<p>Just want to offer some advice to incoming freshman and returning students. </p>
<p>The most cost effective strategy is to purchase the Meal Plan option with the lowest points --- then add to the points later if needed --- rather than a higher-point plan. The reason is that the more points you purchase, the more you pay in overhead costs, while you can pay a $1 a point to add points later and not pay extra for overhead. My S finally figured this out as his second semester freshman year drew to a close and he had a lot of points left over from the "Meals Plus" plan, which ended up being forfeited or wasted. He couldn't sell the surplus meal points to anyone else by second semester because everyone he knew had points left over. So, freshman and parents, DO NOT purchase more than the required "Square Meal Deal" and if you're a returning student, think about purchasing the very minimum Grab-a-Bite Plan so you pay the lowest possible overhead cost and then purchase more meal points to supplement that on a no-overhead basis. That's what we're going to do this fall.</p>
<p>What is the overhead rate per point under the various meal plans? </p>
<p>As an aside, my FR D indicated that she and several of her female friends on the square meal plan ran out of points by the end of the year. Interestingly, this was not true for nearly all of her male friends. Apparently, girls tend to eat more healthy (and thus more expensive) food, while guys eat more cheap junk food.</p>
<p>Actually, the overhead rate is pretty much standard on each plan - If you start out at the smallest plan and add additional points to equal the amount of points in the next plan, you end up saving a few dollars, and maybe nothing anymore (going by last year's figures). Just go with the smallest plan you can as a freshman, as most students with that plan have plenty extra at the end of the year.</p>
<p>hmm...i chose square meals plus,i think , but i binge eat every once in a while, so hopefully it should all work out. if not, i'm gonna be gaining some serious weight towards the end of the year ;)</p>
<p>You can always downgrade your plan to the lowest plan within 2 weeks of the start of school, and I highly suggest doing it. You can add more points with the click of a button online once you're at school, so take the lowest plan.</p>