<p>So my niece wants to sign up for the "Freedom Plan" which seems like an invitation for the Freshman 15 or 20 perhaps. I understand the convenience of eating whenever you want, its the how much you want that worries me. What are the pros and cons for current students? Do you really need that much access to the dining halls? Also how many "bucks" does the typically freshman need to eat at the vendors? </p>
<p>She's paying her own way through school so is it worth the extra expense for the convenience?</p>
<p>My son was a freshman last year on the “freedom plan” and for him it was a good choice. Since he didn’t have a car, the convenience of the plan was great and it actually saved him money by keeping him from eating off campus a lot. Eating too much is not as big a factor as you might think since most kids schedules are so varied that there’re not in the dining all every time it opens. I know for my son, he loved the flexibility and the comfort in knowing he could eat when it was convenient for him and not be worried about his meal plan running out. Also his freshman year he lived on central campus which was very close to the dining halls and made it easier to eat when he wanted to.</p>
<p>He put $100 of dining “bucks” on his card each semester which he usually ran out of toward the end of the semester. Most of these bucks are used for the fast food places like, Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Dino’s Pizza, etc, of which he frequented quite often between classes or when he missed the times the dining hall was open.</p>
<p>The best thing for your niece to do is to consider her current eating habits, whether or not she will have a car, her schedule and the promixity of her dorm to the dining hall. This will help her decide if she needs the freedom plan or not. If she’s not a big eater, the 10 or 12 meal plan might be enough. I do suggest though if you’re thinking about the 14 meal plan, you might as well get the freedom plan because there is not a lot of price difference. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>My S1 started out on the 14 meal plan but quickly decided he needed the freedom plan so we bumped it up. He def. got his money’s worth but he’s an athlete who runs/works out daily and needed a lot of food. </p>
<p>My S2 (at ECU) got the unlimited plan for the first sem. but found he rarely made it to breakfast (sleep was a priority) and often used his “bucks” to get a Subway or Chik-fil-a meal instead of the dining hall for lunch. So we backed down on the meal plan for his second sem. </p>
<p>If she wants to start out at a lower number of meals per week and see how it goes, she can always bump it up if she finds she needs more.</p>
<p>Good feedback. Thanks.</p>