<p>Unfortunately I have to choose a meal plan (I prefer to cook and prepare my own meals). In the description it says "Enrollment in any of the residential colleges (excluding apartments) requires participation in either the 8, 8 Kosher Plus, 14, or 20 meal plans". For some reason it will not let me choose the 8 meal plan, only the 8 kosher plus. I rather go with less meals so I have more free points to use when I want. Also, I was wondering if the on campus dinning halls were vegetarian/vegan friendly. Do they have fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, ect. Thank you.</p>
<p>Okay…so here’s the deal with the dining hall:</p>
<p>Concisely, it sucks. The food is not good, it’s bearable but it gets old real fast. The dining halls are vegan/vegetarian friendly, but ‘fresh’ fruits/veggies are hard to come by. The bananas are sometimes pretty good but other than that, everything is pretty hit or miss and usually a miss.</p>
<p>I just did some research and here what I found [Welcome</a> to DineOnCampus at University of Miami by Chartwells Higher Education](<a href=“Dine On Campus”>Dine On Campus)</p>
<p>It actually looks like they have a decent selection of vegetarian/vegan options. There’s no vegan restaurants where I’m from so anything they have will probably be better then what’s around here. The dining areas listed on that web site all seem to have at least one option for vegans so I’ll be sure to give them a try when I take a visit.</p>
<p>20 is a complete waste. I have it and don’t think I’ve ever come close to 20, on average I’d say I eat about 10-12 but never more than 14.</p>
<p>I had a 20 meal plan at another school and it really is a waste. The only way you actually get all 20 meals in is if you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday with a flexible schedule that allows you to do so. If you had classes when they served lunch then you would lose a meal so it was very difficult to actually use 3 meals a day on the schools dining schedule.</p>
<p>I actually think the food is pretty good. There’s usually a good variety. My only problem is they tend to serve all the good foods on the same night, and all the bad foods on the same night. This is coincidence, though, I don’t think it’s planned. Worst case scenario there’s always burgers, fries, veggie burgers, grilled cheese, and hot dogs, and they have a salad bar, and a sandwich bar, and very good soups. Then there’s around three areas with “main courses”.</p>
<p>Like I said, I still like it after three years, though I occasionally supplement it with food from the food court. Luckily you do get money included with your meal plan to spend at other places on campus.</p>
<p>And in terms of number of meals, definitely go with fourteen. I tried eight last semester, and found myself going to McDonalds or spending a fortunate at whole foods every other night. I’ve never tried 20, but I often have difficulty fitting in fourteen meals, so I think 20 would be harder. And I have friends who have been on the 20 meal a week plan, and they’ve never eaten more than 15 or 16 meals a week.</p>
<p>To answer the actual question:</p>
<p>Freshmen are not allowed to select the 8 meal plan. If you live in the freshmen dorms, you must select the 14 or 20 meal plan</p>
<p>I’m a transferring sophomore. I talked with someone via email about it and they’re not sure why I can’t chose the 8 meal plan. They told me to wait till the end of the semester and see if it changes.</p>
<p>I have the 14 meal plan and honestly I think everyone is so whiney about the food. Of course it’s not your mom’s homecooked, slaved-over meal, because it’s a dining hall. It’s fine. They have different choices for every meal and if you don’t like something, you can get something else. The only thing that is really consistently bad is the desserts, but the frozen yogurt machine is great.</p>
<p>Anyway, yes, they have a whole station for the Vegans/Vegetarians and they mark all the desserts and soups and stuff that is vegan or vegetarian.</p>
<p>Also, 14 meals is more than enough. I just eat breakfast in my room (cereal and milk) or on the weekends I just sleep through it. I also eat usually once a week at the Food Court and use my extra meals at late night dining (11pm-2am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday)</p>
<p>The dining hall at Miami is what you make it out to be. If you eat the same thing every night for a month, of course you’re going to complain about it. They do try to change things up, alas like kimaples said, it’s not your typical home cooked meal.</p>
<p>That being said, go with the 14. I’m a freshman living on campus and I rarely hit 14. I don’t have the energy nor desire to wake up 30 minutes early to go get breakfast (which, mind you, is the same every single day. No variety there.)</p>
<p>Comparatively, I believe Miami has the best dining hall food of any other school I’ve eaten at (UF, FSU, Tulane, & Clemson).</p>
<p>I also don’t have the energy to wake up for breakfast. But I wish I did. The custom-prepared omelets are sooo good! But Magics is right, the options for breakfast are exactly the same every day. 
Next semester when I actually have to get up for class I’ll have breakfast. (This semester my earliest class is at 12:20 so I usually wake up at 11:30 ).</p>