<p>We got our housing/dining info in the mail.</p>
<p>Totally confused over all the meal plan choices.</p>
<p>What is a "typical" plan? I don;t know where to start and any guidance would be appreciated.</p>
<p>If it makes a difference he is hoping for honors housing,</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Hey, </p>
<p>I’m a senior here at Pitt and could offer some advice on this. There are dining dollars and dining passes. The passes are specifically for Market Central. From my experience, the food there is excellent. You use a pass to get in, then it’s all you can eat. Students definately prefer market over all the other on campus food services.</p>
<p>The dining dollars are for the other on campus food services. They work similarly to plain money. So if you go to the Union to eat and get a burger, it might cost 3.49, which you would pay for with your dining dollars. </p>
<p>As for which plan is best, I’m not really sure what to recommend. You should know though, that you can always add more (passes or dining dollars) during the course of the semester. So it is very flexible.</p>
<p>DMom-Ditto what the above poster recommends. Under purchase both DD and DP and reload with money which kiddo utilizes more. FYI, this will change as his schedule, which part of campus he is at mealtimes, where his friends eat at, blah,blah blah</p>
<p>If there are passes or dollars left at the end of a semster are they gone or do they carryover?</p>
<p>I guess I can always start low and add as needed.</p>
<p>DMom- Check this off the worry list.
Done.
Happy thoughts now.</p>
<p>If you have dining passes left over – you lose them. You need to decide how many times are you going to eat at a place that use the dining passes (Market Central etc.). I know my son changed his dining plan to the lowest # of passes available. He could not use up his dining passes before the end of the semester – I think he still had 20 or so left.</p>
<p>If there are dining dollars left over, the kids usually stock up on water or Gatorade or other nonperishables. And as MTnest said, dining passes are lost to the ages. It’s a good time to start treating their friends to meals.</p>
<p>Neither can be carried over to the next semester. We found out the hard way. The dining dollars are dollar for dollar. You save nothing, only gain some convenience. For this reason I like Panther Funds better for small meals/snacks on campus. Money can be easily loaded at Panther Central or you can be done by you or student online with a credit card. As much as we want them to eat 3 meals a day it doesn’t usually happen. Shooting for at least dinner each night at Market Central is a good plan. It also serves as good bonding for freshmen to go to dinner together. I also agree to take advantage of any flexibility the plans might offer. Changing after 2 weeks maybe? (Don’t quote me on this) allows time to see how a final class schedule turns out. Be sure to check all the rules for buying additional passes.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Wat?</p>
<p>Market Central food is horrible. It makes the Taco Bell nearby taste like a 5 star restaurant. I only go to Market Central out of convenience because it’s open really often.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t put Market Central food THAT low on the totem pole, but to each his own I guess…?</p>
<p>It so is! All they serve are hamburgers, greasy pizza, and the same soups every day. It’s school food and not much different than the kind found in high school cafeterias (the only difference is in Market Central it’s all-you-can-eat), meaning that no one would actually eat it if it were served in a real restaurant.</p>
<p>I may have exaggerated in reference to the five star restaurant (as I’ve never been to one), but let’s just say Taco Bell has a taste that is more dimensional compared to Market Central hamburgers, which are flavored mostly by the ketchup you put in them.</p>
<p>My daughter’s been pretty happy with Market Central, especially considering what it replaced.</p>
<p>Hmmm…what about that stir fry station – it wasn’t that bad :)</p>
<p>Maybe I’m just not that discerning with food lol</p>
<p>I like magellan’s and tutto fresco alot!</p>
<p>LOL my son loves Taco Bell so Market Central might be right up his alley!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Choose a meal plan with lots of dining dollars then, because that’s what the Taco Bell uses.</p>
<p>I ended up using a lot more dining dollars than meal passes because dining dollars can buy REAL food like Pizza Hut and subs that actually taste like subs (in the Schenley Cafe in WPU).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>On our first visit to Pitt, last spring, D and I had lunch in Market Central. I had one of their “regular” lunch entrees and, to be honest, I did think that it tasted like classic high school cafeteria food. More importantly, though, D had one of stir-fry station entrees and she thought the food there was delicious. It sounds like the best approach would be to opt for the eating plan with the minimum amount of dining passes…?</p>
<p>Does the students living in Forbes normally eat at Market Central, as well? </p>
<p>Are the dining dollars also accepted at any of the other local restaurants (like Panera or Primanti Bros) or coffee shops?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wasn’t around when they replaced it, but from what I heard the renovations to Market Central were mostly aesthetic. It’s true that Market Central looks very nice and impressive, but the food doesn’t really match. There’s a Facebook group about it.</p>
<p>I’d recommend getting the plan with 50 dining PASSES and 950 dining DOLLARS. This is the plan with the least passes and the most dollars. Market Central and the Perch aren’t too bad, but dining dollars are a lot more useful (Einstein’s Bagels, Starbucks, Chic Fil’A, Taco Bell, etc.)</p>
<p>[Campus</a> Dining Locations](<a href=“http://www.pc.pitt.edu/dining/locations/index.html]Campus”>http://www.pc.pitt.edu/dining/locations/index.html)</p>
<p>Everything except for the Perch and Market Central accepts dining dollars. There’s also a number of places not listed on that page that also accept dining dollars (there’s a Jazzman’s Cafe in Katz Business School, for example.)</p>
<p>The first semester will be an experiment. Keep in mind that you can always add $$ if your child runs out, but you lose if he/she doesn’t use it all. We had to send money last semester, but DD went with the same plan for this spring.</p>