<p>OK, yet another question.... they never end.</p>
<p>I need some advice on meal plans. The brochures make it sound great. Who knows about the quality of the food, but sure seems like lots of choice I never had long ago. Anyway, the plans are:
[ol]
[<em>] 10 Meal Plan - 10 meals a week, basically seems geared for commuters.
[</em>] 14 Meal Plan - 14 per week, in the dining halls
[<em>] 20 Meal Plan - 20 per week, in the dining halls
[</em>] Super 14 Plan - 14 per week, not only in the dining halls, but also can be used in their food courts and cafes (4 extra places on campus)
[li] Super 20 Plan - 20 per week, including extra places.[/li][/ol]</p>
<p>OK, 10 Meal Plan is out, so deciding between 14 and 20 and between the regular (dining halls) vs. more flexible. Flexible seems like an obvious choice, but the cost is much higher:</p>
<p>Q: can you pay cash (or use a debit card, etc) in the extra 4 places? If so, you could start w/ the regular 20, see how much you spend in the extra places for the first semester, and if it's over $500, get super 20 for the next semester. To me, 1000 seems like a lot for that, but at my school we are very dining hall centered. This depends on the culture of the school, which you can't know until you get there (unless you know someone who goes there, of course). </p>
<p>Also, for me, 14 meals would definitely be enough, since I rarely make it to breakfast - it might be more economical to eat cereal (that you buy in a supermarket) for breakfast rather than pay for the extra meals - but $300 isn't that much.</p>
<p>You haven't said what school you're at, so it's impossible to tell how many meals you're likely to eat on campus. My son, for example, at MIT found that he needed no meal plan at all: he buys his own breakfast and keeps it in the dorm 'fridge, cooks his own dinner with friends a few times a week, eats fruit and peanut butter sandwiches for snacks, and gets his other meals at one of the 14 restaurants on campus. He spends about $1400/semester eating this way. </p>
<p>In a school with a single dining hall, no dorm refrigerators, and few local restaurants, that wouldn't work.</p>
<p>And he's almost 6 feet tall and hungry ALL the time.</p>
<p>Jenskate has a good suggestion. In ancient times our cafeterias were packed at breakfast and lunch-poorly frequented at dinner but that was on campuses with 25 spaghetti ,pizza, and sandwich shops lining the campus boundary. If those 4 other campus eateries you speak of are augmented by several college-type eating places I'd consider applying Jenskate's rational to the 14 meal plan and have an accounting at the end of semester one.</p>
<p>My son is a college freshman this year--his choice was a 16 meal plan or 11 meal plan (I suppose there might have been a larger plan, but I remember discussing these 2 choices with him). He wanted 11, I pushed for 16. After his 1st semester, he told me he seldom ate in the dining hall even 11 times--usually just lunch and dinner on weekdays. Friends are always going places on weekends, so he seldom uses his meal card then. And he just doesn't like getting up and going to the dining hall for breakfast. They are allowed to take food out of the cafeteria, so he usually takes a piece of fruit with him at dinner, for his breakfast the next day.<br>
He said when he calculated the dollar cost per meal (I forget what it was) that he'd save money going to Subway or similar (for a weekend change of pace from school food!) so we reduced him to 11 meals for this semester.</p>
<p>The 20 meal plan sounds like too many, because so many kids don't eat breakfast. (They may eat 3 meals a day at home, but once at school with late nights and not necessarily early classes, the timing changes.) If you can upgrade but not downgrade during the year, then starting at 14 makes more sense; you can always go up to 20 if that turns out to be needed. </p>
<p>It is hard to say about a flexible plan without knowing just what that means; is there only one meal-plan dining hall? Is there a union cafe where you can get food under the meal plan out of standard dining hall hours? Are there lots of student-friendly food options within walking distance of campus? If the latter, kids may well not eat at school for weekend dinners or lunches, but go out instead, so even if they eat breakfast during the week they will skip weekend meals and it balances out.</p>
<p>Your best bet would be to check with a current freshman. Although I was warned against it, I opted for one of the more plentiful meal plans out of an Italian mother's fear her offspring would starve otherwise. I forget the number of meals my S had not used by the end of the semester, but it was a whopping number. Turned out he and his friends ate off campus on weekends and liked one of the alternate dining facilities on campus better than the dining hall and he was paying cash for those meals since he didn't have enough on his limited flex plan. Conversely, my friends tell me their kids ate every meal and more at different schools. My advice is if you can get good advice as to his particular school, take it. I wish I had.</p>
<p>Is the mean plan a Declining Balance Plan (DBA)This account can be used at all dining locations around campus. Your Dartmouth ID card is swiped through at the register to automatically debit purchases from your DBA. </p>
