<p>How do meal plans and dining work for a commuter? If there are any commuters here can you please tell me what you do/did?</p>
<p>Aren't meal plans for people living in dorms? You don't need one if you don't live in a dorm.</p>
<p>I'm not in college, but if you're commuting an hour everyday to the city to go to NYU, to seems like a meal plan might be an economical option for lunch and dinner. </p>
<p>I don't really know if it is, but it seems like it would make since to have a few meals a week covered.</p>
<p>meh, you don't have to do it. It costs just as much if I remember to just pay at all the dining halls. If you don't have a meal plan, just pay with a credit card. Much more flexible.</p>
<p>NYU</a> > Department of Housing</p>
<p>even the cheapest plan would average >10 meal (after you take out the declining dollars).</p>
<p>Welcome</a> to CampusDish at NYU! for menus and lots of other info</p>
<p>yeah, I'm commuting (it's about a 30-40 min commute each way) so I thought I would want a meal plan. I wish they had one that was like 5 meals per week, just so I could have lunch or whatever.</p>
<p>the 75 meal per semester works out to 5 meals per week based on a 15 week semester (approximately).</p>
<p>If you ate a really big meal and got your $10 worth.....
Also you would have $150 per semester for stuff you can buy 'off the shelf' in the dining hall or kimmel center or starbucks. </p>
<p>But to just get a sandwich would be a waste. Or maybe not, I've eaten a $10 hamburger at TGIF....</p>
<p>You could get your money's worth, but would have to make a conscience decision to do so.</p>
<p>Make sure you exercise if you eat your money's worth though. It might not be worth it to max out the meal plan if you're going to get the freshman 15.</p>
<p>also realize that you might only have classes 3-4 days a week. This semester my son is taking 4 classes, Monday Wednesday and Thursday. They are long days, but that leaves 4 days for study and work</p>
<p>is the nyu food good? do they have kosher as well as regular meat?</p>
<p>go to the campus dish website I posted above. yes they do have kosher</p>
<p>One suggestion- just buy dining dollars or campus cash. Then you don't have to be restricted to meals, but can still eat at teh traditional dining halls in the dorms if you choose to. With the DD/CC, you can just buy single items at Kimmel, the student center. It will probably be the least wasteful option IMO.</p>
<p>Good recommendation. There are many excellent places to eat, and the food is very cheap in Chinatown.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman commuter from Long Island, so it's about an hour train ride everyday and an hour and a half commute door to door, and from my experiences, I wouldn't reacommend getting a meal plan.<br>
A meal plan is A LOT of money, and the way that they factor meals is a main dish, a side meal, and a drink. To save up on costs, you could always bring water with you, bring a bag of chips (which would be the side anyway), get something from a vending machine, and then go to a dining hall for actual food. For every dining hall, you can also get a main dish or whatever you want and pay for it with cash, which isn't too much anyway. I've done that at both Upstein and Weinstein. There are also a lot of people willing to swipe a meal for you (especially now that it's the end of the semester and everybody has meals left over, I don't think I've paid for food in the past two weeks). Kimmel center, where as a commuter you will probably get very well acquainted with, has great food and the price isn't that bad (3.50 for soup, 7 dollars for huge 1 lb salad, 6.50 for stir fry).<br>
So in terms of a meal plan, avoid it, you will save much more money buying food from different places, and bringing water and snacks from home.
I'm on campus every day of the week, and I've never really had any problem with food.</p>
<p>I also wouldn't recommend getting declining dollars. Declining dollars and campus cash are there for people who are on campus all the time and only have places on campus to eat. I think they're both useless options for anyone, it's easier to pay with your own credit card/cash, but it's honestly a good way to make sure that your parents are paying for those expenses.
If say you're in Penn station and want to get coffee from there, it wouldn't apply. If you're home on the weekend, it wouln't apply (haha ,obviously).<br>
So yeah, that's my two cents.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input guys. You saved me a lot of trouble/money. I will officially not sign up for a meal plan.</p>
<p>yeah, thanks for all the info. I think I'll get dining dollars, it seems much easier.</p>