bulletandpima

Okay, we went on tonight b/c DS is going to open house tomorrow, and when we looked at the meal plan...IT WAS IN GREEK for all we cared, terp bucks...what the heck does that really mean?

Please can someone explain to us how the food plan works for stupid parents

BruinsJEW

Okay...

there are dining dollars, terpbucks and terrapin express.

Dining dollars are for use in the The Diner and South Campus Dining Hall as well as Adele's (only at dinner). Dining dollars are monitored and you must use a certain amount at each focus point (very annoying and stupid). Also, they overcharge for the food so it's not hard to use all your fast if you don't budget wisely.

TerpBucks are for use at Adeles, select food stores such as the coffee shop, the smootie place in ERC and some other places. Also at the Incon(North Campus Convenience "Inconvenient"(INCON, lol) shop as well as the Common Shop.

Terrapin Express is for the food court (Panda, Mcdonalds, chick fila and all the others)

astrophysicsmom

haha...been there, done that!

The easiest thing is to choose the "Resident Dining Plan"; they said that's what most people do, so that worked for me.

In actual practice, it's not nearly as confusing for the students as it appears on paper. The discussion of budgeting resident points (and focus dates) was confusing to me, but basically they make sure that students spend their dining $$ relatively evenly. That said, D reports that during the week of focus dates, the lounges are full of plates of cookies, entire cakes and pies, etc.!! And, if anyone is running short on points, they can count on being treated by someone else on their floor that have way too many points left over. D and her friends have treated themselves by going to Adele's for dinner (best place to eat on campus---a real restaurant in Stamp Union).

D found that she got tired of the Diner food, a long time ago....she buys bread and peanut butter and milk at the coop, and eats in her room, or they frequently order out (a billion places will deliver to the dorm...)

So, even tho we will remain stupid parents , our kids figure it out pretty fast!!!

worrywart

bruins, as the parent of a freshman who asked this exact question on our campus tour last year, yours is a better explanation. Thanks for clarifying. My son has never needed to use up his points by the focus dates- in fact first semester he had depleted his plan with six weeks left to go. When a hot breakfast costs $9, it's easy to see why. The dining plan system is definitely a negative in my book.

astrophysicsmom

It's really hard to figure out before you actually start, and it depends a lot on your own schedule (how frequently you go back to the dorm during the day, your group of friends, etc.) In D's case, she never eats breakfast (yeah, I've already done the motherly nagging, to no avail), and frequently doesn't go back to Denton in between classes, so she'll grab a bagel or something.

She was tired of the "back in my day" stories about our dining plans way back in the days of hunter/gatherers... I was impressed with what the diner had to offer to eat, but the a la cart options (and prices) make it more difficult, and costly if you eat every meal there, and/or eat a lot. And the story from D is that the food still does get monotonous and/or isn't that great.

After you are there 2 semesters, you can get (somewhat) more flexible options. If she were going to be in a traditional dorm next year, she was going to choose the "all campus plan", but that's not available to freshmen.
She found out yesterday that she was accepted to St. Mary's - Language House, which are apartments. Now, insteading of doing the guessing for the meal plans, she just has to learn how to cook this summer!!!

somebodynew

Yeah, the dining plan isn't meant to provide three hot meals a day. Students are expected to supplement meals using their terp bucks (i.e. buying a box of cereal or poptarts for breakfast at the incon or commons shop.)

worrywart

It would appear that even the new dining services director can't understand the meal plan: http://www.diamondbackonline.com/hom...4-ee33e7f7316e

a778999

They should get rid of the dining plan altogether and have us use Terrapin Express at our discretion.

BruinsJEW

They should get rid of focus dates, because for students who do not use their money, why should they be penalized if they cannot spend it the precise requirement.

The University of Maryland has one of the most absurd dining services. The only good thing is that Adele's accepts your dining points.

worrywart

Okay, I've just read and reread the dining services website options for returning students. What in the world are they trying to say in the all campus options chart? What do I care what percent is going toward an operations fee and what percent toward actual food? I just want to know how many meals a day my kid can buy with his meal plan. Can any upperclassman please explain the difference between the all campus plans and the resident plans, and what advantage there is in opting out of budgeting (which I presume refers to focus dates)? If you opt out, does dining services no longer steal your unspent balance? Sorry to sound harsh but the system needs fixing.

somebodynew

Just as a start, I would say that our dining services system is a lot simpler in practice than it looks on paper (or on a website). You swipe your card, see your remaining balance, and eat.

The all-campus plans (levels 1-3) are usefull if you want to shrink your dining plan (aka the money you give to UMD) and eat primarily at the Diners, because the plans do get a good rate there. But, if you plan on using it at the shops and cafes, you lose buying power. Also, it's a complete rip-off at Stamp, and you can only use it there after 2pm. I would not recommend getting the larger plans, because you're better off using a debit card or cash (or Terrapin Express).

The resident dining plan is split into two types of points, dining points and terpbucks. You get about 1080 points, which is the equivalent of 1080 dollars at the two diners and Adele's. TerpBucks are used at the convenience stores and cafes.

Opting out of the focus dates is a popular option for sophomores. It means that you won't lose points if you haven't spent down to the limit every 3 weeks. However, you are capped at $40 a day for the last 2-3 weeks of the semester, and you will lose any points not used at the end of the semester.

I'd say that you can definitely get 2 meals a day with the standard meal plan, and sometimes 3 if your breakfast is small (I usually get a donut and a chocolate milk). You won't be able to pay for a full 3 meals a day just on points. If you use terpbucks to buy breakfast food--boxes of cereal, poptarts, etc.

m25l

im not a student at cp but my sister is. on one of the last days of school me and her went and bought like 10 pizzas cuz she had so many points left!!! even buying them she had like 100 "dollars"? left on her account thingy. im no expert on the meal plans but in my sisters situation, it payed for food 3 weeks into the summer... and now i hate pizza haha

astrophysicsmom

D and several of her girlfriends would treat the guys on their floor (who had run out of dining $$) on the focus dates!!! I agree with somebodynew, the students seem to understand it once they are on campus, but it's a challenge for us parent-types to figure it out beforehand. D will be at St. Mary's (Language House) in an apartment, so she's looking forward to not being on the resident meal plans. Of course, we still have to figure out how many Terp Bucks (or Terrapin Express or ??) she'll need....

BruinsJEW

Astrophysicsmom,

My advice for you and the TerpBucks and Terrapin Express is to load a certain amount every couple of weeks or even every month. Like $150-$200 a month should be enough if she is only going to eat lunch at Stamp. Also, what is the purpose of getting her TerpBucks ?They can only be used at very few places and most students use theirs at the Incon and South Campus Store to buy food and other goods for their lifestyles and dorms.