Meal plan or no meal plan..plus can someone explain garnet bucks compared to flex bucks?

Notto777
Tue, 21 Jul 2015 12:17:35 +0000

I wanted to offer our experience on this…

My son started this year attending Summer C semester. At orientation, he was very concerned about the dining halls and the kind of food they offered. He is very health-conscious (enjoys working out and eating healthy most of the time) and was convinced he would hate the meal plan. However, we purchased a meal plan with the VIP option and he really likes it. His opinion now is that there are healthy options in the dining hall every day, he just has to be strong-willed enough to pass by the pizza and burgers to get to the more healthy foods. I think it has been a great experience for him to prioritize healthy eating and choose wisely in the dining hall. He also loves the ability to use one meal-swipe per day at one of the on-campus restaurants and regularly gets something healthy from Pollo Tropical, Rising Roll, Freshens etc which the VIP option allows. He also appreciates the ability to use the $150 flexbucks that came with the meal plan to grab an extra smoothie etc. during the day. We also loaded a plastic container with dry oatmeal packets, Cliff bars, Nutragrain bars, trail mix, mixed nuts etc to keep in his room which he can snack on. He has been eating the oatmeal for breakfast regularly or sometimes just grabs a Cliff bar on his way out the door to class in the morning.

If you are in a dorm that does not require a meal plan and trying to save a little money, I would suggest loading up on dry goods and simply purchasing Garnet Bucks. $500 should get you just over 50 meals in the dining hall, but used wisely they can be stretched a little further by getting a sandwich at Subway or a small meal at Pollo Tropical for example. You can always add more Garnet Bucks when it starts to run low. Keep in mind that Garnet Bucks won’t roll over so purchase in small quantities when refilling.

If you are in a dorm that does require a meal plan, I really recommend spending the extra $90 on the VIP option. It is well worth it for the added variety/options that come with being able to use one meal-swipe per day at an on-campus restaurant.