<p>There is a thread on the UNC 2011 Discussion regarding meal plans. I am reposting my comments here along with some additions.</p>
<p>The topic was what plan is best plan and many were of the opinion that the set meal quantity "value meal plans" were the best choice. Here is my comment for what it's worth. </p>
<p>The problem with the 14 meal plan or any of the "value meal plans" is that you have to use them at the designated times (breakfast, lunch, dinner on a given day) or you lose the meal.</p>
<p>Block plans are by far best; you purchase X amount of meals and can use them for any meal, any day, any time during the semester. This will give you the flexibility to choose when to eat on campus and when not to. On the value meal plans if you decide to eat a given meal off campus, you have lost that meal....but still paid for it.</p>
<p>If you are not a regular breakfast eater, go for the lower number of meals and add money to flex. You will find that many people, incorrectly thinking that they won't get enough meals, opt for the higher number block (150) and are then giving away meals to friends at the end of the semester to use them before they lose them.... I can speak with first hand knowledge of this because it happened to us as well, despite the warnings we got from numerous people beforehand. At the end of a semester people are begging for people to help them use their unused meals.</p>
<p>You will also find that at the beginning of the school year there are so many opportunities for free meals from fraternity and sorority rush parties (many people attend just to eat) to OOS Student Assn parties, to the random social events scheduled during from WOW (Week of Wonder.....the first week or so of school) that you won't be using your meal plan as much as you would think.</p>
<p>My recommendation is the 105 meal block with $500 dining dollars then see how it works and plan the second semester accordingly.</p>
<p>We also opted for the 105 Block plan. Fall semester all meals were used, but we lost 40 for the Spring semester. What we also had to work down was the Flex money-we set up $500. Try for smaller amounts. You can always add as long as you keep any kind of meal plan.</p>
<p>GOB - I don't think so based off a conversation I had with my Robertson Scholar during the weekend. She was telling me that if I got the scholarship not to buy a meal plan but rather to bum off friends. Hah I'm not necessarily recommending that but I guess that means that her meal plan wasn't paid for, and isn't the Pogue and Robertson situation financially pretty similar? Hope that helps!</p>
<p>My son is a Colonel Robinson scholar which is full tuition, room and board for OOS. From what I understand from my discussion with the Office of Scholarships, they give you a set amount that they consider full room and board. That amount can be applied to on campus housing and food OR off campus housing and food. We haven't chosen a plan for Ben, but from my initial running of numbers, the amount given him covers almost all the plans except possibly one . . . if my memory serves me (which is not serving me so well these days). Still, we are from Texas and very new to the UNC world so we are on a huge learning curve.</p>
<p>I wasn't sure about how other scholarships worked so I was reluctant to comment.</p>
<p>With the Morehead they are given a check once a semester (Check day...which they all look forward to) and the students are then responsible for paying their tuition, room, whatever meal plan (if any), books etc. themselves.</p>
<p>The Morehead considers it part of the process to be mature enough to handle the responsibility of being given a large check and to pay for the required things on time and then to manage the balance of the stipend for the rest of the semester. The amount has always been in line to cover any dorm cost (double room) and any meal plan. </p>
<p>My guess (purely a guess) for other scholarships is that X amount of money is credited to your statement at the Bursar's office and you can spend it as you see fit. My guess again is that the dorm costs, meal plan you select and tuition and fees would then be debited from the amount of the award. No real money changes hands. I'd be surprised if this is different so when it all shakes out please let us know.</p>
<p>I am sure that it wouldn't cover the cost of a single room if you requested one for example, but would be enough for any regular dorm room and any meal plan. What I don't know is if you spend LESS than the amount they allocate (smaller meal plan for example) if the difference remains on account for you to then carry over to the next semester or if it just goes away.</p>
<p>I THINK, if I understood the lady in the scholarship office, that (at least for Ben's scholarship) they credit the amount of the award at the beginning of the semester. She actually gave me the figure. What is left is reimbursed to the student. I asked her very directly if then those monies can be used for off-campus housing and food, and she said yes. So I believe the implication is that whatever you don't spend of the amount credited to your account will be reimbursed to you. I could have completely misunderstood how it works, but that is my understanding. This is very different from how my older daughter's scholarship works at another school, so I asked a lot of clarifying questions to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding. STILL, I could be wrong. GOB, if you would like the woman's name at the office that has been so helpful to us, pm me and I'll send it to you.</p>
<p>I didn't want to bring that up since I was unsure but I know that I had heard of people being reimbursed for excess funds in the past but wasn't sure if that was still the case. I hope it still is the case, that would help with off campus meals etc.</p>