Any suggestions for what meal plan we should select as a freshman?
Younger son selected the Flex 7 plan since he was living on campus as a Freshman. After 2nd semester, he dropped down to the Flex 5 and ended up eating off campus more often since he found the food on-campus tiresome. He also found the declining dollar amount of $20 each day for the Flex 7 was not enough food, so being a Mom, I would supplement his Red Card with extra money to purchase food items at the campus stores, along with additional spending money for off campus meals.
Hi there… My son is going to be living on campus, freshman. For the off campus restaurants can they use their red card too? I’m a little confused with the meal plans too. So they have a declining balance of $20 a day? Is the unlimited not worth it? If they get the flex 7 or 5 can they use their red card on the weekends too? Sorry for so many questions
@rysmom - Welcome to the Aztec family! Flex 7 and the Meals Plus Plan are the only meal plans that can be used on the weekends. My son has the Flex 7 and is also able to use it at such places as Oggi’s, the Habit, etc. My kid uses his meal plan for lunch and dinner (or he stocks up at the campus market if he isn’t going to use his card that day), and has food in his room for breakfasts (bagels, peanut butter, fruit, etc.) and snacks. Here’s a link to SDSU’s meal plan website, which includes several videos about the various meal plans, as well as FAQs and other details about the program.
Hi, @Gumbymom! SDSU just announced that in addition to Trader Joe’s, the restaurant Eureka! will be moving into one of the 4000 square feet retail spaces in the new South Campus Plaza dorm.
Problem with the Meal Plus Plan, is that you have to eat 80 meals at the Cuic Suite Dining Room and UT Kitchen. They are more expensive than the other restaurants on campus. @rysmom: What I meant about supplementing the Red Card, was the $20/day was not sufficient so I added extra money to cover the difference. On weekends, he would get cash from the ATM or use his debit card for off-campus meals. By using the Flex 5, he would eat on campus during the week and off-campus on weekends. He would also buy items such as fruit, bagels etc… for breakfast as suggested by @Fish125.
@rysmom - What we’ve found is no matter how many options the kids have with their meal plans (and this is for all my kids and their friends at different universities), on-campus food can get really tiring to eat 7 days a week/3 meals a day, so the kids tend to mix it up a bit. They buy things for breakfast/light meals/snacks at the grocery stores, on-campus markets, Target, etc.,and explore the different restaurants in San Diego during the weekend. Personally, I’d recommend going with the Flex 7 plan at the beginning of the school year (like Gumbymom’s Aztec did), and if your child finds he doesn’t need it that much and would rather eat elsewhere during the weekends, you can always change your meal plan (I think there are two times during the school year when you can change the plan). There are kitchens available in the lobby in some (if not all - not sure about that) of the dorms for the students to use, and they can get creative making food with the microwave/refrigerators in their rooms. Plus, sometime in early 2017, Trader Joe’s is opening on campus, and that will give the students many, many more options. But, since the Flex 7 really only covers lunch and dinner (or two meals), my son does spend extra money each week for a third meal and snacks.
Wow, thank you all so much for all this great advice.
@mscl516 - The big thing we’ve had to learn, at least in our family, is to continually remind our kid not to forget to eat! Sometimes, the students are so busy on campus that they completely forget to grab lunch.
Wow, ok glad to hear it’s such an active campus. Our family is so excited for our son to start here in the fall.