Both Kim’s and IB offer free gym access. The one at Kim’s is nicer, but is offsite and requires a drive, while the one at IB is onsite.
Doing the food pack at Kim’s is incredibly stupid unless you simply cannot afford to get reimbursed by the FAA and need them to pay for your housing directly. Even Kim will tell you that. You’re literally paying nearly $140 extra every week to have her shop for you. Unless your credit score is truly abysmal, just get a cash back credit card and pay her $39 and pocket the extra $18 a day that the FAA will give you.
The food at IB isn’t great or particularly healthy. There’s a decent salad bar st every meal, then beyond that she makes 1 or 2 hot entrees with a handful of sides. Off the top of my head, some of the common dishes are enchiladas, pasta with Alfredo sauce, chicken breast, roasted broccoli, mixed veggies, and always some sort of potato and rice and biscuits. Some meals are better than others, but most meals are pretty good, and the benefit of not having to spend several hours a week cooking and grocery shopping are huge.
I didn’t bring my car out to OKC which made IB a much more appealing option for me. The inside food and gym are convenient, and the shuttle runs direct to the center. There’s also a Walmart in very close walking distance for any groceries I do need, and they offer free courtesy cars for any driving you need to do.
However, really the biggest determining factor should be where others in your class are staying if you can figure that out. Study groups are really important, and you don’t want to be the only one stuck at a different location than anyone else.
Let me know if there are any other questions.
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