It’s nearing the end of your freshman year and you’re faced with a daunting question: which meal plan will you choose? There are so many choices and so many price options. Upperclassmen give you the inside scoop on what meal plans to choose after your first year.

Although Delaney Charney ’16 misses the unlimited number of French fries she can get from the cafeteria, she recommends that it’s better to purchase Dining Dollars because the unlimited plan is much more expensive.

“Don’t do the block plan unless you eat in the cafeteria at the dinner peak hour every day. Otherwise, you are losing money,” Charney said. 

Marissa Young ’16 recommends getting the 35 blocks and cooking your own food. “Cooking works well, but only if your dorm has a kitchen,” Young said.

Ken Li ’16 originally had the unlimited meal plan during the first semester of his junior year, but switched to a 35 block plan when he decided to go on a diet as a 2015 New Year’s resolution.

“If you’re the type of person who needs to eat three meals a day, go for the caf plan. If not, go for the Bison. It’s not favorable for me because I eat a lot of food, but if you eat in the caf the sheer amount of choices will overwhelm you if you don’t have self-control. Also, lines in the Bison can be long, usually around 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. because most people have 12-1 p.m. free,” Li said.

Rachel Healy ’16 recommends upcoming sophomores to “Pick something that reflects their pattern of eating and not just pick a plan based on what your friends picked.” She advocates getting the unlimited meal plan because “it’s easier to manage” and she doesn’t “have to be concerned with the number of swipes or dining dollar amount.” She also says that the expense is worth it because she doesn’t have to buy food at Walmart as much.

Whichever meal plan decisions they had made following their first year, most upperclassmen who were interviewed expressed the nostalgia of eating in the cafeteria.

“It’s something that I miss being almost in a way forced to go to because I miss the 24-access for food. It was a potential meeting place, or a place for studying. You could stay there for hours,” said Megan Smith ’15.