<p>I am a freshman and I will be living "off campus" at temple in philly, but it is only a 7 min walk to center of campus. It is an apartment with a kitchen/fridge/oven/microwave and so since I did not get a dorm with an eating hall init, I think i should get a lower meal plan
-----I am a vegetarian-----
I am pretty sure I will not be a part of the freshman 15 since I have to walk allot (more than I do now), but since I want to remain healthy I want to make sure I do not get too little or too big of a plan. I am choosing between 12 and 15 meals a week. Each plan also has about $150 diamond dollars a semester to eat at the eateries around campus. I eat , usually, little meals allot becausae I easily get low blood sugar.
Do allot of kids just put food from the cafeteria in their bag for breakfast the next day or for dessert or a snack ?I am going to be very poor, is that a hidden " no no" to bring containers to cafeteria and put food in them hahaha- I need to eat as cheap as possible.</p>
<p>It may depend on the school. At my school you were not allowed to take any food out of the cafeteria unless it was one, small item-- like one piece of fruit, or one ice cream cone. They would stop you at the door with anything else.</p>
<p>You say you’ll be very poor… will you have money to buy groceries to supplement the dining hall meals? Even the 15 meal plan is only two meals a day, and that won’t include snacks or anything like that. Those diamond dollars will go quickly.</p>
<p>I ask because I had literally no pocket money for a good chunk of the time while I was in college… most people assume you’ll be ordering pizza and buying snacks for your dorm and so you won’t need a big meal plan, but if you don’t have money for those kinds of things that won’t be the case.</p>
<p>Vegetarian? Off campus? Get the lowest meal plan you can. You’ll be eating breakfast at home, but will probably find lunch on campus easier. Different campuses have different policies about what you can carry out of the cafeteria. You should be able to feed yourself for much less than any meal plan and probably with healthier snacks if you plan ahead. That said, I think having some meal plan dollars is nice so you can eat easily with your friends.</p>
<p>Especially since you’re a veggie and even more especially since you expect to be poor, consider not getting a meal plan at all. Make your own meals at home including something you can take to campus to eat for lunch/snacks. Figure out what eateries are available on campus that fit your veg tastes and you can supplement buying food there as well and you likely don’t need (or can’t use) dining dollars for that.</p>
<p>My veggie D found that the veggie options at the campus dining halls weren’t good and ended up not eating there much. Even though they say they have veggie stuff she found it was often too greasy, not fresh enough, etc.</p>
<p>Most campuses won’t allow you to wander into the dining hall at will filling up your bag full of food to take out - for obvious reasons. They generally have a way you can get some food to take out but in a way that it’s accounted for on your dining dollars.</p>
<p>Emahee has a point. If you’re not going to have a ready supply of cash, you won’t have money for groceries. You need something.</p>
<p>What’s the cost difference between the 2 plans? At D’s school, the “extra” meals on the larger plan worked out to less than $2 each. Worth it if you ask me.</p>
<p>To answer your other question, no you are not supposed to load your backpack on meal plan food so you can avoid buying a larger plan or buying your own groceries. Walking out with a piece of fruit isn’t going to raise any eyebrows, but much more will earn you a gentle talking to.</p>
<p>I think that if you are living off campus, eating in the dining halls is an easy way to connect with the kids living in the dorms. I strongly encourage you to buy into a meal plan for that reason alone. I also think two meals a day is fine, if they are lunch and dinner. Breakfast food can be cheaper to buy and easier to fix in your apt than lunch or dinner. And if you have lots of HW and studying the last thing you will want to do is shop and cook.</p>
<p>^^ I agree. Sharing meals with your classmates is so important.</p>
<p>12 meals a week would be dinner every day and lunch Monday - Friday.</p>
<p>15 melas a week would add lunch on Saturday and Sunday and breakfast one day a week.</p>
<p>Almost every student that I have spoken to in recent years has gotten very tired of the meal plan very quickly. For that reason (and since you will have a kitchen where you can make breakfast and easly handle brunch on Saturday and Sunday), 12 meals might be enough.</p>
<p>OP</p>
<p>Eating with classmates will be important.
12-15 meals sounds right if you are off campus…it will depend on your schedule…though … and you may find that you are eating 2 meals a day during the week on campus…and 1 a day on the weekends.
Dining flex types of dollars don’t go very far compared to the swipe/eat meals.
So when it doubt, go for the 1-2 more meals (from 12- to 15) on a plan rather than flex dollars if $ will be tight. Also–taking in containers etc is a no-no. Taking an apple to eat on the way to class is one thing–stocking up on food for other meals after eating a meal there isn’t appropriate.
Meals will likely be repetitive. If you can see the menus (past?) of the food service via the schools edu website you can get an idea of the offerrings. Our students school had a large number of vegan options etc and I know some schools offer kosher, organic etc.
And there are probably places like noodle shops etc nearby. One thought–go to google maps of your apartment address…and use the search nearby function for restaurants. It will give you an idea of things in the walking distance.</p>
<p>Aw, man. Living near Philly and not letting yourself have a Philly Cheese-steak hero.</p>
<p>If you are on FA, how are they accounting for your meal plan? Do they give you full meal plan cost and deposit the money in your account? </p>
<p>I think it is important for you to eat with your classmates. You could have breakfast in your apartment, pack a lunch and eat dinner at the dining hall. I just signed up my younger one for 15 meal plan.</p>
<p>Choose the smallest meal plan, I guarantee you won’t be eating 12-15 meals at the dining hall each week.</p>
<p>Looks like Temple has a late dinner option too: [Dining</a> Services, Temple University](<a href=“http://www.tudining.com/plans/index.html]Dining”>http://www.tudining.com/plans/index.html) My son found that one to be very handy. I would suggest going for the 12 meal plan for the first semester and switching if that doesn’t work.</p>
<p>So much socializing happens in the cafeteria. Especially for a new student living off campus, making those connections easier is going to be important. I would recommend a plan with more meals, at least 10.</p>
<p>You were more fortunate in being allowed lower meal options than 21…which my LAC foisted on all first semester first-years unless we opted to eat all our meals in a co-op…which meant the need to allocate another 3+ hours/week for cooking/cleaning/meetings. </p>
<p>Found 21 to be far too much…especially considering my classes sometimes met during the times the dining halls had lunch and/or dinner or my part-time gigs coincided with those times. :(</p>
<p>In your case…I’d start with 12 or 15 and go down from there. </p>
<p>Also, even though my campus and other college campus cafeterias had official rules against taking food out, I never had an issue bringing a backpack and loading it up with fruits, canisters of cereal, and even refillable drinks courtesy of refillable bottles. Ended up having a nice stock of cereal, fruits, and drinks for late evening studying or just chilling out before bedtime. Works great if you’re resourceful about how to pack stuff alongside one’s notebook, laptop computer, and textbooks. :)</p>
<p>Just don’t let the dining staff see you do it and you should be fine. Hey…you/your family did pay for those meals.</p>