<p>To current students and those in the know, what meal plan is best for a freshman guy who likes to sleep late (when he can) and isn't too picky about his food but gets hungry a lot? Doing FSSP so will be in San Nic. The Carte Blanche doesn't seem very much more expensive than the ones that make you keep track of your visits. Is keeping track of your swipes a pain or no big deal? Or is 17 visits a week plenty? 14 seems low but maybe if you are into variety and do more of the Dining Plus options.<br>
Also, how about the Dining Plus plan amounts? Are these restaurants much better? Do they accept cash? What amount, if any, do you recommend be put in the Dining Plus?<br>
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>You should start with 17 and you can always change it every quarter. Keeping track of your swipes is sometimes annoying, but some people have lots of leftover meals, you start going to the dining commons less often later in the year (tired of the food, or better food). Also, if you sleep in late and tend to miss breakfast, I think it ends at 11am or 12pm, then maybe 14 would be better. They do not accept cash in the commons it is always barc’ed. And for a guy that gets hungry a lot, it’s an all you can eat when you come in, they also have late-nights on weekdays. IV does not have that many cheap restaurants, and in my opinion the food in IV sucks.</p>
<p>Thank you! Anyone else have any thoughts?</p>
<p>I’m an incoming transfer. </p>
<p>I signed up for unlimited option because it’s not that much different in price from the 17-meal option, and I don’t have to worry about counting visits. You can lower your meal plan at the end of the semester if you don’t like it anyways. The way I view it, with all the other stuff I’m going to be busy with my first semester, the last thing I need is to be constantly worrying about how many meal credits I have left.</p>
<p>My kids chose the 10-meal plan. They like to go with 2 cafeteria meals a day on weekdays, and use their refrigerator for some eat-in-the-dorm type snacking meals. You can also get food delivered from Isla Vista, or better yet walk 5-10 minutes, and eat in Isla Vista. The cafeteria menu got really old by the end. They seldom use the cafeteria on weekends, unless they had extra meals to use.</p>
<p>Get the most offered. Then you won’t worry.</p>
<p>Food in IV is over priced, except for Subway.</p>
<p>Calculate the cost per meal of those meal plans, and consider that by the end of the year you may not be able to stand the same meals over and over again, and you may not use all the meals each week. The on-campus cafeteria’s have one main benefit, convenience.</p>
<p>Isla Vista has some huge portions that can either be split between two people, or become 2 meals for one person. You can also ride a bike 10 minutes and get a costco meal, McDonalds, Jack-in-the-Box, or a variety of other options outside of Isla Vista for cheaper.</p>
<p>Remember that in college, you don’ spend 7-8 hours everday in a classroom. You often have days with just one or two classes, and you will want to get off-campus at times to get a break.</p>