<p>How do meal plans work? I thought it's a simple buffet style but it seems as if it's more complicated than that.</p>
<p>It's not complicated. For "meals" you can eat at EVK or Parkside. It is all you can eat, with various stations with lots of different choices. </p>
<p>You can use your "dining dollars" at other eateries on campus: Jamba Juice, Carl's Jr, Tro Gro, etc. </p>
<p>You can read about the meal plans on the Trojan Hospitality website:</p>
<p>All of your meal plan information is stored on your USC ID card, which you should always carry with you. They swipe your ID, and it automatically deducts meals or dining dollars, whichever you are using.</p>
<p>Thanks.. are there any differences between EVK and Parkside? Plus, what is the difference between Gold plan and Cardinal plan?</p>
<p>When I was a freshman 2 years ago Parkside was LOADS better than EVK. Last year EVK stepped it up and I'd say they are about on par with each other now. Either way, you'll be sick of both eventually, so make sure you have a variety :)</p>
<p>would you guys currently at usc recommend getting the cardinal fast pass meal plan? i'm automatically in the regular cardinal, but 10 meals/wk seems very little, especially since i'm one who likes to snack.. isn't every time we swipe our card equal to a meal? therefore if i want to go to EVK for an apple or something, that's equal to a full meal? and what about the $510 dining dollars? did you guys find that enough for a semester?</p>
<p>sorry about the bombardment of questions..</p>
<p>Questions are good. :) In my opinion, it's better to be overly inquisitive than overly ignorant, haha.</p>
<p>I agree with 2+2=5 about variety. And as a guy who absolutely needs to eat his three meals a day, I found that the Cardinal Meal Plan was not enough for me. That meant that I had to use my dining dollars rather quickly. At the same time, the Trojan Meal Plan seemed just too much for me. So what I ended up doing was going with the Cardinal Meal Plan and just paying for any additional out of pocket costs in terms of food. My thinking was that this would still be a smarter financial move than the Trojan Meal Plan. In a sense, it was. The Trojan Meal Plan is about $500 more than the Cardinal Meal Plan, and I had spent about $250 in out of pocket food costs. I had saved about $250 than if I had stuck to the Trojan Meal Plan. I, myself, am actually tempted by the Cardinal Fast Pass Meal Plan. The only question I have is what constitutes "unlimited." By unlimited, they might mean 1 swipe per meal of the day, meaning that you might not be able to to twice per "meal," such as twice per lunch hours. I'm not quite sure, so you'll have to ask USC Hospitality. If it truly is unlimited, I might personally opt for that meal plan. Again, the biggest argument against the Cardinal Fast Pass Meal Plan is the lack of variety (exclusion of dining dollars to eat at other places around campus).</p>
<p>In terms of your standard of snacking, you might be pleased to know that you are allowed to take one piece of fruit as you leave EVK or Parkside. Some people take an apple or a banana.</p>
<p>Also, I believe you can test drive a meal plan until a certain date, and then decide if you want to stick to that meal plan or choose a different one. I'm not sure when that deadline is, but I know it exists.</p>
<p>About the $510 dining dollars. Most people who eat pretty well use those dining dollars up pretty quickly. A possible and literally "friendly" way of getting around that is to know a friend who has the Trojan Meal Plan. Perhaps they can buy you some food every now and then. :)</p>
<p>Well, I know my answers are a bit disorganized, but I hope they shed some light about fooding (yeah, I know it's not a word) at USC.</p>
<p>FastPass doesn't have dining dollars, so you're gonna have to add some discretionary because eating at Parkside and EVK all year is gonna make you insane.</p>
<p>haha all right, thanks a lot for the input, guys :) i think i'll just stick to the cardinal meal plan then since food variety seems to be such an issue, and hope that one of my friends gets the trojan meal plan if that's not enough..</p>
<p>one last question: is there any way to check how much money/credit's left over in our meal plan besides calculating it all ourselves?</p>
<p>Yeah, everytime you swipe a meal at Parkside, the total number of meals left for the week shows up on the register display. For EVK, just ask them how many meals you have left when they swipe. As for dining dollars, it's the same deal: register display or receipt (such as Jamba Juice).</p>
<p>Dining dollars work for ground zero, right? i can see myself becoming quickly addicted to their shakes. & (potentially stupid question) how are dining dollars & discresh different?</p>
<p>No, Ground Zero only accepts discresh and cash. I guess USC's trying to help students fight college weight. Dining dollars are only accepted at dining facilities, whereas discresh can be used anywhere on campus (e.g. pharmacy, bookstore).</p>
<p>OK. I think that's what I though. Let me double check: </p>
<p>Dining dollars - eateries</p>
<p>Discresh - anywhere, INCLUDING places to eat?</p>
<p>Generally, yes. As margaritasalt17 said earlier, Ground Zero doesn't accept dining dollars. I think are a few more exceptions, all of which I cannot remember. Some of those exceptions are Popovich Caf</p>
<p>Ohhhh yeah...Upstairs is weird...they only accept dining dollars from Trojan meal plans.</p>
<p>And Popovich had these time restrictions last year...like you couldn't use dining dollars before 5 p.m. or something (although didn't time restrictions get lifted at the end of last semester?). It's all trial and error, I say. :)</p>
<p>what's the difference between Gold plan and Cardinal plan?</p>
<p>i don't think there is a difference anymore thanks to the new lifting of the dinner exclusions (it used to be dinner only at EVK OR parkside, but now it's at either for both plans).</p>
<p>good to know about the taking a piece of fruit from the dining hall for a snack - that's always exactly what i need. even if you don't fancy fruit much may as well take one and give it to a friend later :)</p>
<p>so when does the meal plan begin? Does it begin on august 22nd?</p>
<p>If you can afford it, GET TROJAN PLAN. It is expensive, but it is by far the best meal plan. Like I said, if you can afford the extra couple hundred dollars, buy it. </p>
<p>I didnt have it freshman year, but everyone I know that did loved it. They are the only people who dont hate their meal plan by the end of their second semester.</p>
<p>Do meals roll over to the next week, or do you strictly get only ten meals per week?</p>