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<p>Weasel, please don’t allow Coffee to spread this confusion to prospective students. </p>
<p>He has been hinting (and you may be confused about this as well) that it costs six thousand dollars or more to belong to a club and that these fees are in ADDITION to your normal Princeton fees.</p>
<p>This is a total misunderstanding.</p>
<p>As I’ve shown above, the cost of the meal plan at the clubs simply SUBSTITUTES for the cost of a meal plan from Princeton (unless you’re planning to eat six full meals a day!). The true additional cost for eating at the clubs is only about $1,500.00 and even this is covered by students’ financial aid packages from the University. </p>
<p>As I wrote before, no student, no matter how financially disadvantaged, is in a situation where he or she cannot afford to belong to an Eating Club. </p>
<p>By the way, as far as I know, none of the clubs has a meal plan anywhere near $8,000.00. I’m not sure where you and Coffee got that number. The Cottage fees you’ve linked are very similar to those at Colonial. Furthermore, I believe that, like Colonial, Cottage also offers a less expensive meal contract if you are eating the typical two meals a day rather than three. (Perhaps someone from Cottage on these boards can confirm this or correct me.)</p>
<p>Finally, let me say that, like Alumother, I too chose options other than the Eating Clubs. It was NOT however because they were bastions of exclusivity. In fact, they are about as far from “exclusive” as you can get. As has been pointed out numerous times, ANYONE may join a sign-in club. Even among my friends who decided to bicker, all but a couple got into either their first or second choice club. If you decide, as I did, not to join any club, you can still (like I did) attend most of their parties anyway!</p>
<p>By the way, for anyone reading these boards who might think that Coffee’s comment below suggests that students belonging to Cottage go to dinner with golf caps and silk scarves, I suggest you visit and see for yourselves. What you’ll find at all of the clubs is the same collection of worn jeans and T-shirts that you find on any college campus.</p>
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