<p>I'm starting at UW as a sophomore next year and was thinking about commuting to UW from Federal Way (about a 45 minute bus ride) to save some money. Has anyone else here commuted and can offer some insight to what it is like? Did that hinder your social life, working jobs, academics or joining in clubs?</p>
<p>I’ve commuted for the past two years and plan on commuting again next year. My average “bad” bus day is about 2 hours commute with 2 transfers. My average “good” bus day is slightly over an hour with no transfers (note that this bus only ran 3x in the morning and now twice in the afternoon because of cuts and sometimes shows up 15 minutes early or late.). During our annual random “snowpocalypse,” it took me 6 hours to get home - about 3.5 spent in a bus or at a bus station huddling with other commuters like penguins, and the rest walking home since buses don’t fare well with ice and hills. Fun fact: I live 15 miles from UW but the bus system in my area is terrible.</p>
<p>I also have some friends who commute from Federal Way and they never complain about it unless they’re stuck on campus at 2am and need to squish at a friend’s place for the night. :)</p>
<p>I’ve worked on campus, been a contractor for a company, made a lot of great friends, am very active with my department, and am somewhat active with student organizations.</p>
<p>I usually either read or sleep on the bus. I fortunately don’t get motion sickness, so if I’m sitting, I can usually get a large chunk of homework done. If you get motion sickness, find something to think about or just spend the 45 minutes as a down time relaxation for yourself. I don’t suggest sleeping on the bus unless you have a buddy on the nicer buses. Please stay awake when there are very sketchy people looking for easy targets for pickpocketing or mugging you (even after you get off the bus, sometimes they target people who get off at more secluded stops).</p>
<p>A tip I have found useful is to know the routes very well in case of emergencies. For example, you have to be back home in an hour but because of a huge accident on the Ave or wherever you catch your bus, that area is blocked and buses are running 30 minutes late. There’s usually another way to get off campus area where you can transfer to get back to Federal Way. For example, I know 10+ buses I can take from the Ave, 15th, or the Medical Center that will take me to a place I can walk a few blocks or transfer to another bus. It might take longer, but I can still get home instead of being “stuck” on campus.</p>
<p>A drawback (depending on the person) is that you won’t be dorming or living in an apartment next to campus, so you probably would be going home earlier while people hang out after dinner or something. I’m not sure about the buses going up North; I’m more familiar with the ones going towards S and E of UW. If you don’t hit it off with people right away, don’t worry. I had a pretty nice group of friends (mostly pre-med and from student orgs I joined) freshman year, but sophomore year my friends became centered on my department - more engineering people with a mix of my old pre-med and student org buddies. Try to branch out; part of college is finding more about you and finding that foundation of friends. I personally didn’t find an issue with the whole no-dorm thing until I started taking courses that required a ton of group work and it seemed like people were only free at 9pm.</p>
<p>TLDR: You’ll be fine as long as you use your time well - both on campus and on the bus.</p>
<p>Thank you for such a detailed response! It was really helpful and encouraging to read.</p>
<p>No problem! Feel free to ping me if you ever have any other questions =)</p>
<p>How hard is it to find work on campus when you aren’t a workstudy student? I currently work in West Seattle, and I’m not very optimistic that the schedule will work come fall quarter. It worked for the past 2 years, since I took morning classes at NSCC and then headed to work afterwards. I’m not sure I can still have the same schedule. :(</p>
<p>I’m not a workstudy student. What kind of job are you looking for? I had a position with UW IT. Sometimes, you really need a connection (ie friend currently works there) to get an interview since you would have someone to vouch for you. Otherwise, you’re competing CV/Resume/Cover Letter only against maybe 40 applicants.</p>
<p>There are positions such as receptionists (ie. career center, admissions), positions in the library (ie shelving, help desk), positions with HFS (ie. dorms front desk, serving food), financial analyst, research assistants (yes, they get paid! and yes, freshmen and even high school graduates can apply for some positions!), TAs (some departments do allow undergrads), U Bookstore etc. </p>
<p>Check out Husky Jobs or even inquire at different places. Sometimes a position can only be held by a certain number of students. Usually people will stop working at the end of a quarter when they pick up another job (mid-quarter transition/training can be kind of messy) or at the end of the school year. If you can get a job this summer, it’s a great way to get your foot in a door. Don’t worry if people tell you there aren’t spaces, just keep trying. 
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<p>Most employers are looking for someone with energy, are there not just for the sake of having a job (smile! don’t be all grouchy and hate your position), and can easily and willingly learn new things. Most positions require at least some interaction with other people, whether it be professors, students, parents, or just with other employers. Soft skills are just as important as hard skills when they interview you.</p>