Ask a Carolina Grad

awayfromitall
Thu, 08 Mar 2012 08:50:08 +0000

Just an alternate opinion on the food plan. The biggest food plan I think you can get before unlimited is 160 meals which is about 10 a week. Advice on here at the time was to get the 120 meal plan but D got the unlimited plan the first semester so that we could see how many she actually used and adjust it later. She is a 3-meal a day eater and more a healthy eater than a fast food eater. So the first year she ended up eating 2-3 meals per day or probably an average of 17 or 18 per week there. In addition, after working out, she might stop in for a snack…which counts as a meal. In sophomore year, she’s getting a little tired of the food hall but still eats at least 2 meals a day there…so the unlimited plan is still a value for her. By senior year, she may be so sick of the food halls, it will make sense to cut down to a lower meal plan but for now, unlimited has been the way to go.

So…choose based on your own eating habits. Do you skip breakfast? Do you prefer Chick-Fil-A to a salad or meatloaf and mashed potatoes? Do you think you’ll be eating Raman in your room? If so, choose a lower meal plan. If you’re a person who usually eats 3 meals “like Grandma feeds you”, then you might want unlimited.