<p>You also want to know how much flexibility comes with the plan. I know because my daughter thinks she lives far from everything, she will sometimes picks up stuff from the cafeteria to go (soup, salad, smoothies). They can also use their DBA at the local convience store on campus, or at the different food courts. There is a late night mini snack bar in the dorm where she lives but I think they open at 7 p.m. and close at 2 a.m</p>
<p>At Dartmouth the meal plan is a DBA, if they go over, you are billed for the overage.<br>
If they do not, you have just lost the money (remember when I mentioned that D still
had $250 during finals and was literally buying meals for people.) By the same token, she has friends ( guys) who were like $450 over. </p>
<p>I agree with Jenskate, don't spend the extra $1000. While S may be a 3 meal a day person at home, trust us, he is not going to get up go eat breakfast if his first class is at 11:00 (he may grab something on the vay to class). In addition, kids still order out when they are with their friends and go out quite a bit just for a change of pace. (if he dates on campus, that's a whole different set of dynamics where the meal plan comes int play)</p>
<p>My vote is for the 14 meal plan or 14 super meal plan and upgrade if needed. I agree that college kids (mine included) do not get up for breakfast. Not that they won't eat something (cold pizza, banana, pop tart and tea) but they won't take the time to go to a dining hall.</p>
<p>I'd go with the 14 meal plan, take the extra $800 and give it to him. That way he can go off campus and eat other places. I would not go with the 20. If he wants to eat that much on campus you can always go up but I'll guess that he will not have the time to eat 20 meals on campus. </p>
<p>Off campus eateries are not that far away and plentiful. I thought that the 14 meal flex was a rip-off, $800 just to cash in the meals that you may or may not eat.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the replies. I'm changing my mind already. I think 20 is way too many, but it's easy to say, "Well, it's ONLY $300 a year more." The meal plans seem to be weekly-oriented, so that if you don't eat your 20 meals that week, you don't carry them over to the next week. How many meals can you eat in a week anyway? Also, the dining halls (there are five scattered about campus) do have hours set for breakfast, lunch, etc., and everyone here is right about students not wanting to get up at a certain time JUST to go eat. The 14-meal plan is sounding good, and will save $1300!! As for the other cafes and snack bars, the school does have a prepaid debit card that can be used there (separate from the dining card).</p>
<p>I never used all of my meals. Mine had 3 per day (breakfast, lunch, dinner). through my two years of the meal plan i used about four dinners, maybe twenty lunches, and maybe fifty dinners.. It wasn't that the food was bad, it was just i didn't go to it. I get dinner/lunch when i'm at work, so i don't need two. Sometimes I would go in just to get an ice cream and then leave.</p>
<p>Another voice here saying go for the minimum. Unless your child's school is in the middle of nowhere with no other eating out options, it is generally a waste of money to go with the higher number mealplans. I don't know one kid who has eaten the number of meals they have chosen on their mealplan, regardless of the number.</p>
<p>When DS was in small LAC - all on-campus students were required to have a meal plan - but they had no choice - it was an all inclusive plan and all students had the same plan.</p>
<p>A bit different for DD at a large Univ - if in the dorms you are required to have a meal plan - a couple of dining halls, plenty of on-campus restaurants/cafe type places, etc - even the rec center has something. We started out with a 14+ plan - which included some bucs on declining balance (which we could add to at any time in $20 increments) - and it was week to week - use or loose type of thing. We found she didn't use alll the meals and was not worth it - so we dropped to a 10+ type of plan - still with decline balance also - and that worked great. When they have choices they tend to use those choices - and not eat in the D hall all the time. The college ID was used as their meal plan/decline - so she could use it anywhere on campus - even in vending machines in certain buidings.</p>
<p>This year she is off campus - but we did get her a commuter plan - middle of the road one that also has decline balance on it - it works great - she is on campus enough to use it almost daily - either as a meal/snack or to use the bucs portion of it - and she is not limited to the use it or loose it rules with this either - it covers the whole semester - and again we can add to it if we need to - so no problem. Her school has free fridays - 1 student uses the meal plan and brings a friend for free - her and her roomies share this - so it works out great.</p>
<p>The big meal plans - IMHO - are a waste of $$ unless you have a student who just stays on campus and doesn't go anywhere - then would be ideal - but usually that is not the case. The middle of the road plans work well for many and provide alot of flexiblity. Realizing that all kids eat differently - it is a personal decision - in our experience we have found that the middle of the road plans work well.</p>
<p>ALways take the smallest amount offred, unless there are extemuating circumstances (middle of no where, boy who loves to eat).
