There is nothing more essential to your college experience than having the best study snacks. Studying becomes slightly manageable if you have 3 pounds of nibbles with you. Plus, snacks will help you finally achieve the freshman 15! We’ve ranked the top five study snacks (according to zero statistics) by these three categories: flavor, sustenance and the “cool” factor.
Hummus
Flavor: 5/5. Good flavor! Especially with pretzels, pita chips or pita bread. Word on the street is that Noah’s Bagels hummus is pretty solid.
Sustenance: 5/5. Good sustenance, probably because it’s actual food. But who needs actual food anyway?
Cool factor: 5/5. Because it’s Berkeley. And because hummus is currently a “hip” thing.
Total: 15/15
Cheesy sticks
Flavor: 5/5. Who doesn’t like these? Especially the ones from West Coast Pizza, Seniore’s Pizza or Domino’s Pizza.
Sustenance: 4/5. At least it’s real food, and there are some … vegetables … right? In the marinara sauce?
Cool factor: 5/5. These sticks are very popular in Berkeley, so you’ll feel fly while studying.
Total: 14/15
Boba
Flavor: 5/5. That’s a given. The best places in Berkeley (in the opinion of the Clog, because we know this is a highly disputed topic) are UCafe, Plentea and Sharetea.
Sustenance: 3/5. Seeing as it’s a drink with just a few actual food items floating around inside, it won’t give you much sustenance.
Cool factor: 5/5. Again, because it’s Berkeley. This category is so easy!
Total: 13/15
Sour Patch Kids
Flavor: 5/5. Solid. Always solid, especially the red ones — the blue ones are kinda gross.
Sustenance: 2/5. Really not great. You’ll be on a sugar rush for about 20 minutes and will finish a quarter of your problem set before you crash. It’s all over after that.
Cool factor: 5/5. Everyone knows it’s cool to eat Sour Patch Kids — it all started back in middle school!
Total: 12/15
Trail Mix
Flavor: 1/5. Why do people eat this? WHY?
Sustenance: 5/5. It does give you more energy than Sour Patch Kids, though. Probably because it’s meant for hiking, and you know, studying is basically hiking for your brain.
Cool factor: 4/5. Because it’s Berkeley, this is very trendy and crunchy. But we at the Clog think you might look like kind of a fool, because trail mix tastes bad.
Total: 11/15
It looks like hummus is the winner here. Go with the hummus and never look back (oh, and never eat trail mix — it’s disgusting).
Contact Esmé Brachmann at ebrachmann@dailycal.org.