<p>This is the vendor that has the contract at Brandeis, my daughter’s other top choice (it came down to Brandeis or AU). They also have the contract at NYU. </p>
<p>I notice the meal plan prices are lower than the current AU prices at both other schools…but I’m not getting my hopes up that they will come down at AU.</p>
<p>Will be interesting to see how the prices/options change. I don’t know if they will be able to offer an unlimited swipe plan once swipes can be used for Subway, Einstein’s, etc. (Neither Brandeis nor NYU seems to have an unlimited swipes plan.)</p>
<p>I know D will be so disappointed that this is happening after she leaves! She never cared for TDR and would have loved to be able to use card swipes all over campus. For the last two years she’s skipped the meal plans completely–between cooking some meals in her suite kitchen and eating out at inexpensive spots, she’s actually saved money. I wonder if the changes are being made because of others like her who have defected from the meal plans. One thing I’ve never understood is why the McDonalds on campus closed. D said it was always packed and was a good place to get a cheap (if not healthy) meal. I always wondered if it was an attempt by the administration to force healthier choices. Well, now the students will be downing 700 calorie beverages at Starbucks instead!</p>
<p>I’m planning on transferring after this year (im a current frosh) and when I saw this email I was like “of COURSE after I leave” hahaha, so jealous of the freshman next year because just like mommaj, I have avoided TDR like the plague unless I find decent fruit, which is pretty rare.</p>
<p>I believe McDonald’s chose not to renew their contract and the school has been trying hard to find another vendor to go into that space. There were some issues with the requirements (like the vendor had to be open for breakfast, etc) that might have gotten in the way. I was following the story in The Eagle. </p>
<p>Starbucks is NOT a good choice, IMO, since there’s plenty of coffee available but not enough food choices!</p>
<p>I don’t know why AU didn’t renew Bon Appetit’s contract, but I’m reserving judgment on whether Aramark will be better. They are promising better kosher dining options, which I think is a good thing. </p>
<p>I am not surprised a student can save money by not having a meal plan. The meal plans are really not a very good value.</p>
<p>I figured out last year that the 200 block plan is over $10/swipe. I am sure that it’s possible to get breakfasts and lunches for substantially less, especially if you just eat a bowl of cheerios in your dorm room and make your own cup of tea! </p>
<p>The minimum plan for freshmen is the 150 block plan, which comes to $12.75/swipe. The incremental cost of going to the 175 plan was only about $5/swipe, because the price per swipe goes down the more you buy. But it never gets very low. Even the unlimited plan, if you swiped in 350 times, would come to $7/swipe. And you can surely have breakfast for less than that in your dorm.</p>
<p>The 75 block plan is $14/swipe. I am not sure what it costs to just pay cash at TDR…that plan doesn’t seem like a very good value at all.</p>
<p>(I did subtract out the dining dollars off the top before calculating the price per swipe. Because dollars are dollars. Although I know there are some discounts and maybe no tax if they use dining dollars? But that’s also true with Eagle Bucks, I believe.)</p>
<p>I agree that dining plans are too expensive and Starbucks isn’t a great choice for a vendor to replace McDonalds. </p>
<p>Also, I’m unsure how much change will occur considering Aramark Corporation owns Bon Appetit (current vendor). I don’t understand this relationship lol.</p>
<p>However, I am interested to see Elevation Burger and the new marketplace that is replacing Eagle’s Nest. Overall, hopefully new changes will mean good changes for AU in the fall!</p>
<p>No more chicken tenders from the Tavern!!! I bet lots of students are disappointed about that.</p>
<p>Anyway, I fully agree with DeskPotato, the meal plans are not a good value, and all students should always buy the smallest meal plan that is available to them. I found out last year that if a student happens to use up all of their swipes (not likely), they can upgrade to the next higher meal plan any time throughout the school year and just pay the difference between the two plans (but you can only downgrade in the first few weeks of the semester). The school doesn’t really advertise the upgrade option because they’re hoping that students will buy the larger meal plans to begin with and then have lots of unused swipes left over at the end of the semester. </p>
<p>Most students probably don’t realize how much each meal swipe costs, so if the school tells them that the easiest way to buy a bagel and coffee at Einstein Bagels is to use your meal swipe (which is what I’m sure they will tell the incoming freshmen at Eagle Summit), that’s what many of them will do (according to the Eagle article, a bagel and coffee would equal one meal swipe). They may not realize that they (or in many cases, their parents) are paying $14 for a breakfast that would regularly cost $3-$4 at most if they used cash or Dining Dollars instead.</p>
<p>As for cash (or Dining Dollars) price at TDR, my guess is that it is significantly less than $14, especially for breakfast/brunch/lunch. So the meal plan is definitely a big moneymaker for the school. My son (current freshman) said that he knew lots of people who had large numbers of unused meal swipes left over at the end of the first semester.</p>
<p>From what I was told at Eagle Summit last summer, there’s no tax charged if you use Dining Dollars (plus there is a 10-20% discount) but you do pay tax if you use Eagle Bucks.</p>
<p>@LR oh a good chunk of us students know that a meal at TDR is basically 14$ each!</p>
<p>it’s just annoying how that’s our own dinning hall option, and annoying that everytime I use a swipe just to get a few apples or some lettuce for my salad I’m paying that much!</p>