I dont know which scholl you are at, but last year my D as a freshman maybe ate 5 meals a week in the dinning hall and that was puching it. This year she has a 5 meal plan, the smallest avaibale, and she never even uses that.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that breakfast is usually eaten on the run. I know for lucnh someimes they go out or grab something not from the dinning hall (so not in the meal plan). Dinner may or may not be at dinning hall.</p>
<p>YOu can always trade up. I would take 10 to start if it is offered.</p>
<p>First year we bought our frosh son middle of the road meal plan which included meals at dining rooms and some points for independently run dining options on campus. His school is on the quarter system and to make things even more complicated you could purchase an annual meal plan, a fall meal plan, or a winter/spring plan. Of course none of the unused portions could be carried over. I was crazy the first year cuz he is diabetic and students are allowed a frig but no microwave in the dorm. After the first quarter and for the second year we bought the smallest meal plan. He most always grabbed granola bars/popup tarts for breakfast on the way to a mid or late morning class. So I agree with other posters -- take a small plan and increase it if necessary.</p>
<p>"""it is a personal decision - in our experience we have found that the middle of the road plans work well."""</p>
<p>I will add to this - it is a very good idea to check with the school dining program to see what you actually can do - can you change the chosen plan mid year or are you stuck with it for the whole year - we changed mid-stream and it made a big difference - we went down to a smaller plan - as too much was being wasted in the use of loose plan that alot of schools have in place.</p>
<p>My son had cooking facilities in apartment-style campus housing - so basically the meal plan turned out to be a waste of money. We were required to take a meal plan the first year - I bought the cheapest they allowed. I considered purchasing the most basic (lowest) plan for him the second year - but then I called the college and asked how much it would cost to purchase the same meal at the main dining facility and I did the math: we were paying MORE per meal on the plan than he would pay purchasing the same amount of meals separately. I asked the people in the housing office if there was something wrong with my math ... and the answer was no, my math was fine .. it WAS cheaper to buy the meals separately. </p>
<p>My son really didn't cook all that much for himself, but he got tired of the dining facilities on campus very quickly, and he and his roommates often ordered pizza or takeout chinese late at night -- it turned out that the local restaurants all delivered until pretty late. When he first arrived on campus, I looked around the kitchen in his apartment and saw what they had & didn't have -- they had a coffee maker & blender, but no toaster - so I went out and contributed a toaster. (Pop tarts & bagels = breakfast). </p>
<p>It really depends somewhat on the kid. It would be rare indeed for my son to get up early enough in the morning to actually make it to breakfast -- especially since on his campus there was a little bit of a walk to the dining facilities. Is your kid really going to get out of bed on a cold or rainy morning and brave the elements for breakfast??? Some might ... mine wouldn't. </p>
<p>I think lalady is right -- the meal plans tend to appeal to us moms who are afraid that our kids will starve without them. My own parents insisted on the full meal plan when I was in college - even though I never ate breakfast either. Depending on your kid's eating habits, it can be money down the drain. </p>
<p>Check the HOURS that the campus eating facilities are open, and find out whether unused meals can be "saved" or applied for use later. One problem my son had at his college was that by the time he was thinking about lunch or dinner, the window of opportunity for the meal had passed -- so even if he had wanted to eat on campus, it was too late for him to get fed. A lot of college kids keep really late hours - they get hungry around 9 or 10 pm. One more reason why the local Dominos does so well. </p>
<p>The other thing to find out is whether you can upgrade the meal plan at any time -- you usually can, because it is unlikely that anyone associated with collecting money at a college will ever refuse your offer of more money. On the other hand, it is generally harder to downgrade.</p>
<p>I'd go with the 14 option, and give him cash to buy extra meals if he needs it.</p>
<p>My first semester at school I was on the unlimited meal plan... but I never ate breakfast during the week, and ate brunch + dinner on the weekends. This semester I'm on the 14/week plan. The meal plans here also give the student "flex dollars" which can be spent on any food around campus, and at local places (chinese, dominoes, etc). These dollars are tax free at my school. Does the school have this option? It seems that the schools my HS friends are at having other campus spending money tied to the meal plan as well.</p>
<p>my daughter has a meal point card. She usually does eat breakfast but she goes to class first and then eats afterward, dinners are often shared in the dorm or off campus.
We buy the smallest plan possible but she always has points left at end of year, so she shares them with her friends that eat a lot more.
Her point card can be used to buy ingredients from the dining hall to make meals later as well.</p>