<p>Any advice about which meal plan a freshman should sign up for? The minimum for freshman is 14 meals a week.</p>
<p>I think I'm going with the 17-a week. Just because their breakfast is good (I stayed in a dorm a while back) and I want to start eating breakfast again. </p>
<p>But their meal plan page needs help, it is so confusing! They don't really define what the plans are.</p>
<p>My advice would be to analyze your own habits. My son didn't use nearly all his meals his first year (had the 17 I think). He always ate breakfast during the week--but didn't really like their dinners. He started keeping lunch meats, bread, fruit in his room and often ate lunch or dinner there--or went out (had a car). He also often wasn't on campus weekends. So second year, he only did the minimum 5.</p>
<p>It depends on how much you eat. For me 14 meals a week was definitely enough. I didn't even use close to all of them. I maybe ate breakfast 4 or 5 times the entire year.</p>
<p>I've had 8 meals a week for the last two years (the upperclassmen limit if you live on the main part of campus), and I've had serious trouble ever eating all my meals. I don't think I know anyone with more than 14 meals a week.</p>
<p>I would go with the minimum. I had 14 per week and that seemed like a lot. If you decide that you will use more, then you can simply upgrade your meal plan. However, you CAN NOT downgrade your meal plan.</p>
<p>You can't downgrade it during the semester but you can downgrade it before the next semester starts...I had 10 first semester last year but downgraded to 8 for spring semester.</p>
<p>I had 14 my freshman year and I struggled to eat that many.</p>
<p>is it worth it to do the All-in-One plan thing? it seems like it would be. i think i'm going to do 14 a week. i eat breakfast, but i'm satisfied with a granola bar or a bowl of cereal, both of which can be eaten without a meal plan.</p>
<p>also, what is Gold Unlimited? is it for people that are obsessed with eating in the dining halls? lol</p>
<p>No, I don't think it's worth it for the All-in-one plans. I've had a few friends who had them and most of them weren't happy with it or wanted to switch.</p>
<p>Yeah I agree. With the all-in-one you can only go certain hours and buy certain things. If you do not buy the specific thing you get cash value which is only a few dollars. I would just suggest putting some extra money on a deacon or debit card.</p>
<p>I personally had the all-in-one the first semester and didn't like it and got the lower meal plan the next semester. Little known secret: you can change your meal plan the first two weeks of school.</p>
<p>Do the 14; 17 is too many. And, don't bother with the "all in one" stuff. It's easier to just put deacon dollars onto your card and just use them if and when you want something from the Benson food court.</p>
<p>DD had 17 for freshman year; some weeks she used all 17, but for the most part she didn't. She went down to 14 for next semester. The price difference isn't that great between 14 & 17, but it doesn't make sense to pay the extra if she doesn't use them.</p>
<p>One of my friends got the "Unlimited" meal plan his freshman year. Big mistake.</p>
<p>I'll echo everyone else and say go for the 14. Unfortunately, meal plans only work for The Pit and not Chick-Fil-A, Subway, and other places. The Pit has pretty good food, but after seeing calzones every day you will want to switch up your dining options. </p>
<p>I have 11 and I like it because it averages to a little less than 2 meals at The Pit per day. I rarely eat breakfast (I eat Nature Valley/PopTarts), and I eat off-campus maybe 3 times a week, so it is perfect.</p>
<p>my freshman year i went for 14, and i definitely recommend it; every other (female) freshman i knew who had more ended up downgrading at the earliest possible moment. on the other hand, keep in mind that a lot of guys are continuing or starting to grow like mad their freshman year... i know most of my male friends that year were going to the pit multiple times a day and eating what seemed like their weight in pit food. by sophomore year, i think everyone i knew had the minimum (which was 8 for most people), mostly because everyone either had a car on campus or knew a bunch of people who did, making it easy to get food off campus. so vehicles are another thing to take into account, as i think someone with a car is going to tend to eat at the pit less frequently than someone without a car.</p>
<p>in other words, i'm going to have to echo the "14" that others are saying. :)</p>
<p>It's also worth mentioning that any meals you don't eat roll over from week to week (but not from semester to semester). So usually for the first couple of weeks on campus, I'll go sparingly on my meals (which is easy because I've usually brought food from home) and then I've always got some extra meals if I do need/want to eat at the pit more than 8 times a week.</p>
<ol>
<li>hands down.
You get sick of the Pit. if you think about it, there are only 19 meals at the pit.
you'll order food, etc. GET 14!!!</li>
</ol>
<p>I had 14 and at the end of the semester I was going into the pit to get a to-go cup of coke. You know you have too many meals when you do that.</p>
<p>get the minimum and put the extra money you would spend upping the plan on deacon dollars. i personally only ate breakfast once, when my family was down for fam wknd, but even so, after a few weeks lunch and dinner starts to get repetitive and suck...same white meat with gravy every day, same calzones, same asian noodles...etc...you'll be happy that you put money on DD when you order pizza from pizza hut or go to benson once or twice a week wiht hte extra money.</p>