tmagic

hey so I'm in North and go the required meal plan "Cardinal" but I'm pretty much clueless to the whole idea of on campus eating. is it worth to have a big meal pan? how does paying for eating work? if someone could break everything down that would be great!

alamemom

Here is a recent thread on the topic: Food plan Browse through and see if it helps. If it generates more questions - post 'em! Welcome to USC, btw!

SoCalGal09

Gosh, I think my years of sucky cooking and redundant meals are going to really pay off in the fall! Plan for the freshman boy: go with the basic (Cardinal) but befriend girls who are in fear of the freshman 15 for the $$$ that don't carry over. Maybe kidding. Maybe not, we all hate to see $$ go to waste.

doame

It was enlightening for me to learn (at orientation) that the only reason to get additional "dining dollars" is if parents want to control that the $ is spent ONLY on food. I previously thought there was some kind of discount or incentive to get the dining dollars rather than just add discretionary money. Nope- they do the same exact thing- pay for meals, except the discretionary money will carry over and can be used in bookstore, etc. My d is certainly not going to run around squandering discres money - so she's on the basic plan and we'll add discresh money to supplement if needed. Much better than trying to use up unused dining dollars at end of semester buying boxes of granola bars or Reese's peanut butter cups!

Rosieoney

I did the math...Cardinal plan cost $11.17 per meal but the Community Plan only costs $9.20 per meal.

I've posed this question to the USC dietician site and waiting to hear back. BUT I don't understand why the Cardinal Plan costs more per meal than the Community Plan (50 meals plus $100 dining dollars for $510). Seems like you'd get a bigger break on the larger meal plan per meal. Freshman can't buy the "Community Plan" which is primarily for people not in dorms. Here is my calculation:
August 16 - December 16
Total number of weeks is 18

18 weeks (including Thanksgiving week but not Christmas vacation)
Cardinal - 10 meals per week plus $510 dining dollars = 180 meals
$2,521 Total cost
$(510.00) less dining dollars
$2,011 for 180 meals equals $11.17 cost per meal

Community Apt. - 50 meals plus 100 dining dollars
$560 total cost
$(100.00) less dining dollars
$460 for 50 meals equals $9.20 Cost per meal

alamemom

Wow. That is interesting - like you, I had assumed there would be a bigger break for the bigger meal plan. Last year the Cardinal Plan included 5 "Guest Meals" per semester, but even adding those 10 extra meals (IF they are included this year) the smaller plan is cheaper per meal. I can't think of any other benefits unique to the larger plan. Let us know what USC says about it!

Thanks for the info!