The college meal plan. It's not a right of passage, per se, but rather a convenient---and often necessary---part of the college freshman experience.

If The University of Mississippi, or Ole Miss, is your college of choice, then I am here for you to help you with the Meal Plan run-down.

In general, there are three main meal plans that first semester Ole Miss freshmen can choose: The Rebel Unlimited Plus 1, The Rebel 100 Plus 1, and The Rebel 50 Plus 1.

First, I think it's important to break down the terminology. "Rebel" just means it's the Ole Miss meal plan. "Unlimited, 100, or 50" is the number of meal swipes you will get each semester. "Plus 1" is another term for a meal (but a little different).

There is a difference between meal swipes and Plus 1's. You only get one "Plus 1" in a day. (Hence the name). You can use as many meal swipes as you want in a day.

If you do not use your Plus 1, it does not roll over. You get one Plus 1 in a day, and if you don't use it, it's gone forever. You cannot "save up" Plus 1 swipes, but you can save up meal swipes.

Here's the breakdown of total possible meals with each of the three meal plans. Remember, there are roughly 15 weeks or 100 days in the semester, meaning you get about 100 "Plus 1" swipes, a new swipe for each day of the semester:

Rebel Unlimited Plus 1= Unlimited Meals. Literally. (However, the Unlimited option means you cannot use your meal swipes at the Student Union, you can only use your Plus 1 at the Student Union. I will explain more on this later)

Rebel 100 Plus 1= About 200 Meals. (100 Meal swipes & 100 Plus 1's)

Rebel 50 Plus 1=About 150 Meals. (50 Meal swipes & 100 Plus 1's)

In other words, the Rebel Unlimited Plus 1 means that you can eat on-campus food on your meal plan for all three meals a day--or four--or five...however many meals you want to eat on campus every day.

The Rebel 100 Plus 1 means that you eat, on average, two on-campus meal-plan meals in a day. This is a good option for many college freshmen who choose to eat breakfast in their dorm, but want to go to the Student Union, the Marketplace at the RC, the Rebel Market, the Grill at 1810, the Pavilion, or a POD for lunch and dinner.

The Rebel 50 Plus 1 means that you eat 1.5 meals per day. But, you can't use half a meal swipe, obviously. So, students who choose the Rebel 50 Plus 1 typically eat 1 on-campus meal a day for half the week, and two on-campus meals for the other half of the week. *about 3-4 days a week are 2 meal-plan meal days

In order to better explain, I think it's best if I illustrate a few situations.

Situation 1

John is your average college freshman. He plans to spend most of his time this semester on campus, and thus eats most of his meals on campus since he doesn't have a car. Every morning, he chooses to make himself a bowl of cereal in his dorm before class, so that's one of his meals covered.

For lunch, however, he decides he wants to go to the Rebel Market and uses a meal swipe for the buffet-style dining. For dinner, he decides to use his Plus 1 at Panda Express the Student Union. The best meal plan for John would be the Rebel 100 Plus 1, giving him two meals on the meal plan per day for the semester.

Situation 2

Sally is planning on rushing in the fall. Ole Miss rush happens in September, so Sally knows that, once she pledges to a sorority, she'll likely be eating many of her meals at the sorority house. She decides that, since her family will already be spending so much on membership dues, it would be a waste for her family to purchase a meal plan for her that she won't even use to its full extent.

So, Sally Chooses the Rebel 50 Plus 1. No matter what, she gets a Plus 1 Meal every day that she can use anywhere---Starbucks, Einsteins, Papa John's, the Pavilion, a POD, the Rebel Market, the Student Union, or the Grill at 1810. So, even when she is in a sorority, she'll have the option of eating on the Ole Miss meal plan. She can also save up her meal swipes however she wants.

She can use most of them before the rush, and only save enough meal swipes for the weekends when her new sorority doesn't serve food, or she can use the meal swipes sporadically, whenever she feels like going out.

Situation 3

Alex is a soccer player, and she feels that she needs to fuel up with a lot of food, but not too much junk food or fast food. Having healthier options is important to her, but with how much she works out and trains, she seems to be eating almost anytime she isn't exercising, sleeping, or studying.

She chooses the Rebel Unlimited Plus 1 as her meal plan. The Rebel Unlimited is perfect for her because it gives her unlimited meals at The Grill at 1810, the Marketplace at the RC, or The Rebel Market, which typically have healthier options. However, if you have the Rebel Unlimited Plus 1, you cannot use your meal swipes at the Student Union, which has the fast food chains McAlister's, Qdoba, Chick-Fil-A, Panda Express, and Which Wich.

The Rebel 100 Plus 1 and the Rebel 50 Plus 1, on the other hand, do let you use meal swipes at these restaurants in the Union. However, this isn't a problem for Alex because she plans, at most, to eat in the Union only once per day, and she can use her Plus 1 for this.

Some Rules of Thumb:

Meal swipes and Plus 1 Swipes are stored on your Student ID card, and they are both worth the same dollar amount, $8.50. If you spend more than $8.50 at a location, say if you spent $9.00 at Qdoba, then the additional fifty cents would come out of your flex dollars. Each student, in every grade level, gets $250 flex dollars per semester, and whatever flex money is not spent goes back in the student's pocket.

Plus 1 swipes work everywhere on campus. You can use your Plus 1 swipe at Starbucks, Einstein's Bagels, Papa John's, The Pavilion (which has Raising Cane's and Steak and Shake), The Student Union (which has McAlister's, Qdoba, Chick-Fil-A, Panda Express, and Which Wich), the Rebel Market, the RC Marketplace, or the Grill at 1810.

Meal swipes work at the Rebel Market, the RC Marketplace, and the Grill at 1810 for everyone. However, if you've chosen the Rebel 100 Plus 1 or the Rebel 50 Plus 1, you can also use a meal swipe at any of the Student Union restaurants.

You can also use your flex dollars anywhere on campus, but I suggest saving them up so that you get a refund at the end of the year.

There are also some specifics, like how people who live in one of the Residential Colleges have to have the RC Unlimited plan, but that doesn't apply to anyone reading this article.

There are also more options for freshmen in the spring semester, like the Spring Greek Plus 1 (which gives you a Plus 1 every day) and the Spring Greek 50 (which gives you 50 meal swipes, that most Greek-affiliated students will use on the weekend when their house doesn't serve food. These swipes do work at the Student Union). For these plans, you must show proof that you are in a fraternity or sorority.

I hope this article was helpful for any incoming Ole Miss students! And, if you are committing to the University of Mississippi, Hotty Toddy!