336.
That is the approximate number of meals a college student has in the dining halls of their college each year. If you start the day with breakfast, that number jumps to 504. Despite this, few prospective students know more about how colleges conduct dining life than the general reputation of their food.
Harvard sets itself apart from many colleges in that it has one and only one meal plan: unlimited meal swipes and a $65 charge each semester that can be spent at a number of campus cafes. According to Harvard University Dining Services, the establishment of the single-plan option was meant to ensure that all students could participate in House activities on equal footing.
At schools like Harvard, where students are part of a complex residential system, the college dining experience is about far more than food. It is intensely social. According freshman Angela Jiang, because freshmen all eat together in a single dining hall, “you get to know a lot of people in your year. It’s a nice place to meet people, even if you don’t become friends with them.”
Dining halls continue to be social spaces even for upperclassmen. When asked what her favorite aspect of dining life at Harvard was, senior Lindiwe Rennart commented, “Since everyone is on a meal plan and generally eat where they live, when you sit down in your dining hall, the chances that you’ll know at least 10 people in the room are at least 95 percent.”
This arrangement works at Harvard because more than 98 percent of its students live and dine on campus. At the University of Chicago, where 45 percent of students live off-campus, the school offers meal plans tailored to students’ various dietary habits.
The University of Chicago utilizes a meal system similar to that of most colleges. Students choose from a number of different meal plans, which consist of two components in varying ratios: meal swipes and credit that can be used at a variety of locations on campus.
Boston University employs such a system. Rajeshwari Jakkam, a freshman at Boston University majoring in neuroscience, articulated one of the greatest drawbacks to the limited meal swipes system: “I’m on the 14 meal per week plan, and I don’t like how if I skip a meal, it doesn’t roll over to the next week.” She said, “I wish I had known [that].” Although Boston University does offer a more flexible semester limited meal plan, the excess meal swipes still do not roll over to the next semester. Like most colleges, it also offers an unlimited meal plan, but it is costlier than the basic one.
Another issue prospective students may wish to look into is how well a school accommodates dietary restrictions. Jakkam noted that despite how much she enjoyed Boston University’s many food options, “I don’t eat beef or pork… [and] there are not that many options for vegetarian food."
Some colleges will accommodate most dietary restrictions, but might require that students register. At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, students must sign up in advance for the Kosher Meal Plan or individual kosher meals.