As an alum who was an “independent” my junior and senior years at Princeton without benefit of any room draw preference (I lived in the no-longer existent 1941 and Witherspoon and used the common area kitchens), I think the University’s decision to require independents to buy a meal plan is unfortunate.
Being independent has two benefits, saving money and learning to cook for yourself before you have to deal with other issues in the real world. Requiring payment for a meal plan that provides a meal a day or more for those who do not want to have to cook with a group (which is not the situation most people will find themselves in after graduation) reduces the cost savings and completely eliminates the beneficial learning experience. Once a student is required to pay for at least one meal a day, the incentive to use that for the most complete and expensive meal is enormous. Thus, independents forced to pay for eight meals a week will probably not cook for themselves at all and simply eat food that requires little or no preparation (such as yogurts, cereals, sandwiches, or snack foods) for those meals that they provide themselves. I’m glad that Princeton did not have this policy when I was there.
As an alum who was an “independent” my junior and senior years at Princeton without benefit of any room draw preference (I lived in the no-longer existent 1941 and Witherspoon and used the common area kitchens), I think the University’s decision to require independents to buy a meal plan is unfortunate.
Being independent has two benefits, saving money and learning to cook for yourself before you have to deal with other issues in the real world. Requiring payment for a meal plan that provides a meal a day or more for those who do not want to have to cook with a group (which is not the situation most people will find themselves in after graduation) reduces the cost savings and completely eliminates the beneficial learning experience. Once a student is required to pay for at least one meal a day, the incentive to use that for the most complete and expensive meal is enormous. Thus, independents forced to pay for eight meals a week will probably not cook for themselves at all and simply eat food that requires little or no preparation (such as yogurts, cereals, sandwiches, or snack foods) for those meals that they provide themselves. I’m glad that Princeton did not have this policy when I was there.