<p>I have a feeling you are right camelia! Does your school have suites or any accomodations with kitchens?</p>
<p>I haven't been accepted anywhere yet (only applied to RD schools), so that remains to be seen, but I certainly hope so!</p>
<p>Saw a number of veggie places at Son2's school, Camelia. The hard part was getting good carnivore stuff. Lots of burgers, fried stuff, lunch meat. Not that easy to get some of the cafeteria type offerings, though I guess that eliminates our mystery meat that was served in my day. I'm thinking pot roast, turkey roast, roast beef, roast chicken, but forgetting about the salisbury steak served up 10 different ways.</p>
<p>I'd suggest after you receive your acceptances, Camelia, you contact each school & see how they can accommodate you and allow you to cook your own food without hassling with a meal plan. There are a lot of schools that are having "suites" as an option for freshmen. Many also have flexible meal plans that give you a set amount in "dining dollars" you can "spend" at your choice of places on campus (coffee houses, salad bars, soup places, sushi, or whatever) + maybe 25-50 meals/semester all for or so.</p>
<p>Some schools are very good about meeting students different dietary preferences/requirements, but you have to ask to find out. It's nice to ask students to get the "inside scoop" instead of taking the "official line" as well.</p>
<p>Okay, let's get back to the original question. If your kid is on the meal plan how much money do you think they need for extras each month? (again, not including books and move-in expenses). I know it varies by kid and school, so let's just collect a group of responses and get a range.</p>
<p>Since it was my post that got this thread into a food discussion, I'll begin. Last year with full meal plan, my kid who goes to school in a major city received $1500 per quarter.</p>
<p>Nervous1, when my S moved-in, we bought everything he need, and the meal plan worked out perfectly for him. Since he is very busy and so his friends (a couple of pre-meds), they only go out of campus to eat on special occasions and they use the metro link pass. I could say he spent around a hundred fifty from late August to mid December.</p>
<p>Nervous, I say start with the COA number tweaked for known situations. See how it goes. If the student has good reason to go over, then consider it. If not, you have a basis for your allowance. Do you really want your kid to be over the 50% mark of the kids there? Do you want them to have that much more than the financial aid kids? This is a period when they are preparing to leave the standard of living you have provided for them to their own. If you can afford to ask about how much allowance, after all these college costs, you are doing well financially. If you are wondering how much to give, you are also concerned about giving too much, since you know the financial cord is soon to be cut.</p>