<p>Thank you, MarinMom!</p>
<p>Sk8rmom - I’m with you on the meal plan, in principle. In reality, my freshman S, who was required to take the unlimited meal plan, is taking full advantage of it. </p>
<p>The only way freshmen at my S’s school can opt out of living on campus is if they live with their parents or another approved relative within 50 miles of campus. We live exactly 50 miles away and could probably put him in an apartment and claim he was living at home like a lot of people do. But I really wanted him in the dorms his first year so he would have some rules and some structure while he was getting used to being on his own. He’s doing well, so I might be more open to an apartment next year.</p>
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To my understanding, a certain number of students (read: freshmen and/or other on-campus residents) must purchase (the more/most expensive) meal plans in order for the whole ‘meal plan concept’ to be viable at any given school.</p>
<p>Then there is the other extreme. UIUC, wanting to have people think it costs less than it actually will, lists its meal plan as 10/week. Have to dig to find anything approaching reality.</p>
<p>This was one of the reasons I commute to my school. I live so close, and in a way, dorming is not worth it. However, my social life did take a hit, however.</p>
<p>Expensive does not equal higher quality. I think all the UCs price gouge their dorms (and boarding) to help with funding. This is especially blatantly obvious at UCs located in the middle of nowhere such as UC Riverside. -.-</p>