<p>On the Cornell Dining plans page Dining</a> - Meal Plan Options, it states that the Golden Bear (unlimited) dining plan includes Shabbat and Holiday meals at 104West! and that all other meal plans incur an extra charge for those meals. </p>
<p>But on the Center For Jewish Living page Kosher</a> :: The Center for Jewish Living at Cornell it states that "All meals cost one meal swipe. However, on the Sabbath and holidays, meals must be reserved before noon on the preceding day or an additional fee will be charged."</p>
<p>So it sounds like all the meal plans would include the Shabbat and Holiday meals as long as the student reserves in advance. </p>
<p>Does anyone know for sure how this works, or do I need to call Cornell Dining?</p>
<p>My S is planning on taking the 14 meals per week plan and just having cereal and milk for breakfast (keeping milk in a dorm fridge - that's all he ever eats for breakfast at home anyhow) but if he would also pay extra for Shabbat/Holiday meals we'll want to figure out how much extra he's going to really end up paying and see if it makes sense to just get the unlimited plan.</p>
<p>I never got an authoritative answer; even after talking to Cornell dining I wasn’t 100% sure how it would really play out. But I’ll check with my son who can tell us what has happened in practice, and get back to you. He did get the 14-meal plan and that works well for him in general. He can get cereal and milk with his “big red bucks” (dining dollars) from the little convenience store in RPCC (I think that’s where he gets them). There were times last semester when he didn’t even use the 14 meals when he was extremely busy with projects and extra-curriculars that kept him far from a dining hall at dinner time, and then he just grabbed something at one of the other food locations with his BRBs.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is that they can change their meal plan without penalty in the first week or two of classes, if they find that the one they signed up for really doesn’t work for them. I think it’s also possible to increase the meal plan to a more expensive plan at any time without penalty.</p>
<p>Thanks! I saw that. Right now, he thinks unlimited sounds great. I am not sure whether it makes sense. I guess we have until late August to alter it in either direction and later we can only make an increase during the semester (no decrease).</p>
<p>If you visit, talk to some current students about their meal plan. It seems like most of the kids want fewer swipes and more BRBs. The meal swipes are more economical if the kid is a fairly big eater AND will make it to a dining hall for meals. If your son thinks he will eat (almost) every meal in a dining hall, the unlimited is probably not a bad deal, especially if he still has that teen boy appetite going on My son has to get an unlimited house plan for next year since he will be living on west campus, and those house require it. So, I’m hoping he’ll make it to enough meals to make that worthwhile!</p>
<p>Back to the 104West question, my S says if you sign up in advance, you can just use a regular meal swipe, and he doesn’t think there’s any extra charge.</p>
<p>Former Cornell parent here. (My kid graduated last May.)</p>
<p>Have your kid get a SMALL meal plan and give him the difference between the cost of the small meal plan and the large one in cash.</p>
<p>If he finds that he wants to eat in the dining halls more times per week than his plan calls for, he can pay cash for the meals (and it doesn’t need to be actual folding money – his debit card will do fine). But he may also discover that he can’t make it to the dining halls for some lunches and dinners because of conflicts with classes or ECs. Most of the dining halls are on the periphery of the campus, and he might not be able to walk there and back in time. In that case, he can buy food at cash facilities on the central campus. There are a lot of sources of food at Cornell other than the meal plan dining halls, and some of them are in convenient central-campus locations.</p>
My son has to get an unlimited house plan for next year since he will be living on west campus, and those house require it. So, I’m hoping he’ll make it to enough meals to make that worthwhile!</p>