Wow that’s an interesting difference. My D and her friends get together at the end of the semester and use up the last of everyone’s flex on junk food.
Yeah…I don’t like it. My D at Scripps has more flexibility on how she spends it. If one week she really needs more flex she’ll have it, while my S at Mudd only has the one week allotment of flex at a time.
I suspect my Mudder just has smaller amounts of junk food weekly. 
Once she brought me a coffee drink while I was waiting for her to leave campus for a holiday, and I was touched. Now I know she had to use her flex or lose it anyway.
@Corinthian @ClaremontMom @intparent Very helpful info on Flex vs. CC! @Corinthian please thank your daughter for chiming in.
I sure wish Mudd would allow more flexibility with flex like the other campuses. Have Mudders tried to get that policy changed? Or are they too busy doing homework to bother?
My kid never complains… she isn’t much about food anyway, and sometimes I think she gets too busy to eat.
I have no idea.
Although your meal plan entitles you to eat at any of 7 dining halls, each school in the 5c’s sets its own price for its meal plan. So that’s why they are not 100% identical in pricing and policies. As with many colleges, the dining services contract with outside companies. I believe CMC and Pitzer use Café Bon Appetit, Harvey Mudd and Scripps use Sodexo and Pomona is independent. The different dining rooms essentially compete with each other for “swipes.” But the on-campus competition is unique and hopefully leads to better food choices than at other LAC’s where typically there are just 1-2 dining halls.
FWIW, some updated Info: When we picked up our kids at the end of the semester, my D swiped us in for a meal. She only had enough flex for 1 meal, so we had to pay cash for the 2nd meal. They charged us a faculty price (less than full but more than the flex charge). This was a pleasant surprise to us (we’ve always used flex so we were unaware she could get us a lower cash price). This was at the Scripps dining hall, but I imagine it’s the same elsewhere.
For freshman, does it make sense to get the 16 meal plan or the 12 meal plan?
@waterpololover - Personally, I would recommend the 16 meal plan. I’d rather err on the side of too many meals than not enough especially since your entering a new daily routine that you don’t really know (nor do you know what your class schedule will look like). But you do have about 2 weeks into the semester to change your mind so whichever you choose is not set in stone.
@ClaremontMom thanks!
@waterpololover When we were at ASP, someone on the panel said about 50% of students get the 12 meal plan, and the other 50% is split between the 8 & 16 plans. My son has the 12 plan. Some weeks he had meals left over because he attended events with free food or missed meals (sleeping or studying), and at the beginning of the semester there were a few weeks when he ended up paying for extra meals. He’s since learned how to optimize the plan for his lifestyle. Some of his friends with the 16 switched to 12 before the deadline because it ended up being too much. I would follow @ClaremontMom 's advice and start out with 16, and keep the deadline in mind if you need to switch.
Something good to know is that you can use Board Plus to pay for meals and the meals are at a discounted price. I currently have the 12 meal plan, and I end up getting free meals from various events, making my own dinner sometimes, or going to Jay’s Place which is a cafe.
I agree. Start with 16, then adjust down. By the 3rd semester, my son was down to the 8 meal plan. I think it really varies by each person.