<p>as a sophomore transfer, i think i'll play it safe and get a dining plan for the first semester i'm on campus. this being said, what is the best dining plan for me to get? i just got an email that says you also get dining dollars with each plan now...although i'm unsure of their use. if there's plenty of cheap food on/near campus, then i'll stick to a smaller dining plan. any ideas?</p>
<p>i wouldn't say it's cheap, regardless. but getting dining dollars no matter what plan you get is a good idea, because you then don't pay sales tax.</p>
<p>so it seems that most upperclassmen don't get meal plans, based on what i've heard on this forum. then what do they do for food?</p>
<p>cook in their apartments, or go out / order in a lot of the time. very common for new yorkers. upperclassmen tend to get suites that have kitchens so it's a little easier.</p>
<p>def do NOT get a meal plan. its NYC there is so much food around your head will spin from the choices...not to mention the dining hall's hours are terrible and the on campus eateries where you'd be spending your dining dollars are, at best, on par with cheaper food across the street from campus.</p>
<p>def get a meal plan your first semester. it'll save you time, which is sorely needed while you're adjusting to a columbia workload, and you're guaranteed to have healthy options (the "cheaper food across the street" is kinda terrible for you, if you're talking about Ollie's or Pinnacle or HamDel or Deluxe...). after your first semester, if the dining hall is boring and monotonous to you, then maybe switch out, or downgrade.</p>
<p>the hours aren't great, it's true: 10:30-1pm for brunch, 5pm-8pm for dinner. but that's not the end of the world. it'll save you time and effort, and maybe you'll meet some friends or something.</p>
<p>Assuming you weren't on a meal plan, how much does food generally cost over a week? (A healthy week by the way :P)</p>
<p>Depends on how much time you have. If you're going to cook, and do (say) cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and two pasta dishes, a fish dish, and some chicken or beef dishes per week, you can do food for ~$80 a week. But start going out for dinner and that goes up.</p>
<p>I did a lot of microwaveable Lean Cuisine / Health Choice dinners since they're fast and still relatively cheap compared to restaurants. A cheeseburger at deluxe would run you $11, even takeout, but you can get a few lean beef patties and some buns, ketchup, cheese, etc and get 4-8 burgers out of it for roughly the same price.</p>
<p>Jeez... that's expensive!</p>
<p>If you don't take a meal plan, do they decrease your EFC?</p>
<p>'Cause really, with a meal plan, Columbia is "paying" for your food and since you'll be responsible for your food costs, it would heap on your EFC. If they have any common sense, they would put that mean plan/year cost and reduce the EFC...</p>
<p>Do they have common sense?</p>
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I did a lot of microwaveable Lean Cuisine / Health Choice dinners since they're fast and still relatively cheap compared to restaurants. A cheeseburger at deluxe would run you $11, even takeout,
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<p>11 bucks!? y would u go to deluxe? a specialty burger and fries at hamdel runs you about 8 bucks (about 6 for a regular one) while at M2M its $4.50. M2M has hot lunch (a meat usually chicken/beef/pork and a starch) for $4 or $5.50 if you're really hungry. Also, i would recommend max soha as both a date place and a takeout place ($10 lasagna can't be beat). To answer the question though I think i spent about 200-300 bucks a month on food.</p>
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If you don't take a meal plan, do they decrease your EFC?
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<p>you have to take a meal plan as a freshman....later on though the answer is no....your EFC doesnt change and the cost of attendance stays the same since they assume that you will be eating elsewhere for similar prices</p>
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'Cause really, with a meal plan, Columbia is "paying" for your food and since you'll be responsible for your food costs, it would heap on your EFC. If they have any common sense, they would put that mean plan/year cost and reduce the EFC...
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<p>i dont think this makes sense to me...but what i will say is that columbia dining is a separate entity from the university....they're a business in effect and they determine their own prices and meal plans....they r in a symbiotic relationship with the university....the university dictates where they have to have dining locations etc and dining gets to set the prices while the university gets them business by forcing freshmen into meal plans.</p>
<p>Right so they assume that you will be eating elsewhere for similar prices. But these costs will be coming out of my pocket, whereas if I stayed with a meal plan, I wouldn't have to pay. So wouldn't everyone just get a meal plan and use it whenever they want, because essentially, it won't make a difference to their EFC whether or not they take it. It's there for the taking.</p>
<p>200-300 bucks a month for a meal plan is pretty comparable to a 5 meal/week plan if i'm correct. i don't eat red meat either, so i'll probably save money should i decide to cook chicken...but cooking is a pain too. also, i think that if i do get a plan, it'll be one with more dining dollars and fewer meals.</p>
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Right so they assume that you will be eating elsewhere for similar prices. But these costs will be coming out of my pocket, whereas if I stayed with a meal plan, I wouldn't have to pay. So wouldn't everyone just get a meal plan and use it whenever they want, because essentially, it won't make a difference to their EFC whether or not they take it. It's there for the taking.
