<p>My son will be living off campus next year. Should I get him a minimal meal plan, whatever that is or nothing at all? What do the student usually do?</p>
<p>Depends on your son. If he eats a lot, doesn’t cook, and his schedule and location mesh with dining hall hours, sure, get him a plan that covers dinner and/or lunch. Even the most inept-in-the-kitchen student can manage cereal or yogurt or scrambled eggs for breakfast at far less expense.</p>
<p>D1 (doesn’t eat much, can cook, schedule/location not very conducive to going to dining halls) is off the dining hall plan entirely. Even accounting for days where she gets takeout or similar, it’s still much less expensive than the dining hall plan.</p>
<p>We just has this discussion with our son, who is moving off campus but wants a meal plan. Here’s some info I found: <a href=“http://dining.tufts.edu/benefits-of-meal-plans/meal-plan-overviews-whos-eligible/”>http://dining.tufts.edu/benefits-of-meal-plans/meal-plan-overviews-whos-eligible/</a>
and cost:
<a href=“http://dining.tufts.edu/benefits-of-meal-plans/spring-term-2014-meal-plans/spring-2014-meal-plan-rates/”>http://dining.tufts.edu/benefits-of-meal-plans/spring-term-2014-meal-plans/spring-2014-meal-plan-rates/</a></p>
<p>My son had a limited meal plan his junior year, when he lived off campus, and it worked out well, because he wanted to be able to grab lunch or dinner with friends.</p>