<p>Now that housing assingments have been sent, the next thing to check off the list is meal plans. So which one is the best/most highly recommended:Trojan, Cardinal, or Gold?</p>
<p><a href=“http://hospitality.usc.edu/forms/meal_plans.pdf[/url]”>http://hospitality.usc.edu/forms/meal_plans.pdf</a></p>
<p>there’s a link to some info on the meal plans.</p>
<p>It seems to me that Cardinal is just enough. You have unlimited swipes on “meal plan days” (which days are those?), so you can eat three full meals, can’t you?</p>
<p>I had Gold, which was about perfect for me. Don’t get Trojan, it’s wayyyy too many dining dollars. I liked having Dining Dollars, since the cafeterias can get old after a little while & it’s nice to have other options. I think USG may be working on trying to get Dining Dollars and/or discresh to work at the food places in Gateway, too. Moreton Fig is looking at adding them as well. </p>
<p>I have no clue what meal plan days are, but you can swipe into the cafeterias any day during the semester and during study days, exams, and welcome week. Not after 2:45 on the last Wednesday of exams, though.</p>
<p>My son really didn’t like eating in EVK and Parkside (preferred all the other options), and he easily went through the $500 worth of dining dollars the Gold plan gives you (at a discount). So that was the perfect plan for him as well, although we ended up adding discretionary dollars to his USCard so he could keep eating at non-dining halls.</p>
<p>The problem with the ALL dining-dollars Trojan plan is that they don’t roll over to the next semester. So after the Gold plan, it’s better to just add discretionary dollars to the USCard, which do roll over. The non dining-hall eateries take dining, discretionary or just regular old real dollars.</p>
<p>I had Gold freshman year…and honestly it was a complete waste. I, too, had a hard time with the food in the dining halls (I was vegetarian at the time) and my options were limited. I’ve heard the food is better, so maybe a recent freshman can weigh in?</p>
<p>I ended up using a lot of my meal swipes to go in and grab a ton of fruit from EVK and get ice cream. I rarely ate a full meal at EVK – if I went in for a meal, I usually had cereal or salad – but I ate more frequently at Parkside. To be perfectly honest though, I never went to a dining hall more than 3-4 times in a full week. I basically survived off the following: My parents loading money on my USC Card; buying food from the Ralphs (small things to keep in the dorm fridge, like yogurt, applesauce and cheese); and my friends with Trojan plans who frequently took me out to lunch to burn through their dining dollars.</p>
<p>Unless you’re a “big eater” I really don’t recommend wasting the money on a meal plan. Have you parents load $1,000 - $2,000 on your USC card each semester for food and you should be OK.</p>
<p>I think freshmen living in dorms are required to have a meal plan, so they have to choose from Cardinal, Gold, or Trojan.</p>
<p>According to the most recent information I’ve seen (the housing info we’ve all been sent), all freshman living in university housing need a meal plan. So, unfortunately, the USCard alone isn’t an option. :/</p>