- Please share any advice about meal plans for freshmen.
- Where are the best places to eat on campus? What are the worst?
I have the unlimited meal plan freshman year and really liked it. I didn’t have any snacks in my room, but I could walk to a Dining Hall if for a piece of toast with PB on it if I needed a snack. There is a period where you can try out your meal plan and adjust if necessary.
Case Dining Hall is the best dining hall, and is open to everyone for breakfast and lunch. Athletes only for dinner. Fountain and Clark Dining Halls are about the same. Everything else depends on what you like. Talley Student Union as a lot of yummy options, as does the Atrium. Port City Java (PCJ) is our campus’ coffee chain and their coffee is good but their extra-sweet coffee creations are the best. ncsu.edu/dining has a lot more information.
Trusting, my advice is to be honest about your student’s eating habits as they are, not as you wish they would be 
As much as I wanted my daughter to eat breakfast every day as a Freshman, the reality is she’s a night-owl and not a morning person. She is a foodie, eats well, avoids junk food, etc., but just does not wake with an appetite in the morning. And, she avoids early morning classes as much as possible, so paying for breakfast and not eating it was money down the drain. Therefore, we opted for meal plans geared more toward 2 meals a day, or less. We started her on a mid-tier plan, and by Spring of Freshman year, she opted to go on the least expensive meal plan.
On the other hand, my son will be an entering Freshman this Fall. He’s a whole different story. He’s going to need the unlimited plan, and then some The boy can go through a pantry!!