Hi everyone, I’m going to be a college sophomore next year and thinking of commuting to school. This year, I dormed on campus and while the experience was nice/convenient, I ended up making most of my good friends through classes, not through dorming. The dorms (and meal plan) at my school are very overpriced (nearly $10k per year) so I was considering commuting next year. (Edit: before you guys suggest it, I’ve already tried looking for off-campus apartments but most of them are already rented for next year and the rest are nearly expensive as the dorms.)
My university provides all of its students with unlimited bus passes that can be used on any form of public transportation in the city and its surrounding suburbs, so if I commute I would basically be spending $0. My commute would probably be a bus ride, a little over an hour one way, so 2~2.5 hours total. (Also, I’ve taken this bus several times before and I’ve never had a problem with finding a seat.)
The thing is, I can technically pay the price to dorm, but I would rather save the $10k by commuting. So to people who commute, how long do you commute and how bad is the commute? Is it really tiring? And is it hard to manage your time and finish everything you need to do?
How often does the bus come? Does it still come frequently at night? Does the bus stop at a certain time? Is your house conducive to studying or would you still be spending most of your time at the school library? I didn’t commute in college but these are some of the things I would consider.
There are actually 2 different buses that go from my area to the university - one comes every 30 minutes, while the other comes every 15-20 minutes, so I’m not too concerned about that. Plus, there are a lot of alternate routes I can take with a transfer that only add 10-ish minutes to the commute. So yeah, the bus timing isn’t too much of an issue for me.
And to address your second point, my house is fine for studying in, and I was planning to try to get homework done at the library if I have gaps in my schedule or after classes end. That way I can stay on campus a little longer and keep my social life up.
I guess my main dilemma is if it’s worth paying the ~$10k to dorm when I could commute for free (but lose 2+ hours of my day).
I commute an hour each way by subway - two different trains. It has yet to impact my academic performance. I actually am quite productive on the train - I do most of my reading for my classes during my commute. I have friends who commute and friends that live in off campus apartments; so it doesn’t really impact my social situation either.
@preamble1776 Thanks for the response! This is very reassuring to hear. If I do decide to commute, I’ll be commuting via bus, so hopefully the ride won’t be too bumpy and I’ll be at least somewhat productive.