<p>Hey guys, what meal plan do you have/are you getting? I have no idea which one is best for me.</p>
<p>I am getting the combo meal plan. It includes both points and meals and it is very flexible.</p>
<p>If you tend to eat 3 meals a day, 21 meals is the easiest. You can always buy outside of mealtimes with Whocash, the campus debit card system, which you can add to your I.D. card online....</p>
<p>I do NOT recommend getting the 21 meal plan. You're only allowed to use one meal during each meal period. Breakfast ends around 10am I think so if you sleep in later than that you'll miss the meal period and waste that meal and the money you paid for it. And if you have early class like 9am, you're not likely to want to get up early enough to give yourself time to go to the dining hall. I would recommend one of the plans that gives you both meals and points. This way, you can eat lunch & dinner in the dining halls and have points to go eat breakfast either in the dining hall or to buy cereal & milk in the c-store and keep it in your room (which is what most people do). Finally, with the 21 meal plan if you eat off campus, order in, or go out to dinner, you're essentially wasting the money you paid for the meal plan, since like I said, the meals don't carry over. Any of the other plans give you much more flexibility.</p>
<p>I'd really recommend the 10-meal plan. I have a healthy appetite and do eat 2 or 3 meals a day. However, with the 14 meal plan you only get a ridiculously small amount of points. So, you can't really get food from the convenience store without having to pay with whocash/actual cash, which is a pain. I snack alot, and even outside of my campus meals I still rely on running to the c-store for a 12-pack of soda or some chips. Moreover, the price for a "meal" is slim and if you go to Usdan alot, it's much easier to get the amount of food you want to eat and choose "meal and points" rather than skimp to be under the price limit. After my first week at Brandeis I only had like 10 points left, and at orientation, you go to Sherman alot (which you use meals for), which proves how fast they go by. </p>
<p>Also, to my knowledge there are only two meal periods during the weekend, so I always wondered how eating 21 meals a week is even possible? Also, I know alot of people who always end up with extra meals at the end of the week, which is always spent Sunday night at Einstein's stocking up on coffee or bagels!</p>
<p>Points transfer semester to semester too, and even with eating upwards 15 meals a week and making copious use of the c-store and Einstein's, I think I still have a hundred or two left over.</p>