<p>(I'm hoping my D will come home some of those weekends....)</p>
<p>I know some students are too busy to come home and their parents have to come to USC to visit them.</p>
<p>"The tour guide in Parkside told us that there weren't going to be restrictions on where you live anymore. That you can eat anywhere on the Cardinal Plan.
Is that mistaken?</p>
<p>And now I understand that Trojan Plan is only dining dollars. And with that you can eat anywhere, and the breakfast muffin is paid with "dollars" rather than with the $10."</p>
<p>I suspect what the tour guide meant by "anywhere" on the Cardinal plan is that a) you can now eat breakfast, lunch and dinner meals at either EVK or Parkside (there used to be some restrictions, i.e., the first year my daughter couldn't eat dinner at Parkside on the Cardinal Plan); b) with the dining dollars on the regular Cardinal plan you can eat anywhere else on campus.</p>
<p>(If you have Cardinal Fastpass, you're on your own if you want to eat outside EVK or Parkside, as mentioned above; you can either pay cash or put cash on your Spirit Card to eat at the fast-food places on campus. My daughter has found this very convenient and it's made the most budget sense for us.)</p>
<p>To my knowledge (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), your account is debited for the cost of just the muffin if you get it somewhere like one of the restaurants at the Commons, but if you walk into EVK or Parkside for a muffin, there are not individual prices; it's a buffet and you're charged the full cost of the meal when you enter.</p>
<p>"do kids ever stop in at EVK and bring the food back to their dorm rooms?"</p>
<p>Sometimes. I recall hearing there is a "rule" you can leave with one piece of fruit in your hand (grin). My daughter has some small sandwich-sized Tupperware and a couple times has made herself a sandwich at the deli bar and taken it "to go" when she was short on time. I think typically students sit down to eat most of their meals.</p>
<p>We were really confused about the choices two years ago, so I hope this info helps those of you who are in the process of deciding! You do have at least a couple weeks after the start of the semester in which you can change your meal plan, so you may want to calendar that and make sure you or your student is happy with the plan prior to the deadline.</p>
<p>Thanks PBK. All this info does help a lot!</p>
<p>To further clarify, the Trojan Meal Plan, which is all dining dollars, cost an astonishing $2934 this past semester. The Cardinal Meal Plan for the same period of time was $2447. I looked at the calendar and figured out that if you deducted holidays, the semester was approximately 113 days long. That means the Trojan Meal Plan cost $26 per day. </p>
<p>My own freshman daughter begged me to change her to the Trojan Plan as she disliked the cafeteria food. She's has lots of money left now and I doubt very much that she'll use it up before the end of the semester. What USC needs to do is offer two all-dining-dollar plans, one of which has a lower dollar amount. Is anyone listening?</p>
<p>I want to echo Sequoia's thanks. Those who have gone before are really helping the newbies catch on.</p>
<p>It is kind of amazing that just a few weeks ago, many of us were wondering about acceptances and online statuses, and then concerned about college decisions and choices, and now so many of us are still here together figuring out meals and class schedules. Whether new students, parents of new student, or experienced Trojans or Trojan moms, this is a remarkable group.</p>
<p>Yikes, meal plan costs have gone up quite a bit since I was a freshman. Puzzled88, I believe they are working on a new meal plan for next year. It will have less meals at the cafeteria and more dining dollars for the same price as cardinal (it will probably not be available until spring semester, if even)</p>
<p>To Sequoia and others: My son ate at Parkside during Explore USC day. He was very happy with the food. Also, he noted that there were signs which gave the nutritional value of the food which helps people who are concerned about their diet. Also, I heard (don't know for a fact) on this web site that a farmers market is coming to USC.</p>
<p>Just ate at Upstairs Cafe- it was great! I went to see S today (brought his cousin for a tour) and he suggested going there because he has quite a few dining dollars left. He packed up all the leftovers so he could also have a good dinner.</p>