<p>Hey guys, I didn't go to orientation so I'm left to register for a meal plan by myself and I am a bit confused. </p>
<p>There's three options: Flex 275, 300, and 350. </p>
<p>Is unlimited bruff needed (flex 275)? I know how cafeteria food goes and I'm afraid if I go unlimited I'll be so sick of it by second semester. But at the same time if I choose the other two which have 15 meals a week, I'll be left to fend for myself on the weekends. But at the same time the 15 meals a week gives me more extra meals and more Wave Bucks. Can the extra meals be used at Bruff? Is that what people with the other two meal plans do on the weekends?</p>
<p>I just got back from orientation on Thursday, and my orientation leader told me that all first semester freshmen should just go with 275 because you don’t want to be in a situation where you have to be forced to fend for yourself when you’re just starting out, and she doesn’t regret getting it freshman year. You get enough wavebucks that if you want to eat at the food court or other places on campus for a meal or two a week you’ll be fine, and if you run out you can add more on. The food at Bruff isn’t that bad anyways I don’t think, plus eating at Bruff will probably be a bonding experience, haha.</p>
<p>My son liked the 275 plan because he could go into Bruff as many times as he wanted and still have some wave bucks to spend. He ended up have some wave bucks left at the end of the year. The difference in the amount of wave bucks between the plans seemed small last year.</p>
<p>My daughter liked the 275 also. Bruff, especially freshman year, is a social thing. Even if she didn’t eat there at off times, she would be able to accompany friends and just hang out.</p>
<p>BTW, for those interested they had an article about the facility that will replace Bruff. It sounds like it will be first-rate, and make Tulane more competitive with other schools in this area. Those of you entering this fall will get to use it for senior year, if it remains on schedule.</p>
<p>[Dining</a> Services announces new features in planned dining hall - The Tulane Hullabaloo : News](<a href=“thehullabaloo.com”>thehullabaloo.com)</p>
<p>WaveBucks are for on campus purchasing, NOLABucks for selected off campus locations. Here is a list of places that accepts NOLABucks.<br>
[url=<a href=“Tulane Dining Services”>Tulane Dining Services]Locations[/url</a>]</p>
<p>I think the advantage of NOLABucks over cash is that it is more secure and that your parents can add $ to it easily. I heard once there is a tax savings as well, but I am not sure that is true. Maybe someone that has used them can confirm or correct this.</p>
<p>I had the 350 freshman year and never, ever ran out of Bruff swipes. I often swiped in friends too, and I never had to add Wavebucks, etc although I did end up using all of them. </p>
<p>You should consider whether you will actually eat 3 meals per day in the dining hall. During lunch and breakfast times during the week meals aren’t necessarily a social thing because of differing class schedules. What I would do in a typical week is go to Bruff for dinner with friends and grab a piece of fruit or something for breakfast the next day, saving myself a swipe. Then on weekends I’d go to “brunch” at Bruff with friends. I don’t think I ever used more than 15 swipes in a week, and if I did, the extra swipes covered it with room to spare. </p>
<p>So I think it is worth it to get the plan with more Wavebucks; it’s less of a rip-off. I personally would never go to Bruff and eat nearly as much as a Bruff swipe is worth.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice irishrabbit. My thing is that I need three full meals a day to function; a piece of fruit for breakfast won’t cut it, haha. </p>
<p>And the way my schedule works is that I have classes from 9am to 11am and from 1pm to 3pm, so it leaves two open gaps to fit in breakfast and lunch. </p>
<p>Would you still suggest something other than 275? I just feel like Bruff will be easier when it comes to me needing to eat a lot.</p>
<p>My impression is that most people go with the 275, I just think since they are all the same price it makes more sense to get more Wavebucks. It adds flexibility. You have the option of eating at the food court or buying and preparing food from the market, and with a plan that includes more Wavebucks, you have those options more often. Unless you plan on going to Bruff three times or more every single day, which I personally did not, the unlimited plan isn’t worth it. </p>
<p>That said, if your parents are supporting you and don’t mind adding money to your meal plan if you happen to run out of Wavebucks, etc, and you want the option of going to Bruff whenever you feel like it, I guess the unlimited plan would work for you. Basically, it’s going to depend on your personal eating habits. For me the unlimited plan didn’t make sense.</p>
<p>Well, fall semester my son did the Flex 275, but after looking at how many wave bucks he spent vs how often he used his meal plan, for the spring semester he went with the Flex 350, giving him the most Wave Bucks. When we dug into the details of the plan, it turns out the 50 extra meals a semester can be shared with relatives or friends visiting or by the student, which gave him plenty of meal plan swipes. He didn’t end up eating 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, so really the 15 a week, with a couple of the extra meals thrown in a week if needed worked out just fine for him.</p>