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<p>well your parents pay for the meal plan in addition to your tuition...i think what u are (very incorrectly) assuming here is that everyone is getting financial aid that covers their tuition and then some whereas that is the case for a very small minority......so, no, nothing is "there for the taking"</p>
<p>Nah, it'd apply to those with financial aid...</p>
<p>The point is, if I take the meal plan, I still pay the same fees as last year.</p>
<p>If I don't take the meal plan, I pay the same fees as last year + outside meal costs.</p>
<p>It's there for the taking because I can take the meal plan and choose to use it whenever convenient and still use outside meal sources whenever I want.</p>
<p>The dining hall is disgusting and it's expensive. When I was there, the meal plan was $11/meal and god forbid, it's probably way more now. And the hours are inconvenient. You can eat for much cheaper and much more conveniently -- and still relatively healthy -- at the local restaurants or even the places on campus that take dining dollars. I don't think you need to spend a semester dealing with it.</p>
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Nah, it'd apply to those with financial aid...</p>
<p>The point is, if I take the meal plan, I still pay the same fees as last year.</p>
<p>If I don't take the meal plan, I pay the same fees as last year + outside meal costs.</p>
<p>It's there for the taking because I can take the meal plan and choose to use it whenever convenient and still use outside meal sources whenever I want.
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<p>your efc is determined by the u.s. gov't, not columbia. even if you're an international, they still use roughly the same formula. long story short, unless you argue with them thru letters, your efc will not change. it's possible to have them change it but you have to bring special circumstances to their attention.</p>
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The dining hall is disgusting and it's expensive. When I was there, the meal plan was $11/meal and god forbid, it's probably way more now. And the hours are inconvenient.
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<p>you guys are wrong, denz, shraf, and c2002. the dining hall hours arent that bad, especially since they now have a breakfast option (7-9am) and 2 takeout options. the cost of a mean is like 12.90 now tho. and the food isnt that bad anymore, they have an awesome gourmet salad bar now too with good premade salads (like mozzarella and tomato, artichoke and something, stuffed peppers, etc)</p>
<p>if you guys are in town any time next year, you should stop in at the dining hall and try it, i think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how it has changed (remember i've only seen it change over 2 semesters and i think it's changed a heck of a lot)</p>
<p>i went to john jay this past year and was still disappointed</p>
<p>but yea, the takeout thing makes the dining hall's schedule a tad better as does the breakfast thing...but when u do the takeout you are DEF not getting $12 worth of food</p>
<p>So if you took Meal Plan 3, wouldn't you still be buying the majority of your meals, because you'd run out of both meals and dining dollars real fast!</p>
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i went to john jay this past year and was still disappointed
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<p>when did you go? it only got pretty good after march (at least thats when their major new improvements started)</p>
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So if you took Meal Plan 3, wouldn't you still be buying the majority of your meals, because you'd run out of both meals and dining dollars real fast!
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<p>the meal plan is not designed to provide 3 meals a day. none of them are really. if you're really a morning person and need breakfast you should get some cereal and milk for your room. that being said, it is completely possible to last a semester with all of the meal plans. it might be necessary to supplement lunches with small things you buy yourself (instead of buying potato chips at 212 for 4$/bag) but it is still doable.</p>
<p>oh, also, dont buy drinks with your points. get a brita pitcher for your room and use that. water is healthier anyways. or, plan b, get some bottles you can take down to the dining hall and fill yourself with whatever you want</p>
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if you guys are in town any time next year, you should stop in at the dining hall and try it, i think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how it has changed
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<p>God help me. When I'm up in Morningside, I hit up Koronet's. There's no other restaurant in the area that's worth justifying a special trip to or that is optimal to some food you can get elsewhere in the city.</p>