<p>Now I’m forgetting everything they told us at Bama Bound - we can upgrade from silver to gold for second semester if we need to - right?</p>
<p>But if we downgrade from gold to silver we lose any extra meals which would have rolled over…</p>
<p>I hope there isn’t confusion about on-campus Meal Plan Dining Hall venues and on-campus Retail Dining venues.</p>
<p>In the Ferg, there is a Dining Hall called “Fresh Food”, which some may not have even noticed since it’s kind of hidden behind the Food Court. I was in The Ferg a couple of times before I even knew that Fresh Food was there. I just saw the Food Court and thought that was it. </p>
<p>“Fresh Food” is set up like Lakeside Dining and Burke Dining. Those are the dining halls that take the meal plan.</p>
<p>The Food Court in The Ferg is where there are “fast food” kind of places - like Chick-Fil-A and such. Those are often the places where kids run into to grab a slice of pizza or a whatever between meals. Those are retail purchases - paid by Dining Dollars, Bama Cash, credit/debit or cash. </p>
<p>There are also retail places opening in Lloyd Hall, Shelby, and another place. There are retail eating in the libraries, too. I noticed some nice sandwiches in Gorgas Library.</p>
<p>So, no child should fear that his/her only meals will be from their meal plan in dining halls.</p>
<p>Yes, if you downgrade, you lose your rolled over meals.</p>
<p>*Meals at Bryant Hall.</p>
<p>I think you are upcharged if you use a regular, nonathletic meal plan there for dinner, but what about for lunch? If you want to eat lunch at Bryant, do you just swipe a regular meal plan meal there? *</p>
<p>Meal Plans are accepted at Bryant Sports Grill and at all other on-campus dining locations that accept regular meal plans during lunch. </p>
<p>Athletic Meal Plans allow participants one Training Table meal at Bryant Sports Grill for dinner 5 nights per week. Please note that regular (non-athletic) meal plans are accepted at Bryant Sports Grill during dinner for an additional $9.95.</p>
<p>Opening this Summer in Lloyd’s Hall…</p>
<p>[What’s</a> New](<a href=“What is sustainability? – Bama Dining | The University of Alabama”>http://bamadining.ua.edu/pages/whats-new.html)</p>
<p>A mini food court featuring…</p>
<p>Chick Fil A</p>
<p>Pizza Hut Express</p>
<p>Boar’s Head ( I believe that sub sandwiches since Boar’s Head is a meat & cheese deli)</p>
<p>Java City (There’s a Java City also in Gorgas Library that has sandwiches in a fridge case and other “quick grab” foods)</p>
<p>so silver is required for freshman. that is 10 meals a week. Then there is another 300 a semester for retail food through his dining dollars. Is this right?</p>
<p>Yup, BassettMomma. You can also add Bama Cash onto the card that can be used at Publix and other off campus eateries. The vending machines also take the Dining dollars. </p>
<p>I am so not sweating this one. D’s main complaint when she was in a dorm for 3 weeks last summer was that she was sick of dorm food (and Vanderbilt has good dorm food!) and wished she could make a bowl of pasta. I swear that the kitchen aspect of the honors dorms was one of the tipping factors in UA’s favor. If she eats one meal a day through any of the meal plans I’d be surprised. She cooks for herself all the time now. So we’ll do a Publix run before we leave campus & stock her up on her favorites & then she can go on her own to refill what she needs.</p>
<p>Good for your girl, Rob. She’s had her learning curve. Some of us will have an expensive learning curve this year.</p>
<p>Yes, to Bassettmomma</p>
<p>When figuring meals, keep in mind that kids don’t eat very often in the Dining Halls on weekends. Kids are wandering around Tuscaloosa…on the Strip, Downtown, at Midtown Village, going to part-time jobs, etc. Yes, some kids are doing some studying, but they’re not studying from Friday afternoon until Sunday night. :)</p>
<p>Also, consider holidays - Labor Day Weekend…Fall Break Weekend…Thanksgiving Weekend. Even if your child is on campus during those times, he probably won’t be eating in the Dining Halls…he/she will be all over T-town with other friends who stayed in town</p>
<p>When I ask my kids how they eat, this is what they tell me…</p>
<p>Morning…cereal, toast, or bagel and juice/coffee in their suite (unless they slept in too late…but they do try to eat at least cereal. One son puts cereal and milk in a paper cup and eats it while walking to class. Other son drinks his juice or coffee while walking to class.)</p>
<p>Mid-morning … “grab and go” something at Fresh Foods (the amount of food depends on what they ate in the morning…sometimes a sandwich…sometimes just some fruit.)</p>
