<p>How does that work??
Do you think is worth it?</p>
<p>It is not worth it, but if you want to live in the most centrally located, renovated dorms, then you have no choice. I don’t think you have to get a meal plan for summer though.</p>
<p>From CampusDish.com:</p>
<p>There are only certain residence halls that require a meal plan. Those that require it are Broward, Bryan, Cawthon, Gilchrist, Jennie Murphree, Landis, and Reynolds hall. Most students that are in the remaining halls still choose to purchase a meal plan because they are flexible, convenient, affordable, and a great way to make new friends as they make the transition of moving to college! </p>
<p>Each meal plan is a package deal and comes with two components: meals and FlexBUCKS </p>
<p>Meals<br>
There are two main residential restaurants here on Florida State University. The Suwannee Room and Fresh Food Company are located on the opposite side of campus both conveniently located from the residence halls. Both restaurants are all-you-care-to-eat and the meals are served fresh at EIGHT different stations: American Diner, Grill, Pasta, Pizza, Salad, Vegan, Deli, and even Dessert. Even though the restaurants have the same stations, the recipes vary and the menus are on an eight week cycle so that students won’t get bored of the food! These meals are allotted in forms of per week, per semester, or even an all access pass to these restaurants. </p>
<p>FlexBUCKS
FlexBUCKS function as a gift card for on campus dining. ALL of our restaurants accept FlexBUCKS and is accessed through the student’s FSUCard. Each meal plan comes with a set value of FlexBUCKS that the student can use throughout the semester. It is a declining balance account, just like a checking account, but there are no hidden or additional fees. Just like a gift card, if there is a shortage in the balance of FlexBUCKS for a transaction, it will simply be declined instead of being charged an overdraft fee.</p>
<p>In my opinion, if you don’t live in one of those residence halls, you are better off buying Garnet Bucks and paying per meal instead of prepaying for all those meals. It’s not like you save money with their plans, unless you eat a ton of food three or more times a day with the unlimited plan.</p>
<p>And unlike FlexBucks, Garnet Bucks don’t expire until you graduate.</p>
<p>I just think those meal plans are too expensive!!!
I’d rather buy stuff and cook in my dorm…
btw do you know which dorms have kitchen?</p>
<p>Nolette has it correct. The only way you save is if you buy one of the large meal plans and are always eating there. The small meal plans actually cost more than if you bought the meals separately… I’ll post calculations later this semester when they release their new prices, which will prove that Aramark is trying to rip you off. I remind you all that this is the company that forced everyone to give up their unopened bottles of water at football games in the 100 degree heat so they would be forced to buy their 3 dollar filtered Dasani bottles.</p>
<p>And Cristina, all of the residence halls have kitchens. Most have one kitchen on every floor, but that depends on the hall. (IE: Salley only has a kitchen on the 5th and 7th floors of each tower).</p>
<p>All Community and suite style residence halls have community kitchens. Ragans and McCollum are apartment style with a full kitchen but only upperclassmen can live there.</p>
<p>From Housing:</p>
<p>Undergraduate Frequently Asked Questions:</p>
<p>Do I have to have a meal plan or can I cook in the residence hall?
All students who reside in renovated residence halls on the East side of campus are required to purchase a meal plan membership. The affected halls and living-learning communities are as follows: Broward, Bryan, Cawthon, Gilchrist, Jennie Murphree, Landis and Reynolds. Students residing in DeGraff, Deviney, Dorman, Kellum, McCollum, Ragans, Salley, Smith and Wildwood Halls are not required to purchase a meal membership, but many choose to do so. All residence halls contain kitchens for use by residents of the hall. Cooking is permitted in the residence hall kitchens. Students are allowed to bring microwaves of 700 watts or less and coffee makers. Open burner or open flame elements (such as toaster ovens, immersion heaters, chaffing dishes and fondue pots) are not permitted in the residence halls. Refrigerators are provided in each student room. No other refrigerator or freezer is allowed. Residents are responsible for cleaning their refrigerator on a regular basis and before rooms are vacated.</p>
<p>Sorry, Matt, I didn’t mean to repeat what you said, I guess you type faster than I do!</p>
<p>I would recommend Garnet Bucks over a meal plan, too. You can use them in the dining hall but give you more flexibilty to eat elsewhere on campus.</p>
<p>Garnet Bucks sound interesting. Is it like a gift card or do I have to keep a balance?</p>
<p>Is there a reason some halls require plans? I mean, a real, rational reason?</p>
<p>Probably because no one would buy them if they weren’t mandatory, and they would have a hard time getting a food service company to supply the university without a guaranteed minimum of revenue. People would still eat there, don’t get me wrong, the food is okay. But without the required plans they wouldn’t be able to have the same options they do now.</p>
<p>I believe you just buy Garnet Bucks as needed–you don’t need to keep any balance.</p>
<p>Aramark helped pay for the renovation of the East Side halls, and therefore, all residents of those halls must have meal plans.</p>
<p>is the food there good? i eat a lot of food, and I could see myself using the meal plan. I guess my best bet is to try it during summer and if I like it, use it in fall</p>
<p>I bet 70% of students have the meal plan right?
I don’t know what to do, they’re expensive but if I have to buy stuff for me to cook I’ll need a job…!!</p>
<p>If you actually do cook for yourself regularly as opposed to doing mealplan, you will save a TON of money… and that’s even if you do the unlimited meal plan and eat nothing but mealplan (you’ll get sick of that real quick).</p>
<p>With mealplan, you’re paying for convenience. Groceries are way cheaper than mealplan. The question is more, will you have time to cook, and want to deal with the inconvenience of using a shared kitchen. For most freshmen, the answer is no.</p>
<p>seriously, you are not going to want to cook for yourself all the time, if ever. it’s really time consuming in the dorms. if you lived in an appartment, its not a big deal because you have a kitchen with everything at your fingertips. the food at the dining halls isnt always great, but its like having a home cooked meal whenever you want. its super convienient and its a place where you spend time with friends. lunch/dinner becomes an event. most of your friends will have meal plans and when everyone wants to go eat youre going to be paying more for it. i personally have the block plan, which means that i will probably run out of meals and flex bucks again this semester but atleast i can use the meals when i want to as opposed to the per week plans. and if i run out, then i rough it for maybe a week going out to eat or making food myself. (and flex bucks dont carry over unless you buy another meal plan, which im not, so i might as well exhaust the account)</p>
<p>meals plans are way to expensive in my opinion. me and my mom worked out the price a week for food with the lowest meal plan option and it came out to like 110 bucks a week. thats just for one person. i can probably spend like 45-55 bucks a week on food if i shop at the publix near the school</p>
<p>If you cook your own meals and figure at least one hour/day preparing food and cleaning up at $8.00/hr, thats $56/wk plus your $55/wk food cost; you’re still ahead getting meal plan without losing the time messing around cooking and cleaning up. It stinks having to pay $2000/semester for meal plan; college is so expensive!</p>
<p>I agree with shawn189, they’re too freaking expensive!!!
I have to come up with something or I’ll be in Mcdonalds every morning lol!</p>