First Year Uni 5 days a week????

I'm a first year student who travel 1 hour and 30 minutes to my uni and the travel cost me 7 pounds and 60 pence a day so 38 pounds a week. I just received my timetable and it's 5 days a week!!! WHAT? 1 hour and 30 minutes travel, therefore every day i will do 3 hours TRAVEL!!! Normally most unis don't do 5 days a week for first years, so what should I do?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

Origami Bullets

They definitely do do 9-5 mon-Fri for first years on science and engineering courses.

If it's costing you £92 a week in travel then I'd suggest seeing if there's any places in halls available - it'll almost certainly work out better for you.

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Reply 2

Namod

Original post by Origami Bullets

I meant 7 pounds and 60 pence a day so 38 pounds a week

Reply 3

WeeGuy

is it possible to get a student discount? or a year long bus pass/card which in the long run is cheaper

Reply 4

Octohedral

There's nothing you can do, except not attend some lectures - unless there are different time options for certain classes (unlikely). £38 is still cheaper than halls. Speak to your personal tutor if possible, but I suspect they'll say the same.

It's very normal to have to go in five days a week. University is full time. I'm sorry to be blunt, but you ought to have planned for this. If it's the time rather than the money, your loan ought to cover halls if you want to live there, or you could apply for a transfer to a closer university? Or you could try to use the travelling time to work? If it's by train you may be able to get a fair bit done.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 5

Caedus

Almost all the courses I know of have lectures 5 days of the week, especially in first year.

Reply 6

Origami Bullets

Original post by Namod

I meant 7 pounds and 60 pence a day so 38 pounds a week

If you were to move into halls, then you'd be saving the £38 a week.

In addition, you're currently travelling for 15 hours a week. If you were to spend those 15 hours a week in a part time job then you'd
a) be earning at least £92.85 a week (£104.10 inc holiday pay), which will more than make up for the cost of halls
b) have the experience that employers are looking for - unfortunately just getting a degree isn't good enough anymore in the graduate employment market

It would also be physically possible to maintain a social life at uni....

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Reply 7

smd4std

nobrainer: move to halls

Reply 8

Siena4996

Halls is definitely the best option for you, and that way you integrate more into the uni community. And as someone pointed out earlier, you could be in a job with the extra time you have without the traveling.

Reply 9

SlowlorisIncognito

This is fairly normal, and there's no reason to assume that you'll neccessarily get days off in second year/third year either. Timetables are generally based around what's possible for lecturers, and the rooms available, not the needs of comuting students, unfortunately. To be honest, very few people have more than one day a week off in first year, and this can end up being used for tutorials and field trips. How many days were you expecting to be in for?

ETA: as a commuting student myself, I think a commute of 1.5 hrs isn't sustainable, and would seriously reccomend you move closer to the university.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 10

tory88

Certainly on formal science courses it's normal to be in for all five days. In fact the only course I know at my university without lectures on all five days was sociology. If you're shocked at the workload in first year, just wait until your second.

Reply 11

Add!ction

Surely you should have considered this when you were choosing uni's?

Reply 12

ForeverDreams

Original post by Namod

What course do you do? And what uni?

I had 4 days in my first year, but only went to 3

Reply 13

Baula

Original post by Namod

I used to do exactly the same as you. I tended to stick around campus a few hours to make the commute worth it by going to the library to study for a bit or maybe getting a drink with some people from my course.

As for the most ey side of things, buy a 16-25 railcard as it knocks 1/3 off the price after 10am or if you life in South or West Yorkshire see if a travel master/ metro card is worth buying :smile:

Reply 14

Feloreena

I thought this was normal. I had 5 days a week in my first year and most of my friends did as well. If you're doing a science course especially.

Reply 15

neverfadeaway

I had this problem, I was also looking at lectures finishing at 7pm & then waiting an hour & a half for a train home. I decided to transfer to my local uni which is 20 mins away from where I live. Sometimes practicality also has to come into play, if you feel like you'd struggle with commuting & would be tempted to miss lectures due to the distance then I'd recommend moving closer to your uni or transferring. A lot of unis will accept transfers as many teaching weeks have only just begun.

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