<p>Lunch … Burke Hall - meal plan. </p>
<p>Afternoon snack…maybe a granola bar from their backpack or if they’ve returned to their dorm for a nap, some snack from there. Or something from the C-store in Shelby (I think there is also a Java City or something like that in Shelby.). </p>
<p>Dinner…either at a Dining Hall meal plan or off campus with friends. </p>
<p>College kids have more free time than parents might think they will - especially if they start early (8am or 9am).</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that many math classes do not meet during that one evening period a week. Some profs use that time to give periodic tests, and some don’t use it at all. So, if your child has one of those scheduled periods, he/she may end up being free during that time.</p>
<p>When my kids move into their dorms, I stock them up with non-perishable snacks…granola bars, juices in individual bottles, water bottles, etc. Those are easy to grab and go.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m not a big fan of putting too much money into Bama Cash because it’s limiting. I do put money in it for laundry and making printing copies. I prefer putting money in Alabama Credit Union (or some other bank) with a debit card because there is more flexibility there - can be used virtually anywhere off campus and on campus.</p>
<p>Great post, mom. Given that scenario, what would be a good meal plan? </p>
<p>I like that you do include the grab and go between classes and labs. </p>
<p>Do your kids take advantage of the late night Lakeside dining? Son has a few classes that will make him miss regular dinner time, but will let him out in time to get back to the dorm and maybe grab a nighttime snack before studying at Lakeside when they reopen. He liked the pizza at Lakeside. Son is a very picky eater, so I am thrilled he found something.</p>
<p>I think he’s eaten now at Burke, Fresh Food, and Lakeside. I’d like him to try lunch at Bryant if the meal plan will cover it. I heard the food is good there. Is it only good at dinner when there’s the upcharge?</p>
<p>thanks for the info. did you say somewhere that you need 30 units for sophomore standing and then you can downgrade…my son will have 29 going in with his APs so could we change his plan after the semester.</p>
<p>Good question. Can we change from the unlimited to a regular meal plan in the spring? I know unused meals won’t roll over. Maybe after one semester, son will have a better picture of what he really needs.</p>
<p>I haven’t tried downgrading mid-year, so I don’t know if they will let you change from a Frosh plan to a upperclassman plan mid-year. </p>
<p>Are you sure your son will only have 29 credits? Can he find another one somewhere? LOL Maybe take a CC class? </p>
<p>What are his AP classes?</p>
<p>Do your kids take advantage of the late night Lakeside dining?</p>
<p>A couple of times a week they eat “late-night” at Lakeside if they didn’t eat a good dinner earlier or if they aren’t eating off-campus. </p>
<p>My kids like to keep those microwaveable chili bowls in their dorms and they often eat those late at night while studying or doing homework.</p>
<p>I don’t know how your child wants to do his “dorm food” but many kids are very respectful of each kid’s food. Usually the kids each get a designated shelf or something to keep “their” dry goods on. </p>
<p>In Lakeside, Riverside, (and I think Ridgecrest West), the kitchen pantry is easily divided into 4 sections - one for each suitemate.</p>
<p>For me, the gold meal was great for the Fall semester. I would eat on campus for most of my meals and sometimes grab a to-go box from a dining hall before and after a football game. I also went to midnight Lakeside quite a bit during the Fall. I did not have too many meals left over, but those few (about 20 out of 220) rolled over to the next semester. During the spring, I really didn’t need the same meal plan because I had a good bit left over from the last semester and 160 more would have been enough. School was harder, so I stopped going to midnight Lakeside and occasionally slept through dinner.</p>
<p>Moral of the story is you should definitely reevaluate the meal plan situation before you return to school for the Spring. Besides, you can always upgrade you’re meal plan.</p>
<p>i think someone said that there was a charge to switch plans in the spring. or maybe the “charge” is not being able to roll over unused meals.</p>
