<p>I'm commuting 40 minutes each way to a private college for 5 days a week. The drive is long and I'm getting apprehensive about it. It beats paying over 10 grand annually to dorm but... I like the school. The school offers a challenging and diverse curriculum and the college in my opinion is top notch. There's a college that was 20 minutes away from me and it has my major, but for some reason, when I step foot on campus, I was pretty 'meh' about it. I knew a part of me wanted to go far away, but I'm starting to regret it.
Share any commuting stories? Do you know anyone who's willing to commute that far for their education?</p>
<p>I always advise against commuting to four year schools, especially during the freshman year. Though each person’s situation is different, I find that the two hours a day that is lost due to commuting makes it harder to be a part of the campus community and cuts back on available time to study. </p>
<p>Yes, it does cost you less to commute. But when you do the math for gas, wear and tear on the vehicle, lost time in the day, you may wonder if the difference, which I estimate at about $200 a week is worth it. Commuting can be very taxing.</p>
<p>But to answer your question, I do know people that have commuted that far and managed. But I have never known anyone to do it and be active in the campus community. Due to the commute it becomes more like a job–they go get done what they needed and then head home. </p>
<p>I commute. It normally takes me 45 minutes to get to my university with good traffic, but as of late with construction, it takes closer to an hour. Also, during rush hour traffic, it can take up to one hour and 20 minutes. </p>
<p>I’ve lived on campus before as well, and while I hate driving and always joke that I live in my car, I actually sort of prefer commuting. I mean, it sucks that I can’t just go out whenever, but that’s actually a GOOD thing. I study much better because I don’t have as many distractions, and also, I can get some work done in the car. I’m a French major and so either listen to French music or to my audio CDs for my classes while I’m driving, so I’d consider my drives somewhat productive. </p>
<p>Additionally, I have friends that live on campus or a short drive from campus, so I can always stay for a night or two if I’m completely burnt or if I want to have a girls night or something. I find that it actually is cheaper for me to commute, and I’m happy to be in no debt. </p>
<p>Overall, I’d say that you’re in a great position because you love your school. You think it’s challenging and it gives you what you want, and that’s wonderful. Most people don’t get the chance to be so happy so close to home, so just think of it as an advantage! </p>
<p>You can still have a good college experience if you don’t live on campus. It just won’t occur so naturally - - you have to put yourself out there and make friends since you don’t have the default of hanging out with your roommate or people on your floor. This happens also naturally once you get going with your major and have the same classes with the same people year after year. I’m a junior this year and this couldn’t be more true this year. All of us in these upper level French courses took the same prereqs and have seen each other at department events or have studied abroad together, so we are tight. It just happens that way and you find yourself having inside jokes with them and going places after class. </p>
<p>Good luck and enjoy yourself! It’s not where you live but what you DO. </p>
<p>ETA: even with my long commute, I have a job on campus, am président of a club, am an active participant of another, have stellar grades, have won awards, and am involved with my majors’ departments. </p>
<p>Yes i lived on campus a couple semesters, but I’ve been most involved when I’ve lived at home. Sometimes I just don’t go home until night and so spend my entire day on campus. </p>
<p>It can be done, but only if you make it happen. </p>
<p>I commute; but I don’t drive, I use public transportation. Depending on how fast or slow the trains are running, my commute takes me between 30 to 50 minutes each way. I don’t mind it terribly – I wake up very early, usually at 5am, and I head out the door at 5:45. This way, I always get a seat on the train and I can do some extra reading for my classes to get ahead or just zone out, depending on how I feel. </p>
<p>By the time I get to my school it’s about 6:30 – my first classes are always at 9:00 or 9:30 so I just go and have breakfast with my “group” – talk, joke around, etc and then we usually walk to class together from there. If I need to get something done like print out an assignment, scan something, or check my email, I do it then. </p>
<p>When I get out of my last class around 11:30, it is incredibly hard to fight the urge to stay on campus; and I lost that battle today; I went straight home and napped, lol. I try to make it a habit to have breakfast and lunch with the same group of my friends as a means of establishing a base so that I don’t get lost in the swarm of commuters who come and go without notice. Tomorrow I promised myself that I’d have lunch with them, mostly because a guy I like is going to be there too… lol. </p>
<p>Granted, I go to a commuter school so the vast majority of people here go through similar tribulations as me so I don’t feel nearly as isolated or alone. When I complain about shuttle service, three or four people chime in “oh my God, I know!” so we have a dualistic sense of community (Us – the Commuters, and Them – Public Transit). Plus our school schedules all of its events, club meetings, etc multiple times a day to accommodate the commuters.</p>
<p>A thing about commuting that I really like is that I’ve lived in dorms for certain programs, summer institutes, etc and I have found that your own shower/bathroom and your own bed without noisy dorm-mates is not a privilege or blessing to be taken lightly. My father isn’t going to blast DJ Snake at 2am while I’m trying to sleep the night before an exam. My little sister isn’t going to distract me while I’m studying. These are basically the things I’ve come to value – that, and the fact that I have a full tuition scholarship with subsidized housing from mom and dad meaning a completely debt free education. </p>
<p>My commute is an hour and fifteen to hour and a half each way 3 days a week. There is another college right in town, but they refused my application because they say they “don’t accept applications from non-traditional students (older) unless they get 30 credits somewhere else first”!!! Now I have 30 credits at this distant school that accepted me, and I have no intention to transfer to a school that has discriminatory policies.</p>
<p>Does your school not allow you to cluster all your classes either M,W,F or T,Th? If you can, I recommend it next semester. It makes for a long day, but it’s worth it. Second, see if there is an online course you can take to shorten your day some. In the meantime, I can tell you from experience it’s not a picnic but it’s tolerable having a long commute. You get used to it.</p>