Declining Overload! How to Spend Remaining Meal Plan Balance

Contrary to popular belief among the Rochester student community, at the end of the semester, upperclassmen with overflowing declining balances do exist! Whether you get too much take-out or just have a poor appetite, if there is more than you can spend, here are some ideas to run it out!

What are declining dollars?
Declining dollars are used mainly for student meal plans on campus. Instead of using real money, these dollars act as your personal debit account for food supplies. With a full declining dollars account, swipe your student ID at dining locations and you’re ready to go! But any remaining balance is nonrefundable at the end of an academic year. Over the past two years, tremendous upheavals and changes in meal plans have occurred, and currently only upperclassmen have access to all declining meal plans where these debit dollars can be used.

Freshmen mostly have a hybrid meal plan consisting of “unlimited” (where you can swipe an unlimited number of times to eat at Danforth and Douglass, two dining halls on campus) and a mid-sized declining dollar balance. Currently, for the incoming Class of 2017, meal plans have undergone changes where freshmen will have an option of the aforementioned unlimited/declining hybrid meal plan or another plan that consists of a larger amount of declining dollars in combination with more limited swipe access to the two dining halls. Check out all the dining halls and more information on the new meal plans on the Dining Services website!

Meanwhile, back to my plight. Here’s what I think are the top three things upperclassmen should do if they are left with declining dollars to spare:

1. Ever considered catering a study break meal for yourself and friends from the in-house restaurant, The Mel? Yes, they cater and accept declining! Of course, don’t forget the Meliora’s secret Mel sauce topped Mel burgers!
2. Starbucks. Yes, lots and lots of visits to Starbucks. And somehow, as you run through that declining, you don’t feel bad drinking multiple coffees and eating all the wraps because you tell yourself that declining is “virtual” money. Of course, I would definitely think twice before spending my paycheck on an off-campus Starbucks that often!
3. Au Bon Pain, the little gem of a cafe in the University of Rochester Medical Center is my go-to destination. The perks of being a microbiology major is that all my upperclassman classes are in the medical school, and because I spend the majority of my time there, I get to feast on their delicious breakfast sandwiches and mouthwatering soups and salads. And oh, top off your cute little lunch in the sunshine with an almond macaroon!

And yes, of course, the midnight trips to Hillside for goodies and snacks to keep you awake during finals week are a plus. (P.S. Try the jalapeño-flavored popcorn there. Just great!) I’m so thankful these places accept declining. I wish Chipotle up on Mt. Hope did too. . . . And maybe Finger Lakes Coffee too (their chocolate chai is heavenly). Oh, my culinary wish list can go on and on.

So, Class of 2017, in a few years, this could be you facing the same situation of trying to finish your declining dollars before the semester runs out!