<p>Is commuting to the U of M Ann Arbor worth it or is it too challenging since the work is so challenging? I'm taking a 30-40 minute 20 mile commute one way so about 1-1.5 hours on the road every day? 40 minutes given walking time (I know a good spot that's nearby where I don't have to walk too far)</p>
<p>I am dry and low on money, and I work part time on campus in the library and in the cafeteria at times.</p>
<p>My GPA sucks. Is commuting worth it or or should I live on campus, or maybe crash at a friend's place if he's nice about it? maybe pay like 100 bucks for a cheap place? </p>
<p>I'm broke...</p>
<p>Do the math man…</p>
<p>Your car might have roughly 20miles/gallon (one way trip for you). So that’s 2 gallons per day, also assuming you will come to campus on the weekends.</p>
<p>2 gal x $4(per gal roughly) x 30 days = $240 per month</p>
<p>If you can find parking for cheap near campus, find places that are say 3-5 mins away from campus, which are plenty cheap around $500/month perhaps.</p>
<p>And yes it will help with time for your academics obviously.</p>
<p>I have a annual parking pass
in addition, my car gets 30 miles per gallon
I can basically park right next to campus given my pass</p>
<p>My son will be commuting when he starts this fall. It just seemed logical to us at the time we made the decision. We live near-ish to campus so why not save that extra $13,000 room and board cost? I commuted to college and it was no big deal.</p>
<p>Then we went to orientation and heard several times, “UofM is not a commuter campus. There’s no place to park and it will take up too much time out of your day. Don’t do it!”.</p>
<p>But it’s too late to make the switch, so he’s going to have to commute… at least for the first semester. We’ll be trying to get him a place near campus as soon as we can.</p>
<p>I’ve said it before but yes, parking at Michigan is awful. However, I’d rather have the 13K and deal with the lousy parking than live on campus. It’s not 13K/year worth of inconvenience. </p>
<p>Shouldn’t cost 13K to live near campus though.</p>
<p>You can definitely find $400/month room near campus. I’m not talking walking distance, but very close with driving. Heck try to negotiate for a 9 month lease too.</p>
<p>If it takes you 1.5hrs to drive back and forth and you come to campus everyday(at least for academic reasons), then that $400 isn’t that much…</p>
<p>1.5 hrs x 30 days = 45 hrs</p>
<p>$400/45hrs = $8.88/hr</p>
<p>If GPA is also your concern, that one hour ought to have a lot bigger value for future return.</p>
<p>oh and at home ,I have family problems and my parents always yell
so my mom treats me like i’m a little kid and talks to me for hours on end, non stop
whereas my dad yells at me and thinks i’m worthless
the family drama isn’t worth it
so I decided sometimes to bring lunch and dinnner
then drive home at night, eat and go to bed
less than ideal, but great givne you’re low on money
and darnit my gpa is only a 2.0 LOL, it’s so sad</p>
<p>and I’m a smart guy with potential and wanna do grad school at umich as well?
maybe i’m gonna have to go to um dearborn for grad :(</p>
<p>it’s complicated…</p>
<p>is it worthwhile or is living on campus much better and does it make a big difference in your honest opinion?</p>
<p>I commute, I don’t think it’s a big deal honestly.</p>
<p>you commute from “home” as in living with family? where from? How long is your drive and where do you park or do you ride a bus?</p>
<p>Yeah, from family house. I drive about 10 minutes to an orange lot and take a bus that takes about 25 minutes from there to get to North.</p>
<p>The hardest time to commute will be in the heart of winter when there are snowstorms, you should find someone you can crash with when the weather makes you commute bad.</p>
<p>@vlad
do you stay on campus till the night or do you go home after classes at like 5 pm to study?</p>
<p>do you go to tutoring or other stuff?
do you study on north campus or central/ the dude? use CAEn computers and those services a lot or not really?</p>
<p>do you eat on campus or do you bring food?
any kitchens on campus where you cook food or where i could cook? where do you heat your meals or toast your bread/whatever you have? or do you just microwave it?
or do you eat dorm food and or food on campus?</p>