<p>Loyola U Md. said the EA student would be notified no later than 3/15 of Financial Aid packages, if all was in by 2/15. I had everything in for S, but heard nothing. Any one else get anything in the mail?</p>
<p>From their Facebook page:
Financial aid packets are in the mail (3/15) for early action candidates who completed the financial aid process.</p>
<p>Financial Aid package received today (MA).</p>
<p>Yes, received to in NJ. </p>
<p>Total cost of attendance listed as $51707. Mystery question is how much to add for pay as you go food Plan. Other schools my kids are looking at give them unlimited plans for $4800 - $5000. That’s about $21/day at Loyola, not sure that will even cover 3 meals./Day</p>
<p>3kids - I figured out last year that my athlete daughter spent about $18/day at Loyola on food freshman year. It’s been less than that this year, as she lives in a suite which has a full kitchen and has spent much less time at the food court (AND has eaten much healthier)!</p>
<p>Thanks, that helps.</p>
<p>So that is 51K plus the meal plan?</p>
<p>solodad…that’s right 51k plus meals. We attended LIVE Loyola Saturday with our daughter and we stopped at the info fair and visited the dining services booth. A student there said a good rule of thumb wa $4,000 for girls. I am shocked at the total cost for Loyola. My daughter loved it and so did my wife and I , but the price really puts it up in the “Selective” school range. Even with the merit scolarship my D received this is still one of the higher net costs that my D is looking at.</p>
<p>My DS is a sophomore at Loyola in the Honors Program. He eats well and is at the gym (FAC) at least 4 times per week. When he leaves for the dorm, our food bills at home drop dramatically, yet I have been pleasantly surprised by our food bills at Loyola. We have spent only $3500 (about $700 remaining) in two years on the dining plan. DS has been in a suite with a full kitchen both years. He cooks a lot more and eats breakfast at the dorm. There are grocery bills at Wal-Mart, Costco, Giant, etc. but these have not been bad. On occasion DS and his suite mates will eat out. I would estimate another $600 or so per semester. Total is running about $3000 per year and DS eats very well. I also like the fact that your unused dollars on the Dining Advantage and Evergreen accounts roll over to the next year. I believe any unused dollars are returned at graduation. At first I did not like the idea of a la carte plan, but now I prefer it.</p>
<p>My dau is a freshman & lives in a suite with kitchen. She does not eat often at Boulder (the food court) but does tend to visit the Starbucks more than she should! We sent her there with loads of nonperishable groceries (tomato products, pastas, rice, oatmeal, cereals, soups, jugs of fruit juice, etc) & her suitemates’ parents did the same. We (and they) bring in more when we drive her back from vacations. So do most parents who live close enough to drive, if one is to judge from what pours out of the backs of minivans & SUVs at the dorm entrance the day they all return. </p>
<p>One of the girls has a Peapod Acount with the Giant Foods nearby & they all chip in to her for what they need/want, when she does an order. This is for things like eggs, butter, fresh chicken, etc. </p>
<p>There is a convenience dairy store just a block from the northern edge of campus, for milk & eggs. </p>
<p>When the year began they cooked together often but now with schedules differing more, and friendships having jelled more, they have a tendency to cook with their closer friends no matter which suites they come from. </p>
<p>Their diet is heavy on ramen, various pastas, beans & rice, chili, pancakes on weekends, and brownies from mix. The other girls do a lot of hamburger helper & other box things, but my dau learned to cook from scratch & she does not like the taste of these things, too salty. </p>
<p>I figure if we are buying much/most of her college food at Shop Rite, which we do when she is home anyway, it is a wash as long as she is cooking for herself. </p>
<p>However, we are not buying all of her food at Shop Rite—we do have to put some $$ on the dining account for some meals at Boulder, when she wants to be with friends or during exam week when there is not time to cook. </p>
<p>But the cost of an all-Boulder diet would really bump up the price of attendance, as they are retail restaurant meals same as if the kid was eating 3 meals a day when at home, but all of them at the mall food court or the fast food places on the highway. </p>
<p>I think my own daughter is doing more of her own cooking than many students there. She has mentioned she misses some of the social interaction classmates are having because they get together at Boulder or one of the other spots on campus served by the in house outfit.</p>
<p>The guy who runs the food operation suggests you put on something like $3500 to start with, but I would not even if the student is going to eat all meals at Boulder. Because it looks like a lot of money to them. Even if you are happy with them eating all meals at Boulder, there is a frozen yogurt stand & a Starbucks right out in the hall to suck up those dining dollars & it is very easy to wipe out the cost of a month’s dinners with yogurts & coffees. For at least the first year, I would make a budget & tell the student to keep within it, and add the $$$ periodically, to avoid the newness of it all & the proximity of those temptations blowing the food budget. </p>
<p>Unused doallrs are returned at graduation. And the previous year’s are rolled into the next year. So that much is good.</p>
<p>However, I do not like the social stratification it causes among the students. The ones whose daddies can pay for the whole thing get to eat all their meals in the food court, and the ones whose families have tighter budgets, more kids at home, etc, are eating pasta in the dorms. This is what I am seeing. The kids are nice & cheerful about it, but it splits up the freshman right from the day they walk in.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information and insight on dining options. I find it odd that the school leaves the cost of food out of their COA when they send you financial info. Seems like their are many options and ways to eat without breaking the bank, but they all take a bit of awareness by the students. Good life lessons, I guess.</p>
<p>Helpful comments JRZ and fdaddy, I am still trying to get my arms around the food situation. My D is also interested in Elon and they have an All Access Basic plan for $4,790 that has unlimited visits to their 3 Dining Halls. My wife was concerned about the social aspect of not having the traditional type meal plans. With everything being so new when you first arrive on campus for your freshman year my feeling is the transition would be easier with everyone eating at a Dining Hall, and not having to worry too much about meals. But then again it has been close to 30 years since I was in school and I know things have changed. When we took a tour we did not get to see a suite with a kitchen. How hard is that to get for freshman.</p>
<p>Campion and Newman are the dorms that offer suites for freshmen. Freshman are mostly in doubles, but If a student requests a suite his/her odds are greatly improved if a group of 4 or 6 sign up to rom together during summer orientation. All upperclasmen that stay on campus get suites or apartment style housing.</p>