<p>I guess we now know why NYU is so pricey.</p>
<p>My son's meal plan at NYU is 19 meal per week for the pricely sum of $1800 per semester ($120 per week) There are less expensive meal plans buy since he is in a freshman dorm w/o kitchen he has to have a minimum 10 meals per week plan which is 1655 per semester. I figured for $150 more for the semester he gets 9 more meals per week. Seemed like a bargain!</p>
<p>It is run by Aramark. Same place that does concessions for most Philadelphia entertainment venues.</p>
<p>Sue, my D goes to NYU (didn't realize you have a kid there too) and was only on the meal plan the first year, though was in an apartment style dorm. I recall the first semester, signing up for the most expensive or 19 meal plan as you have done because the difference in price with the one below it was quite neglible. But she used WAY fewer meals and so the second semester, we switched to some other plan, I forget the name of it, at her request, that while it did not cost much less (plus we gave her the money for the difference to also use), it had more "flex points" or whatever they are called at NYU and she preferred that. But after the first year, she did not want a meal plan at all. So, we give her the cost of the biggest meal plan (which is $1800) in monthly increments in cash to buy food instead. </p>
<p>Gilbert....if you think the meal plan is pricey....you ought to see the housing plan.....it runs about $12,000/year!</p>
<p>you are probably talking about the 175 flex plan for the same price as the 10 meal per week. The 225 flex is 1900/semester. They made a change to the meals per week plans this year. There are no more 'dining periods'. So you can swipe 2x or more in the same meal period (2 lunches, 2 dinners). I don't think the 10 meals per week or 175 flex would be enough, but we will reevaluate at the end of the semester. </p>
<p>My son doesn't cook, and depending on living arrangements for next year (who knows what that will be), we'll make a determination as to meal plan at that time.</p>
<p>He's in Rubin this year, a regular triple. 4300/semester. And that's one of the cheapest.</p>
<p>most expensive meal plan is $1900 :-) traditional, all you can eat whenever.</p>
<p>Sue, I don't recall the exact title of what we switched to second semester freshman year (she is now a junior) but I recall it was 10 meals and more flex points than she had when she had 19 meals and it costs only a little less per semester. While the 19 meals seemed like the better "deal" (cough), she prefered the flexible points which could be used various places or even in their convenience stops where she could buy a drink, cereal, etc. She has an apartment style dorm. I don't think she cooked much due to her schedule. She had breakfast in and she had a kitchen. But with the 19 meals, she didn't make it to many of them...she never did the breakfast and her schedule is so intense that she didn't always have dinner off. Three days per week (all day) were at her studio which was too far to go to a cafeteria for lunch on those days. So, she was using money picking up food on the go like salads in addition to the $3600/year (or maybe it is $3800, I forget) meal plan. So, the flex helped. But then for the second year (also in an apartment style dorm), she didn't want any meal plan. Between not getting to the cafeterias enough, and the fact that she felt the cafeteria food contributed to weight gain (she is a thin person overall), she wanted to get food on her own. She has gotten into very healthy diet style food. So, while she doesn't cook that often due to her schedule, she may occasionally cook but she also buys groceries and then also picks up food like salads given her daily travels (she is in Tisch). Now, she has an apartment off campus and for the most part gets back to it late at night and not for meals too often. For us, we are spending the same on food. We chose the amount to give our kids for food (not counting other money they are given) to be based on what the meal plan would have cost (and we'd have been willing to buy the full meal plan). So, we just send that amount each month for food. My other D at another college is off campus and chose no meal plan this year as well and so we are doing the same. </p>
<p>The dorms my D has lived in (apartment style) have cost about $12,000/year. The housing cost is way higher than at my other child's college, that's for sure.</p>
<p>yup, the 10 meals per week comes with more 'declining dollars" $250. most of the other plans come with $150.</p>
<p>I did notice that the freshman dorms are the 'cheapest'. </p>
<p>I guess I should be happy with this 'bargain' year of $12400 for room & board. </p>
<p>I might very will do what you have done and go with no mealplan at some point in my son's upper years. Right now, I just want to see him make it thru this first year!</p>
<p>My brother has a soon to be vacant rent controlled apt at 3rd street and Avenue A. He's had it since 1990. He can't sublet again for 2 more years, so maybe in my son's junior year he could stay there. I think the rent (for a very nice studio apt) is $795. Now that's a NYC bargain! My brother lives with his partner up on East 45th street (near the UN), but he refuses to give up that rent controlled apt. He's hoping they go condo and pay him off to get him out. He knows of people who have been given lots of $$ to leave their rent controlled apt.</p>
<p>Is NYU still with Aramark (the same co. as my aunt's senior citizen's residence) even though they have the new chef? Does he work for Aramark or NYU? S had the minimum meal plan that was available freshman year and barely used it, so it was essentially a waste of money even at that rate. He was in an apartment-style dorm sophomore year and chose not to get the meal plan (his dorm didn't have a dining hall and wasn't near one). He spent a semester abroad during junior year, but was still in apartment style for one semester, and then senior year, he had his own apartment. I thought that the kosher meal plan was only 6 meals a week (that was about 4 years ago, so the plan may have changed).</p>
