<p>I know a lot of colleges require freshmen to get dining plans that are quite expensive. I do not see the need to pay $8 for breakfast per daywhen I could just buy a box of cereal from the grocery store and a carton of milk. With lunch, I'd be content just to buy a big bag of salad and eat that over a few days or have some bagels. Dinner would be the only meal where I'd want to have someone prepare for convenience sake. Is there any way to get around a college's meal plan? Has anyone tried dorm cooking...how has it worked out? Do you still have the time/motivation to prepare all of meals after a few months at college?</p>
<p>Some colleges don’t require freshmen to live on campus, right? If you go to a commuter school, you’re probably not required to enroll in the meal plan and enjoy hamburgers that cost roughly $80 apiece.</p>
<p>I agree with Jahaba. There are schools that don’t require freshmen to live on-campus. All you gotta do is not live on campus. Some dorms. might not make it mandatory for freshmen to have dining plans because they have a full kitchen in their rooms though. I guess those dorms. would be the most ideal. However, having a dining plan is convenient but costly because most times you don’t want to cook. </p>
<p>During the summer I had to live in an on-campus apartment and always ate out because I was so lazy to cook food. If I cooked food it was always unhealthy from pizza, pasta, and bacon, egg sandwiches.</p>
<p>My college has a mandatory meal plan for all freshman. The only way to get out of it is to demonstrate that the dining halls do not cater to one’s unique nutritional needs. For example, students with severe food allergies get out of the meal plan because the self-serve setup entails a fair bit of cross-contamination.</p>