<p>So I am a first generation college student and I am proud to have been accepted into UW it was very hard work. However it is out of my grasp financially to be dorming there, I have to stay with my parents -_-. I'll be taking the bus from Federal Way which is like 45 mins. I will have to take up a summer job and save up money. Most of my classmates are dorming there because of aid like the Husky Promise or some who have the money. I am afraid to be left behind since my life would not be focused around campus and I might miss out on the late night hang outs in dorms. Since my usual group of high school friends are not attending UW I am pretty much starting a new social life, more isolated than I would like. My intended goal is to at least dorm or live near campus by Junior year.</p>
<p>I am planning to be a doctor and my fallback would be to apply to the business school. UW has been my dream school since I was young and it saddens me that I would not be able to live there. <em>kinda in tears thinking about it</em> I know that living at home will save my parents a lot of money, but it just feels too long to be under their wing for nearly 2 decades!</p>
<p>SO pretty much how will this commuting thing affect my chances with girls? haha :), will I make good friends?, am I correct for feeling a bit bitter for this outcome?, what "college experience" will I miss out on?, since I am going to do grad studies I have another shot at dorms will it be the same?, how will this affect me academically?, and how will this affect my transition my growth toward adulthood?</p>
<p>Any comments, advice, and connections will be appreciated :)</p>
<p>I’m in a very similar situation except I sort of have a choice. Commuters (and dormers) please share your experiences. Is it possible to have a good social life as a commuter without putting in more effort than someone who’s dorming?</p>
<p>Also if I happen to commute as a freshman and then dorm as a sophomore will it be easy to make new friends or will people be less sociable?</p>
<p>just FYI, im a husky promise student and it does NOT cover housing. Only tuition. I am also in the same boat. My family is very financialy not sufficient. My EFC on fafsa was even 0, and yet all it exempts is tuiton, i still have to take out loans just so i can live on campus, not in the dorms though. But yeah some people really enjoy commutting. it depends on the person. you can get into a routine and zone that many pepole enjoy. same bus, many of the same people, same time, you can just relax on your laptop, read, study, etc. a big appealing thing to me is that you dont have to drive or do anything, just relax and let someone else drive. its just you really dont have the freedom of leaving and going wherever you want. you couldnt stay later and hangout unless you had a ride home or another bus to take you home, thats the downside. but really i think youd be just fine commuting there. hey who knows, maybe the money will open up next year for you to live on campus then.</p>
<p>@jumpshooter: where do you hail from? haha weird talking like that. And I think if we are involved in some student life clubs and activities we should have a social life that should suffice. But you can take my Plan B if that doesn’t work out: Befriend a frat boy! haha</p>
<p>@bothellcougar: hmm I was not aware that Husky Promise did not cover tuition. I enjoy reading your reply. You are right though it is all based on my perspective and if I can make the best of it. And hopefully I can get a job and save so I can finally move out before Junior year haha :)</p>
<p>I go to a high school where most of the people go to UW.
I know two people who are commuting.
they still go to all the high school parties and are dead bored the days that they dont have classes.
Oh and if you wanted to be a doctor i wouldn’t go ungrad. at uw, because they dont accept many of their students into the medical program.
Just take the loans out and work during the school.
Because if money was an issue you would of gone to lets say washington state and received better packages, like my friends. Or plu, Gonzaga, seattle u, they meet a lot of what you need.</p>
<p>@bothellcougar: ahh right my mistake that is what I meant.</p>
<p>@Meowimacat: I am not just set on the UW Med. School I have others that I am interested in. Honestly though I did not like the financial aid package from most of those schools. PLU I did not feel the atmosphere, Seattle U it feels too small its only a block literally the school is 1 block but I know some friends going there, and WSU would not be an option if I got accepted to UW not to discredit the school. </p>
<p>Well tomorrow I will go through the routine of a UW student <em>undercover style</em> of course ;), I’ll use the bus, go to classes, allot some time for studying, and ride home. I will try to interact with some students and see how that goes. I’ll document my experience.</p>
<p>As a side note, the Husky Promise <em>can</em> cover housing, but it’s under pretty severe circumstances. Somebody else on here had it cover housing, but they were like 1 of 7 kids with a family income of like ~$24,000. There are varying degrees of EFC=0 I think.</p>
<p>costax are you sure? cause i have specifically talked with a financial aid conselor and he said theres no way i can have it cover housing and it is strictly for tuition because that is all that needs to be covered or something. They said housing isnt a “neccesity” i guess even though in my eyes it is. If you just “heard” about it id be skeptical, but if you’re for sure, then thats very interesting and im kind of angry i didnt get that haha. my financial situation is pretty severe id say</p>
<p>If you go back through the threads on here, and go to the thread about what people got in financial aid, there’s a post about it. He said he got his housing covered. Dunno if it’s true, but I can’t imagine someone would lie/■■■■■ about that.</p>
<p>honestly in my opinion, you are going to miss out on stuff not living on or around campus for your first year. it’s easy to make friends (and find girls :)) when you’re living near lots of people and see them all the time. i think after your first year it’s not as big of a deal because you already have friends you met before, but it’s completely beneficial for your social life to start of on campus for a year.</p>
<p>I transferred to UW this year, and found it very hard to meet people because it is such a big school. Most people I know still hang out with people from high school, and also find it hard to meet new people. I made new friends this year through my roommates. If it weren’t for them, I doubt I would have made many friends this year. It is also convenient being in a dorm because it is easy to go to sporting events or other events on campus. However, I would suggest joining a club so you’re still involved in some way and can make new friends through that. If you commute and know people at UW, I would suggest having lunch with them in between classes - I always have lunch with people I knew in high school and that’s another way I’ve been able to make new friends at UW. If you can’t move into a dorm until junior year and don’t know many people at UW now, I would use this time to focus hard on school and get really good grades to boost your gpa.</p>
<p>I commute to UW, and for my first 2 quarters it was tough. I only talked to people I knew from high school, and I was pretty depressed because I wasn’t making new friends. I still think it’s hard to meet people in the big lecture classes, but once I started talking to people I recognized in the library/on the bus it got a lot better. I don’t find commuting that bad, other than it feels like it takes forever to get home some days (it’s usually ~60 min). Try and meet other commuter students, since it seems like most kids in the dorms just head back after classes. Commuter kids need other commuter kids to hang out with during breaks!</p>
<p>You guys are still lucky, I live all the way in Tacoma, so getting to UW everyday would sucks, and I also have to live with my parents, and work 4 hours a day :(</p>