<p>Oh right....it was called "dining dollars"....I get the terms mixed up between my kids' schools. :D I think the other child's school calls it flex points. Anyway, while the cost between the two meal plans seemed so neglible to us that we chose the one with the most meals when she started, she liked the ones with less meals that had more dining dollars due to the flexibility. However, as I mentioned, not only has she had an apartment style dorm since starting NYU with a kitchen, and now has an off campus apartment, but in her case, she has gotten really into WHAT she eats and didn't want the cafeteria food no matter the cost. </p>
<p>Your son will be very very lucky if he can have a studio apartment at $795!! When my D wanted to get an off campus apartment, we said fine but we would only (cough!!!) pay what dorm housing would have cost (her dorms have cost $12,000 for the school year just for housing) and so that's what we will pay for those 8 months (we are paying a little more due to arrival in late August and staying a bit into May though). However, she is living in an unusual situation, in a condo that I believe sells for about one million. She has her own bedroom, own bathroom, kitchen, dining, living room, deck, beautifully fully furnished, laundry, 24 hour doorman, 24 hour maintenance man...</p>
<p>A condo that sells for about 1 mil in Manhattan and other pricey areas close to the city is not unusual. There are students/recent grads (S included) who are living/renting beautiful apartments that are worth more that that.</p>
<p>This is what confuses me...
I can't withdraw more than a standard amount from my son's 529 plan- whatever is the average meal plan, and even at that I have to have backup paperwork- but another student at NYU can withdraw 4 times that amount, simply because his school serves up gourmet dining experiences. Go figure.</p>
<p>NYUMom, sorry I wasn't clear about what was unusual about my D's apartment condo. It wasn't the price of what it was worth. I know real estate is expensive in Manhattan! :D</p>
<p>But any of her friends will tell you she has an unusual situation for her housing. We expected her to have to find an apartment to rent in our budget (which was what we paid for NYU Housing) with friends and likely have to furnish it as well (though I would have no funds to do so and would have to scrounge to find what items we had to spare). But that is not what happened, though that is what all her friends had to do. She is even paying less than some of them and getting more due to her situation. She is living with one other girl. This girl's parents bought her a condo in Manhattan a year ago to use while in college and afterwards. It is a beautiful condo that is atypical of the apartments most of my D's friends have (which surely would have sufficed for her as well!!). My D is not nearly paying half of what it costs to maintain this apartment. We offered the other family the monthly cost of what we paid NYU and they accepted it. She doesn't have to sign a year lease and doesn't have to pay for 12 months rent, just like when living in NYU Housing. On top of that, it is a bonafide two bedroom apartment (some two bedrooms in Manhattan are truly one bedroom convertable apartments where part of a second room is divided off with a wall to make another bedroom) and has two bathrooms (she has her own for just herself), a living and dining room, a full deck, and is fully furnished with, how shall I say, adult furniture and decorations (leather futon, nice furniture, wall treatments), not student type furniture. The kitchen is top of the line type kitchen. It is nothing like apartments any friends have and they ALL say so. In fact, none of them believe where she is living and that she is only (cough) paying what her NYU dorm cost. She normally would NOT be living in such an apartment in terms of size, attributes, or furnishings had she rented an apartment on her own with a friend. She really is NOT paying half of this condo. She is paying what we offered to live in a condo that her roommate's family owns. She even told me yesterday that she is hosting the annual "bonding night" for her a capella group at her place because nobody else's apartment is like this and couldn't accomodate them in the same way (she also has a huge deck the length of the unit). So, I know other students may rent apartments that are worth a lot if sold. But her situation is atypical from her peers. She didn't even have to find an apartment or all the stuff you have to do for that in Manhattan. She just moved into this girl's condo and brought her usual stuff she would bring to a dorm. She even has a maid and I don't even have a maid! :D I don't know how else to explain it but all who know of her apartment do say it is an atypical situation from their classmates including those who are spending more than we are. She comments all the time at the luck of the situation with this friend and her housing. It was not what we expected, so I'll put it that way. She'll be the first to tell you that she says, "I better enjoy this now because when I graduate, I won't be able to have an apartment like this!"</p>
<p>It sounds like a good deal, and I hope that she can hold onto it as long as she can!</p>
<p>I think she hopes the same...she is friends with the apartment-mate and so that bodes well....we shall see. Meanwhile, when we go next to see her in a performance coming up, we can actually stay with her which saves some money as each visit to see her stuff becomes costly.</p>