Travel Or Get A Room At Colchester Campus

jessie2010

hi..I live in east london and will most probabaly go to Essex University this year. I am not sure about the cost of travelling there everday...if I top up my oyester card to zone 6 will it work all the way or do I have to get another ticket from liverpool street to colchester. Or is it worth me living at campus....Would be really glad if someone could help me out...Thnx :smile:

Reply 1

bottomchops

It depends whereabouts in east london you live, and whether it's easier for you to get to Stratford or Liverpool street. Overground from Liverpool Street to Colchester will cost around about £15 - £20 return, but this will massively vary depending on what time of day you go, how far in advance you book it etc. Also, get a young person's railcard as that will help loads. Depending on what you are going to be studying, you're probably not going to have to be at uni every day so commuting would not end up being too expensive, in comparison to accommodation costs at least (this isn't reason enough to make the decision to commute though). Colchester is quite a bit further out than zone 6!

It's up to you whether you want to live on campus or not. Essex is quite a 'local' uni, so if you do decide to commute you certainly won't be alone. What would be your reasons for doing so?

Edit: Also remember you will need to get a bus once you get to Colchester - it's not walkable to the uni. The bus meanders its way through the town centre and can take around half an hour to get to campus, even more. So if you have a 9am lecture, this will involve waking up very, very early.

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Reply 2

jessie2010

thnks for replying bck...yea It'll be easier for me to get to Stratford prob take me 15min..yea thats true that accomadation will be more costly..im an undergraduate and got an offer for psychology..wot i really wnt is to save money so even if I go for three days a week and if its roughly £20 return ticket for a day so its gonna be £60 for three days...I would prefer living at home than moving to campus...i mean it would take me an hour and a half most 2 get there so its not that bad..prob try to travel to essex uni next week and see how it goes

Reply 3

bottomchops

Yup, sounds like a plan, and it's definitely doable, and as I say, plenty of people commute to Essex. I commuted there as well - definitely would recommend you doing a trial run to see how long it takes you to get there. If you're disciplined you can end up getting quite a lot of your work done on the train journey (Unfortunately, I was not disciplined!)

Reply 4

Bathwiggle

You'll miss out on socialising if your commuting to campus, a lot of the friends are formed through flat mates and going out, before the course mates, then also missing out on nights out and sports socs. It will take a lot of time up, espcially if you only have an hour lecture. The bus can take up to 45 min in rush hour. I would say allow 2 hours to get from liverpool to uni, allowing for traffic and delays.

My first year was 35 hours a week pretty much, including experiments then with coursework on top, i wouldn't have wanted to be travelling.

Reply 5

djk_99

I would definitely move to campus... I pay £65 a week for my room, and I bet that commuting would be more expensive. Even with a young persons railcard its £16 return to London, and thats off peak. Leaving at 7am to get to 9am lectures would cost considerably more.
Plus you'll miss out on socialising, joining societies and study time by spending half your life on a train!

Reply 6

TheStudentBlog

I would definately come to campus, it's so much easier to pop back to your room if you forget something or if you have a long break between lectures/classes. You wouldn't get the Uni experience either.