Can anyone give me suggestions on what meal plan to choose for my daughter? I have no idea which plan to choose. Thank you!
They seem to change the plans every year but my advice is to purchase the minimum plan you are allowed and then see how it goes. You can always add to a meal plan but you can’t get money back if you over estimate. Also, if your student has enough credits to be considered a sophomore, you might have more freedom in choosing a smaller plan.
Get the minimum unless your daughter is going to eat breakfast at Sbisa every morning. For most college kids, that’s not going to happen, though. When you buy a meal plan, you are buying a set number of meals and a specified number of dining dollars. You can add dining dollars if you want later (though I think buying them upfront saves a little money). With our daughter, we did not purchase the minimum and we ended up with a lot of leftovers. Dining dollars left over from Fall roll to Spring, but any leftover meals are lost. It may seem like buying 6 “meals” a week does not seem like enough, but there are a lot of meal options that kids seem to find, like at extracurricular activities, tailgates, and just eating out around town. And for her, breakfast generally consisted of cereal bars, etc. that she bought and kept in her dorm. Also note that you can upgrade/downgrade a meal plan within a certain amount of time from the beginning of the semester so you can keep track for a while and adjust if you feel necessary.