<p>I was wondering what changes in meal plans are allowed? In the email they said we can switch within our current plan or increase the plan. What do they mean by increase? Would I be able to switch from the blue plan to the red plan or am I stuck with the blue plan?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>You can’t reduce the cost of your plan basically.</p>
<p>easy solution: suddenly come down with a food allergy. Worked excellently for me freshman year, CMU reimbursed me for my meal plan cost and i saved a bunch of money buying my own food the rest of the year. :p</p>
<p>If You Change Your Mind…
All meal plan changes must take place during the official dining plan change period at the beginning of every semester. Dining plan change requests may only be submitted during the first 10 days of classes. Changes made on or before the tenth day of classes will be approved and modified by the start of the third bi-weekly period.
Traditional Dining Plans</p>
<p>Don’t worry if you are unsure of which plan to pick. Eating habits can often change in college and we want to give you the flexibility to adjust to your new routine. At the beginning of every semester, you can change the mix of meals and flexible dollars by submitting a Dining Plan Change Form through the tenth days of classes. If you have found that you are eating more complete meals during a given week then it would be better to switch to a level in your plan that has more passes. If you are finding that you would prefer to eat more snack foods or separate items, then it would be best to switch to a level with more flexible dollars. You can also increase your dining plan to a higher level if you find that you are eating more than you had anticipated. Students who live in Oakland community apartments will need to submit a Dining Plan Change Form within the first 10 days of classes in order to change their dining plan to the yellow plan.</p>
<p>Sorry didn’t realize you were a Freshman. I guess there are no changes to Freshman plan that was originally chosen</p>
<p>CMU - is it better to get the least expensive meal plan to start off with?</p>
<p>Freshman or 2016 students</p>
<p>Lots of advice here from the past few years and on FB</p>
<p>ABSOLUTELY buy the least expensive fewest blocks plan.
The food sucks, it’s inconvenient and you will not want to be spending $7 for their breakfast anyway.</p>
<p>CC is right- any note from your doctor about a “food allergy”, gluten issue, whatever-- you are automatically off the plan.</p>
<p>Freshman joining the greek system which has a kitchen can also get off the plan.</p>
<p>Thanks. Good advice. I won’t have my DS pull the allergy card - I hate to “pretend” to have him have something if he didn’t. Don’t want to jinx him. :)</p>
<p>The lowest plan it is. </p>
<p>Can we add $ to the account at any time if he’s running low?</p>
<p>Just for reference, if you have dietary issues (or in some people’s case, fake them) you won’t get off the plan entirely but will rather have a 500$ dinex account… or that’s how it worked for me anyway.</p>
<p>Thank you CMUCompFinance! I was looking for just this information on another thread. My son is following a gluten free diet and did not know exactly what to do. So, you still have to buy the dinex account; minimum $500? What is this account called? I’m wondering if he can cook anything in the dorms sometimes?</p>
<p>[Special</a> Diet/Nutritional Needs-Dining Services - Carnegie Mellon University](<a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/dining/undergraduate/specialdiningneeds.html]Special”>http://www.cmu.edu/dining/undergraduate/specialdiningneeds.html) </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/health-services/nutrition/special-dining-needs.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cmu.edu/health-services/nutrition/special-dining-needs.pdf</a></p>
<p>goingnutsmom, choose a dorm with a good kitchen. I know stever has a nice, clean kitchen, but to knowledge all of the morewood dorms (stever, morewood, and mudge) have kitchens.</p>
<p>Since you want to save money, go for Mudge Quad. Then you get a kitchen (in the basement) and the cheapest dorm. :)</p>
<p>I didn’t have to purchase any DineX account at all. I was fully refunded (in fact they asked me, “would you like to keep any of your DineX, and if so, how much?”). I think it’s pretty variable depending on the case in question - for example, there are a few Kosher stops on campus, so someone who is following a Kosher diet might not get a full refund - ditto vegan. But gluten diets are pretty hard to work around.</p>
<p>It is difficult to get a Mudge quad unless your son got in ED - if he did, have him pref Mudge quads at the top. I lived in one freshman year and highly recommend the experience. They’re really nice, well cleaned, extremely sunny, and there are two kitchens in Mudge.</p>