<p>M2K- i thought about my son taking a 1 unit PE class at the JC, but I just checked the website and it says that 31 units are SOPH so that wont work…His APs let me see if I can remember them all I know his scores but not sure how they transfer into units. He knows cause he wrote them all out for BB and it was 29 units, English-4, Bio-4, US Hist-4, No scores yet just took- Gov, Stats, Psychology. I think that is it I might be missing something. Anyway I am thinking of doing silver and then if I can downgrade to bronze I can give him the cash for the difference to use for food. He is very responsible, so I think he would use it to stock up on dorm food. (forgot to tell you after BB he switched from Burke to Ridgecrest south north) so now he will have a kitchen. He likes to make his own food so the less meal plan food the better.</p>
<p>bassettmomma - which room is your son in in RCSN?</p>
<p>English-4, Bio-4, US Hist-4, No scores yet just took- Gov, Stats, Psychology.</p>
<p>English 6 credits
US - 6 credits
Gov - 3 credits
Stats - 3 credits</p>
<h2>Psych - 3 credits</h2>
<p>Total…21 credits</p>
<p>You must be forgetting some… AP Euro maybe? AP World? AP Cal?</p>
<p>Wow…can you send me the link for 31 credits is soph status? I didn’t know that. Are they saying 0-30 is frosh? </p>
<p>Is there an easy 3 credit class he could take that is transferable? Would he be at Fullerton College?</p>
<p>Thanks, pram. Good advice from an OOS. Probably without a car? And I see you’re from New Orleans as well, so I’m sure we have similar appreciation of food. </p>
<p>I’m leaning towards the gold, then doing the Thrifty 20 if necessary.</p>
<p>Is there a limit on Thrifty 20s you can purchase? I’m guessing not, since you’re paying for them.</p>
<p>Has anyone on here, or their kids, ever eaten at Bryant?</p>
<p>Also, what dining venues, meal plan or not, are available on the weekend?</p>
<p>Didn’t read everything but this is how we decided to go silver…</p>
<p>I dont know who has been to orientation but we were told the smallest meal plan we can get as freshmen is the silver level (its probably in the materials somewhere too). We were going to go unlimited until orientation and we talked with the kids. They said the silver was PLENTY and to use it to gauge for next year. The point for us to remember is if we need to change in the middle of the year, we can add or go up levels and keep the unused meals so we should just start with the required silver. For the following years keep in mind if you go down any levels during the year from what you initially purchased you LOSE any unused meals. Unused meals will transfer from fall to spring but not from year to year.</p>
<p>I would also suggest going with the smallest meal plan. I had 160 meals a semester, carried over 30 to the second semester and ended up having to eat two meals every day to use them all up. Since Lakeside was most convenient and served foods I liked, I ate there most every time, so much that I could guess exactly who would be serving which foods. People are hired to serve us most of the food (portion control, I guess), but occasionally some things (like vegetables) are self-serve during one meal and not self-serve the other. I know lakeside started selling candy and gum at the entrance, so your child may still get an urge to buy candy even while they are entering an all-you-can eat dining establishment.</p>
<p>Bryant Dining hall had no surcharge for lunch this year, but that is subject to change. I started going there towards the end of the year and do like much of the food. The fact that one gets to use trays, stoneware dishes, and gets a 33oz take-out drink cup add to the enjoyment of eating at Bryant. </p>
<p>Your child will probably enjoy eating out and getting food from Publix or other grocery stores, especially those things that are not served in the dining halls (for me, it was 100% fruit juice). Ridgecrest West does have a nice 4-cupboard storage area in the kitchen, as do the other residence halls m2ck mentioned. I personally enjoy cooking my own meals even if it is just something simple in the microwave. This helps a lot when I’m hungry and the dining halls are closed or are serving something that I don’t eat (particularly a problem after the dining halls close after dinner).</p>
<p>I seem to remember a charge listed for switching meal plans ($25 or $35), but I could be remembering wrong. By e-mailing Bama Dining, you can get a list of how many meals you redeemed and when you redeemed them. Remember that as of this past year, the cash/credit/dining dollars price for meals was $9.00+tax for breakfast/lunch and $9.29+tax for dinner, which is not much more than the 7.95 per meal paid for the 160-meal plan should your child desire extra meals.</p>