The Commuter Student Thread/Poll (Commuter means that you live at home with parents.)

<p>School: Some small town U
Year: Freshman
Distance: like 3 miles- it literally takes like 5 minutes to get to campus
Transit mode: Car</p>

<p>Well, for posterity’s sake, I am bumping this thread once again.</p>

<p>college = ISU
year = 1st onto 2nd
distance ~ 15 by bike</p>

<p>I want to finish school and get the f outta here.</p>

<p>School: Local U
Year: Freshman
Distance: 25 miles (~30mins depending on traffic)
Transit mode: Driving</p>

<p>Don’t mind the commute so much when traffic isn’t horrible, but when it gets backed up I’m usually 5+ mins late for class.</p>

<p>Checking back in. Still commuting next year! It’s going to be a doozy, but hopefully there are greener pastures after graduation. I also work at school, so I’ll be commuting every day over the summer too.</p>

<p>Well, I’m commuting as a sophomore this year too, and I’m just bumping this thread. BC finally gave us commuters lockers this year. Made a few friends through class (though not very many).</p>

<p>@XX55XX:</p>

<p>That’s interesting. Is it like High School where the lockers are in the hallways between classrooms or is it a special area on campus?</p>

<p>@Hurricane: </p>

<p>I didn’t know you went to Maryland. Maryland was one of my dream schools. Hows it like over there? </p>

<p>I like one of the traditions Maryland has where everyone rubs the Terp’s beak for good luck before a game.</p>

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<p>The lockers are located in the basement of one of the academic buildings in the quad. It’s convenient enough for me to drop stuff off in between classes and such. </p>

<p>There are lockers everywhere on campus… but they would allow us only these ones. I wish I could have gotten one of the lockers in the building that houses the School of Management.</p>

<p>School: redacted
Year: Junior (technically; I switched majors so it may take longer than 2 years to finish)
Distance from home: 4 miles
Mode of transportation: auto</p>

<p>The area is so economically depressed, I spend $250/mo on rent for a 1br and can live like a nobleman on trading income + grants/scholarships.</p>

<p>School: University of Toledo
Year: freshman
Distance: 8 miles, 10-15 minute drive
Transit mode: car</p>

<p>Know a lot of people from high school (only have one class without anyone I didn’t already know) it sucks though because I really am not meeting a whole lot of new people so I kind of feel like I am not a part of the school.</p>

<p>School: Local community college
Distance: 15 miles (20-30 mins) and a bridge that costs $5 on the way home ><
Year: 4th
Transit mode: Nice fast car</p>

<p>I socialize some, but it’s a very commuty community college and I have strange hours so I don’t really meet a lot of interesting people or anything. It’s annoying… but whatever. </p>

<p>What sucks is the bridge toll - it guarantees that if I have a day off and want to hang out with friends, it’s going to cost me $15+ to go do that since they all seem to live on the other side!!!</p>

<p>Oh well. Uni soon! My family has decided we’re going to rent a house nearby… Did I say my older bro is autistic and loves to make loud noises? Yea. </p>

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<p>School: local university
Year: freshman
Distance: hour drive
Transit mode: car</p>

<p>i knew my school was a commuter school. i’m transferring anyways so by commuting, even though it’s a long ride, i save money for my transfer dorm. i also do not have a meal plan.</p>

<p>@cabhax, sorry mate I was banned for like two weeks so I couldn’t respond lol. I like Maryland for the most part, I mean my classes are great and they’re just gen eds. Most people seem nice, although I haven’t met a whole lot of them. It’s a real ***** to meet people when you commute actually, especially if you don’t have a car :/</p>

<p>I’d probably enjoy it a lot more if I lived on campus (in one of the nice dorms though) or lived very close to campus.</p>

<p>I’ve thought about commuting for my last year next year. But I don’t know if driving or taking the train for one hour would be best, although when I calculate it, I think it would be cheaper to commute rather than living on campus for $10,000 per semester. Yikes!</p>

