<p>I recently found out my apartment I was assigned did not require a meal plan, but what's been concerning me is whether I should actually get a meal plan or not.</p>
<p>For those who've had both, which would you say is the money saving option? Having a meal plan, or eating out and/or cooking (if time permits)? (*note, I eat a lot!)</p>
<p>Speaking of time, I know for a fact that architecture is gonna be quite time consuming; with that being said, would it be more convenient for me to have a meal plan or would time permit for me to go out to eat or cook for myself frequently?</p>
<p>Sometimes the dining commons have good food. Its a hit or miss, but I will guarantee you that you will get tired of it. Cooking will definitely save you a lot of money if you know what to buy and cook. It only cost me about 200 dollars a month on food expenses with the occasions of eating out a few times. Definitely a lot cheaper than a meal plan. However, if you are a busy person and absolutely must have convenience, then get a meal plan because your time is invaluable. What I did was have my parents cook me food for a week or so, and that can save me time on days that I was really busy. But I love cooking for myself so I had no problem.</p>
<p>A meal plan will NOT save you money. It will be more expensive. Significantly so.</p>
<p>Have you actually examined the meal plans? Each dining hall meal breaks down to $11-$13. That means that even if you eat Carl’s Jr or Panda Express or CPK on campus for every single meal every single day, you still save money. </p>
<p>Not all food prep is ‘cooking.’ It doesn’t take a lot of time to pour yourself a bowl of cereal every morning, but over the course of a year it will save you hundreds of dollars.</p>
<p>P.S. No college major is so time-consuming that you will not have time to eat, and your time is only ‘invaluable’ if your parents are rich.</p>
<p>I disagree with that “rich people” statement. My roommate bought the meal plan, and he comes from a low bracket family. He was the program coordinator for a volunteer program down in a hospital at Sherman Oaks, an ER technician at CHOC, double majoring, and in two mentorship programs. He had NO time at all to cook for himself, and he eats a lot too. So yes, your time is invaluable if you are planning on doing great things in the future. It all depends on how you value time against money. Is an hour of your day important? Or can it be thrown away? And remember, the time can add up for the whole year, and you will realize how much time you have spent on certain activities and whether or not it was worth it.</p>
<p>Most freshman living on campus find the meal plans helpful. However, since you are living in a USC apartment, why not get the apartment meal plan? It gives you something like $500 in discretionary dining dollars and a few on-campus meals you can use in the dining hall. I has this while I lived in Cardinal Gardens and I found it helpful for the times when I couldn’t afford to go grocery shopping or had friends who wanted to eat on campus.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies guys!</p>
<p>Judging from the replies, I’ll perhaps apply to an apartment meal plan at least for this semester just to get a sense of whether I’ll have time to cook and buy groceries for myself. Just in case I ever encounter situations where time is of the essence, then I’ll probably resort to my meal bucks as a backup for when I’m in a rush and my closest source of food is on-campus. </p>
<p>As far as time goes, every minute will definitely count in my situation. I know for a fact that the 5 year B.Arch is notoriously rigorous and demanding. I’m also planning on minoring in Italian and taking on work-study. Realistically, that doesn’t leave much time for anything, and that’s primarily why I was so concerned about taking on a meal plan. I think having the 550 apartment meal plan will definitely be a good solution for now</p>
<p>Italianpnoy, we had my son select Cardinal Gardens precisely to avoid having to purchase an expensive meal plan. You will be required to have, at least, the apartment meal plan and that is what my son will have. He is a pretty self sufficent cook and his brother will have a car so he can get decent groceries. We are of Italian descent, too. Maybe you’ll be roomies! BTW, I think you have 2 weeks to change your meal plan after school starts, so if you realize you need more you have a small window to correct that.</p>
<p>In your situation, I’d get one of the apartment meal plans. If you find its not enough during the first couple weeks, you can change it but I think you’ll be fine with it.</p>
<p>Also, Parkside Restaurant is relatively close to the architecture building.</p>