<p>I'm looking at getting some advice on commuting and living on campus. A little background on my college journey so far:</p>
<p>Freshman year I spent at a college 2.5 hours away from home. The first semester went well, but by second semester I felt the college wasn't a good fit for me and I wasn't having a positive experience, so I made the decision to transfer in the end. </p>
<p>My first semester at my new college has been great. I honestly love the campus and the friends I've made. Currently I am commuting. My parents and I had made the decision over the summer that this would be the best option for me. I have a 25 minute drive to and from school everyday, which really doesn't bother me. I have never been late to class because of traffic, knock on wood, and I don't believe commuting has hindered me in any way.</p>
<p>I'm pretty involved in campus activities, which is why I'm considering living on campus next year. The problem is the cost. I've calculated the price of room and board and it comes out to $6,500 for the year. I'm on my own paying tuition, and my parents would only be able to contribute a small portion towards living expenses. Living on campus would be much more convenient, but I'm not sure if it's worth the extra money. I have a potential roommate, but I need to make a decision soon before housing sign ups start. </p>
<p>Any advice I would appreciate!</p>
<p>I’ve heard from a lot of people that if you commute you won’t get the typical college experience. If that doesn’t matter to you then I would continue commuting especially since you’d be able to save money.</p>
<p>The typical college experience probably is commuting, even though most people think of the residential college experience as “the college experience”.</p>
<p>If you live so close and it’s not making you late for class or miss out of other opportunities, why change it? If you had the money really available, maybe, but it’s not worth the extra student loan debt or over working yourself to pay for it. Enjoy your freedom at home.
I use public transportation to get to she from school most days and it’s about 20 minutes plus a 15 minute walk. If I drove, it would be a 10 mine drive. Unless someone else was footing the bill (not my parents) or there was a bad home situation, I wouldn’t consider the dorms.</p>
<p>I went to a college about 2 hrs away and I stayed in the dorms. First semester I did good academic wise, but I wasn’t making any friends. I blame myself for picking that university. I transferred to local 4 yr college, and I have the same commute as you with the difference being I take public transportation. I stay at home because the cost isn’t worth it, and there is only 5 dorms on campus with the other 2 are 2 miles away.</p>
<p>I would stay with your current living conditions. I understand where you on coming from, and I actually have debated this with myself. I tend to leave campus after courses unless I have club meeting, tutoring, or I need to go office hours. Is it really worth the extra money just to be closer to everything? I would say the only benefit for me would be that I would spend more time studying on campus then I do now. I have more distractions at home.</p>
<p>I agree with another poster who said commuting is the typical college experience. My current university is often called a commuter college, but they are trying to change this. In fact they had so many open rooms/suites in one building that they offered them to local tech students.</p>