<p>On the website it says each dining plan for freshmen is about 2,200$ per term. So that adds up to about 4,400$ a year, am i correct? </p>
<p>And this isn't included in the 55k "estimated total cost to attend Columbia"? </p>
<p>yikes! i never thought about food till now. oh well. I hear they have good vegan/vegetarian options in the halls =) </p>
<p>which dining plan do people recommend?</p>
<p>Almost everyone agrees on this one. Least meals, most dining dollars. John Jay food isn’t really worth eating, other than brunch (you can only swipe in 2 times per day, opens in the morning at 10 and closes at 8pm at night). the other dining locations on campus, while not spectacular either, are at least somewhat better than John Jay, and take dining dollars. Also, leftover dining dollars carry over each semester, while all your meals disappear after your freshmen year.</p>
<p>How is the food at Columbia?? Typical college fried-extravaganza fair?</p>
<p>They are officially changing the entire system next year. So whatever people say based upon past experiences has probably become obsolete. </p>
<p>Based on this year, I would say that the food is pretty average in the dining hall, but there are other places on campus that are kinda good. We just had an amazing christmas dinner… mmm</p>
<p>Because of the changes, I might be getting a dining plan next year. But nothing is really explained in detail yet.</p>
<p>do they have any plan where you get points that can be used in restaurants around morningside heights?</p>
<p>I thought food was apart of Room and Board. Am I wrong?</p>
<p>Columbia14, yes</p>
<p>Collegeconfid, no</p>
<p>but you can add money to a flex account that is usable at a ton of local locations.</p>
<p>[Dining</a> : Accepted Flex Locations](<a href=“http://www.dining.columbia.edu/docs/meal-plans-flex/flex_locations.html]Dining”>http://www.dining.columbia.edu/docs/meal-plans-flex/flex_locations.html)</p>
<p>it doesn’t save you anything, but it’s convenient and parents pay for it…</p>
<p>Wow, the estimated budget total is 57.5k, but that doesn’t account for the meal plans? Yikes!</p>
<p>Just to give you guys a heads up as to what’s been proposed:</p>
<p>At the present moment, freshmen (who have a required meal plan) choose a number of meals and a number of dining dollars.</p>
<p>The suggestion was to choose meal plan 4, which was most dollars and most meals. Meals can only be used at John Jay Dining Hall (the only dining hall on campus) or Hewitt (the Barnard Dining Hall). So, people like being flexible with Dining Dollars.</p>
<p>However, next year, they will be moving to a meals per week system. So you can have 12 to 14 meals per week. Additionally, they will also be opening up more “dining hall” types of service, so that you can use your meals instead of dollars at specified venues.</p>
<p>“The suggestion was to choose meal plan 4, which was the more dollars and least meals”</p>
<p>corrected</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch fastfood15. That’s what I get for not studying for finals right now!</p>