as favorable for a college student looking for a snack between class.

The overall score of Bold Chex mix is a standard 2.25. It has a great price and solves your hunger problem, but it is not found everywhere and can get super messy.

Trolli Squiggles

Trolli Squiggles are a non-sour version of gummy worms. It’s a gummy candy that’s shaped like a worm. Just like any gummy, it’s very chewy and sweet. It has two equal segments of different colors and flavors. There can be multiple versions of gummy worms, each with a different set of colors and flavors. The entire worm, with two flavored ends, can be eaten all at once. It is larger than other types of gummies, like bears. Their shape is original and fun. These gummies are an interesting choice for a snack, but do they prove themselves to be the optimum choice?

Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers gummi worms close up

Price: 3 Trolli Squiggles receives a top score in price. For college student, price is everything. A mid-day snack should never break the bank. The cheapest a bag of Trolli gummy worms goes for is $1.25. The price increases with the quantity, however it's starting price is almost unbeatable.

Satisfaction: 1 Trolli Squiggles receives a one in satisfaction. This is because gummy worms are mostly sugar and not made of any real substance. They may give you satisfaction if it pacifies your sweet tooth, but other than that there's not a lot of substance to them and they're not filling. If you don't have a snack that fills you up before class, your stomach is going to be rumbling the whole lecture.

Availability: 2 Trolli Squiggles receives a two in the category of accessibility. Gummy worms aren't the hardest thing to find in a convenience store or a vending machine, however, finding a specific brand can be a struggle. Trolli Squiggles can be elusive depending on where you're shopping. If you're walking to class and want to stop to buy a snack real quick, there's not a guarantee that Trolli Squiggles will be available, hence why it received a 2.

Portability: 3 Trolli Squiggles receives a top score in portability because the gummy worms can easily be carried around from place to place and leave virtually no mess. There's no crumbs or residue on your fingers after and they can easily be put away when you're done eating them. It's perfect for taking to class for these reasons, (plus it won't make any loud crunching sounds while you're listening to the lecture).

These gummy worms have an average rating of 2.25 when evaluated with the criteria of price, satisfaction, availability, and portability. Where they lack in satisfaction, these sweet treats make up for in fair prices, great availability, and excellent portability around campus for snacking college students.

Fritos Flavor Twists - Honey BBQ

Fritos Honey BBQ Twists are one of a kind, with their tangy flavor and iconic shape. The honey barbeque flavor is achieved through a mix of orange, red and brown spices that coat the spiral shaped corn chip. The crunchiness of the corn chip is maximized by the dusty flavoring. The grainy, firm twist vary in size, but typically are less than two inches long. These original take on plain corn chips are a fan favorite and make an excellent snack, but are they the best?

Price: 3 These honey barbeque corn chips cost only about $3-4 for 9.25 ounces depending on the store. It’s about $1.50 for 4.25 ounces. They’re relatively priced the same as other chips of the same size, and this price is optimal for those on a college student budget.

Satisfaction: 2 Since it’s mostly consisting of corn, Fritos Flavor Twists are pretty filling. Additionally, because of the honey barbeque flavor, this can satisfy one’s craving for savory and tangy snacks. Depending on the size, the chips can be too filling for just one person.

Availability: 3 Chips are very easy to find in the store, and Fritos is a known brand, so these shouldn’t be difficult to access. These can also be found in vending machines, so that makes it more suitable for college students.

Portability: 1 This snack is easy to carry around while eating; however, it leaves a dusty mess after eating a whole bag. Also, they leave a dust residue on one’s fingers, which is a problem when needing to access one’s phone. These chips are a good choice for college students on the go, but the aftermath is messy.

Fritos Honey BBQ flavor twists are given an average score of 2.25 out of 3.