<p>Are you planning to commute primarily b/c of money? I’m guessing that since it’s gonna be your last year, by now you’ve got a network of somewhat close friends, so that shouldn’t be an issue. </p>

<p>An hour commute isn’t much fun, but it’s the reality for a lot of people in the workforce. It probably will be for you too unless you go into engineering or investment banking. Well, either that or a 20 minute commute while living in the hood.</p>

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<p>It is cheaper to commute. I save an average of $9,000 per year by commuting. But, it does have its drawbacks, however. You see less people, more of your friends and acquaintances come through clubs and group projects, etc. </p>

<p>But, good thing is that college lasts for only four years.</p>

<p>Partly because of money. I calculated that I would be spending 2000 a year in transportation as opposed to spending 10,000+. I’m applying to graduate school next fall. I see less of my friends now anyway. I’d probably still be involved with the two clubs I do now. </p>

<p>I would either drive for 50 minutes or take the train each morning and schedule my classes so that I go only 3xs per week or so. I wish I had thought about doing this since sophomore year. I would only be spending 13,000 dollars as opposed to 22,000 a year.</p>

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<p>That doesn’t sound too bad. I actually know a person at my school who spends three hours to get to school each morning and three hours to go back home. They take the commuter rail and switch trains twice. </p>

<p>The only reason I commute is because I live way too close to my school, and paying the extra $9000 per annum just to dorm seemed wasteful. I’d rather save that money for graduate school or something. Yeah, being a commuter student sucks, because you don’t have any crazy college experiences to share, but whatever. You do what you have to do. </p>

<p>And I know people who drive from their hometowns thirty miles away. Now, if I lived that far away, I would have dormed. No question about it. </p>

<p>Anyways, good luck with your commuting plans, MushaboomBlue. I hope it works out for you.</p>

<p>I lived in a dormitory for 1.5 years.
In an apartment for one semester.
Abroad for one semester.
With mom and dad for 2 years.</p>

<p>Being a commuter has one positive thing- You save money on housing.</p>

<p>Aside from that, being a commuter sucks. You have restricted social life(Especially with an introverted personality). You are reverted back into high school mentality(Since you live with mommy as an adult you think like a child and not like an adult. Your parents are the ones cooking all the meals for you…like you are 15). You have lower self confidence(Since you are an adult who lives at home). And you might even lose some ambition and cringe your own personality.</p>

<p>Being a commuter really didn’t kill my ambition however(I’m one of the most ambitious twenty somethings I know). I moved home due to health problems and at the time I didn’t really have much of a choice.</p>

<p>On a good note being a commuter was -okay- because I didn’t have to deal with the immature drama that happened every day in the dormitories and on college campuses. I think that modern college society is a joke now anyway and it is more a place of “Hey, lets go and all get drunk every night while spending thousands of dollars of our parents money!” instead of “Well, we can at least pretend to be adults instead of acting mentally ■■■■■■■■!”</p>

<p>I think the propaganda said that going to college was pursuing the life of the mind or whatever- What a load of bull **** higher education is a massive joke.</p>

<p>Axion004, I cannot dispute with anything that you have said. It is true.</p>

<p>The high school mentality of commuting to school… Very true. I still feel like a high school student. And it’s even worse this time around because of all of my high school acquaintances are gone and most of them ignore me on Facebook whenever I try contacting them. </p>

<p>But, aside from the lack of friends and social experiences, I believe commuting to school allows a person to develop a greater sense of maturity, since commuter students by nature, have a lot more responsibilities to deal with than a residential student. For example, in addition to going to school, I work 20+ hours part time as a grocery clerk, and sometimes I do take up evening shifts, which I work after school. I also have duties and chores at home to tend to, in addition to homework. </p>

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<p>Ah, the cynicism of a commuter student! I love it.</p>

<p>I recall a time (when I wasn’t born yet) when almost everyone commuted to the local university. The university I currently attend was 99% commuter in the 1960’s. What has happened to that trend? When did residential life suddenly become trendy? Why did college become something more than a mere vocation?</p>