<p>Can anyone with experience with it explain the All Campus plan? Is it as difficult to keep track of as it seems from the website?</p>
<p>I'm currently signed up for the all-campus plan 2. Does anyone know if this is enough food?</p>
<p>For background, last semester I lost about fifty to a hundred dollars each focus date. From the end of April on I bought food for me plus four guys (With the help of my roommate). Not just occasionally, we were their only source of food. We often came back to find them standing outside our dorm room because they were hungry. I was still left with about 50 dollars at the end of the semester after I bought a last meal for me and two of the guys.</p>
<p>However, my Terp Bucks were completely gone about two weeks before the end of finals.
Due to medical reason I can't eat anything fried or greasy, or any fruits, vegetables or soda. So I often ate crackers or similar items from the Incon.</p>
<p>Anyone know how this plan would work out for me? Or should I switch?
(I can't go above All Campus Plan 3)</p>
<p>@ginab
“I lost about fifty to a hundred dollars each focus date.”</p>
<p>I think you are only required to be on focus dates the first semester. I plan to opt out after that.</p>
<p>It’s the first two semesters. And that doesn’t work for me because of the spending cap at the end of the semester when I’m feeding five people off my plan.</p>
<p>The spending cap is really not so bad (40pts/day), but you’re right, that may not be enough for five.</p>
<p>I did recheck and it is only one mandatory semester on the Focus System …</p>
<p>[University</a> of Maryland Dining Services Budget Your Points](<a href=“http://dining.umd.edu/budget_info]University”>http://dining.umd.edu/budget_info)</p>
<p>That really wasn’t my problem anyway though. Anyone know about the All Campus plans?</p>
<p>It’s only worth it if you buy plan 5 or 6. I did the math a couple of years ago when I had the option to buy it and you’re better off buying the regular meal plan. I bought the red plan and used cash instead of terp bucks when necessary. </p>
<p>You should definitely make a habit of going to the diner more. You don’t have to get their greasy chicken tenders. My last semester on the meal plan I just ate turkey sandwiches on whole grain bread every meal. It was a pain in the ass waiting 30 minutes for a sandwich but I saved a lot of money in the long run.</p>
<p>Actually if you can provide legit documentation of your medical condition I would try to get out of buying a meal plan. Call them to meet with someone. Obviously they will pressure you to buy their meal plan but as long as you’re assertive and your case is serious then you have a shot.</p>
<p>Are you saying it’s not worth it because you don’t get enough food or for some other reason?</p>
<p>The thing is I need more terp bucks. I need fewer diner points.</p>
<p>I also can’t eat whole grains or large amount of carbs. Basically last semester I lived off of grilled chicken sandwiches (plain) with just enough bread left on it to be able to hold the sandwich.</p>
<p>I also can’t just use the cash because I don’t have it. My meal plan is paid for by my scholarship. </p>
<p>The not getting a meal plan is an idea, but then there is the issue of how/where I actually would eat as I still live in a regular dorm with no kitchen.</p>
<p>Levels 1-4 are not worth it because the ratio of points you get to the amount of money you have to pay is actually LOWER than if you got the regular meal plan. </p>
<p>Where is your scholarship from? If it’s from UMD, any money not used for school expenses can be refunded to your bank account. </p>
<p>You can still eat at the diner or the incon without the meal plan. Just pay cash at the register (use Terrapin Express for more convenience). In addition, you can also eat at Stamp which has a food court and the co-op. I would recommend that anyways since you only eat crackers. </p>
<p>The meal plan is basically the school’s way of ripping you off: “Hey, give me $1800, and I’ll give you $1100 that you can only use at the diner and $250 that you can only use at the incon. I’m keeping that extra $450 for myself.” This is why I strongly encourage you to opt out of it. If you have medical records that say you can’t eat vegetables, whole grains, or fruit, then you have a shot.</p>
<p>You do have a lot of good points, and it makes a lot of sense to keep what I’m not going to use anyway.
It’s probably too late to get into it for this semester…It’s definitely something I’ll try for Spring though.</p>