<p>Any input on the best meal plan for a freshman to choose?</p>
<p>That depends SO MUCH on the student. My son was on the unlimited plan as he is a grazer and wanted the freedom of being able to just stop in for a cookie and a glass of milk if he wanted to. He loved that! Some of his friends were on the set number of meals and it worked for some of them and some of them were rationing the meals come exam time- which isn’t when you should be distracted by hunger. Regardless- the food service provider is changing for next year so it is tough to say what will be the best. There is also a change in that the restaurants in Tribe Square (Mooyah, Pita and the Crust) will now be available for a meal swipe. When you have the unlimited plan, you can still do a timed meal swipe- just one per meal period. So you could, for example, have breakfast at the Commons, a coffee and dessert at Sadler late morning, lunch at Mooyah, and dinner at the Commons/ Sadler or one of the meal swipe places. The difference is that at the Commons and Sadler, it is all you can eat. At the other places there are “meal equivalents” which equal one meal swipe.</p>
<p>@andshewas1020 PS- And welcome to The Tribe!</p>
<p>I think for most students the Gold 19 meal plan will be sufficient. Keep in mind that many people take brunches instead of eating entire meals, and if that seems like you perhaps the Gold 14 could also be an option (assuming you are going to be a freshman next year) I’d advise against going unlimited if you don’t have to. Having limits will help you stay in shape and avoid the freshman 15. Also you might get tired of school food and decide that you might just want some quick snacks from the Wawa or just use your dining dollars, which I would say that paying the extra 300 or so is not worth it if you don’t know if you are going to use it.</p>
<p>And as the above poster mentioned welcome to the tribe!</p>
<p>I think that for many students the Gold 19 is a good choice- but want to point out one other thing on the unlimited in terms of the Freshman 15. My son felt that he was LESS likely to overeat if he knew he could go whenever he wanted. If he only had a set number of meals, he felt that he might sometimes eat more than he would otherwise “just in case” so he wouldn’t get hungry later. But again, you need to think about how you like to eat and when you will schedule classes. I know at least one of my son’s friends swears by the 14 meal plan and always skips breakfast. That definitely wouldn’t work for my son!</p>
<p>Also consider what dorm you live in - Sadler and the Commons, for example, isn’t particularly convenient to the Old Campus dorms, so it might be more convenient to do the 14 vice the 19 plan, and to use more Dining Dollars.</p>
<p>The unlimited plan is probably overkill for most students. </p>
<p>Can someone explain where the dining dollars can be used? If it’s just Dominos Pizza and coffee that seems not so great. I think they have to choose a meal plan before they know if they get their dorm assignment so proximity to Sadler/Commons can’t be considered. </p>
<p>I am not sure that anyone on here knows where dining dollars can be used next year since Sodexho is taking over as the foodservice provider. Last year dinind dollars could be used at Dominos delivery and the on campus places (coffee shops, the bagel store plus the Commons and Sadler and the smaller foodservice things at the campus center and in academic buildings). There may be a few others. But it wasn’t like I have seen at some other colleges where most of the restaurants in town took it. </p>
<p>Also, personally I think that Sadler is pretty convenient for the students who live on Old Campus. I know one of my son’s friends lived in Monroe and always ate at Sadler and wished he was closer to the Commons as it is bigger and has more variety. It is not that big a campus so he did go over to the Commons on weekends but since he lived on Old Campus and had most of his classes there, he always ended up eating at Sadler during the week.</p>