<p>Hi y’all</p>
<p>I’m entering my first year at Alabama next year (so excited!), but because of the credits I earned through APs, I’m technically a sophomore. Will I get to choose my meal plan or will I still have the automatic freshmen meal plan? Thanks and roll tide!</p>
<p>first year students are required to get the silver meal plan - even if they have the hours to be classified as a sophomore. : (</p>
<p>I had a similar question – can we downgrade second semester or are we stuck with silver for the whole first year?</p>
<p>By the way, I love how the bama dining site gives you suggestions for how to use up your meals. It seems like they know the plans are too large…</p>
<p>You’re stuck your entire first year. Several on here tried to argue sophomore standing last year but were told it’s first year students not freshman students.</p>
<p>Yup, it does stink that first years are automatically assigned silver, since it is pretty expensive and 80% of people wont use all of the meals. I tried to argue with Bama Dining my freshman year as well and it was a total no go.</p>
<p>Ahh that stinks, I was hoping to get a smaller and cheaper meal plan. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>Thanks, y’all. Don’t suppose there’s a way around the inexplicable limit on guest meals either…? Shame we only get 10, because that would be a nice way to use them up.</p>
<p>Crazy: I tried every which way to Sunday to downgrade D’s plan last year. Apparently in the past the wording was that freshman had to have the silver plan, but they adjusted the wording to say “first year students.” Hence my D had 192 meals plus all 20 of her guest meals left in April.</p>
<p>I know that a majority of schools have mandatory meal plans for freshman, so I know it’s not a UA thing. I am thankful that there is a Publix on campus and D will continue taking advantage of the kitchen situation in the honors dorms to cook for herself.</p>
<p>I have to say that I am giddy realizing that the 50 meal plan is less than $500 :)</p>
<p>^^yep, you’re stuck for a year. Was thrilled to be able to sign DS up for the 90 plan down from 160. Hoping it’s about right, will damn sure be a lot closer to right. 
and RobD, now DD knows where to go when she needs overflow meals!</p>
<p>Anyone know if first year students that have a housing waiver (family house local) still have to purchase the silver plan?</p>
<p>Where do I go to request an exemption from the Freshman Year Experience Meal Plan?</p>
<p>If a student has a meal plan exemption due to a housing exemption defined by the Office of Housing and Residential Communities, please visit the Residential Life website or visit their office located in Burke Hall East. All Students who are exempt from housing requirements are also exempt from the meal plan requirement.</p>
<p>Thanks AL34!</p>
<p>They’re exempt from the meal plan…but I don’t think they are exempt from Dining Dollars req’t. </p>
<p>All undergrads have to participate in that if they have 9 credits or more during the semester.</p>
<p>I have been seeing in a lot of posts that the required meal plan comes with too many meals and I’m really confused. At 160 meals/semester and 2-3 meals/day, shouldn’t that run out really quick? Or is it just that most prefer to make their own meals?</p>
<p>lots of kids don’t eat three meals a day. many skip breakfast. plus there are all kinds of things to do that come with a free meal. lots of kids don’t care for dining hall food, so they want something different.</p>
<p>i have heard of NOBODY with the freshman meal plan that has run out of meals.</p>
<p>I must second MikeW. NO ONE that I know of has ever run out of meals as a fish. 160+ meals + 300 dining dollars + all the free food at club meetings, department things, etc. Way too many opportunities to eat, and many outside of the dining hall. Plus, people go off campus for food a lot. Also, freshman year = the year of free food. Trying new things and new clubs means a lot of meetings, almost all of which will have some form of sustenance. I can remember a time fish year when I had dinner provided three days a week through my meetings.</p>
<p>I used every one of my meal plan meals freshman year, but I was making myself use all of them. I don’t recommend doing what I did, which involved eating at Lakeside twice a day, almost every day, for 4 months. I did get a refund of all my Dining Dollars though.</p>
<p>Even if your child eats a lot, that doesn’t mean that they will be going to dining halls 3+ times a day. College students seem to have the innate ability to find free food and it’s relaxing to break from the monotony of the dining hall menus by cooking ones own food or eating out. For instance, I haven’t seen cheesecake in the dining halls for almost two years and since it’s one of my favorite desserts, I’ll buy one every few months and treat myself after eating a healthy meal that I made myself.</p>
<p>i encouraged my daughter to try to use her meal plan, and even with trying pretty hard she had 30ish meals left each semester, and i think she used zero dining dollars.</p>
<p>there are some odd things missing from the dining halls (like cheesecake). my DD likes jello, but she has never run across jello in the dining halls, which, to me, seems weird. every cafeteria or buffet line i have been in EVER has had jello!</p>
<p>MikeW…you should put in a request for Jello…that’s a cheap thing that they probably would accomodate.</p>
<p>* At 160 meals/semester and 2-3 meals/day, shouldn’t that run out really quick? Or is it just that most prefer to make their own meals? *</p>
<p>First of all, kids RARELY eat 3 meals a day in the Dining Halls. Kids may eat breakfast in their dorm, and then a large lunch and/or dinner in a Hall. They will usually have something in their dorms to eat for late snacking or late meals.</p>
<p>Secondly, few kids eat in the Dining Halls from Friday nite thru Sunday afternoon (some will eat in a hall on Sunday eve).</p>
<p>On weekends, The Strip, Midtown Village, and Downtown are crawling with kids eating in the various restaurants.</p>
<p>If Bama were located in a rural town, it might be different, but with soooo many off-campus restaurants (many within walking distance), the kids are soon choosing those locations as meal alternatives.</p>
<p>Nearly every student will have at least one friend/roomie with a car, so getting to any of the further places is not usually a problem. </p>
<p>the first semester, my older son didn’t use any of this Dining Dollars, but that soon changed. 600 a year in Dining Dollars can equal at least 60 retail meals, some Starbucks coffees, and vending selections. Now that Lloyd Hall (next to the Honors College) has a small food court on the first floor, that has become a popular place to grab lunch using DD.</p>
<p>DS is a fairly big eater and he was still left with quite a few meals, not to mention that unused 1st semester meals roll to second semester. Used every bit of his dining dollars and more, with Chick-fil-a etc. on campus it’s much quicker to grab a sandwich between classes than to hit Lakeside. Also, IIRC, Fresh Foods has some quirky hours, at least as far as DSs schedule, so that wasn’t always an option.</p>