Commuting from London?

I didn't commute to Warwick, but my last uni was about 3-3.5 hours commute via tube and train. I did history and was writing my dissertation (and also had just come back from Erasmus) so I had the same thoughts.

It becomes very hard to motivate yourself to go to all your lectures. Especially if they're 9am - the trains were much slower at this time and I'd be leaving my place around 5am. There was one module I didn't attend any of my lectures for, just did my own studying. Turned out that module was the only one I got a 2:1 for so I suppose I didn't make up for the missed lectures.

It turned out okay overall though, I saved a lot of money which helped me pay off my overdraft and will help me get by this year with my MA at Warwick. Got a first which I was aiming for. It also proved quite useful to have the LSE library 45m away since its got a pretty impressive selection. Living with parents and writing a dissertation can be a bit stressful though.

You live in London I'm guessing? Where was your last uni? Was it 3 hours one way?

I'm going to have to wait til I know my timetable to make an informed decision, hopefully my classes won't be too spread out throughout the week.

I didn't go to all my lectures even in 1st and 2nd year so I can happily miss some. You seem quite motivated, which is how I am when I'm in a happy environment - another motivation to not live in Coventry is my lack of social links due to my friends not being there, so I think I'll be happier (and will work harder) spending as much time away from uni as possible and more time in my home town.



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Yep, West London zone 3. My uni was Chichester - a pretty small one down south, closeish to Portsmouth and Southampton. Walking to the tube station was 10 minutes, tube to Victoria about 30 minutes, train to Chichester about 1h30/45, and 2h10 if I had to be in for 9am. Was about 20 mins to walk to the uni from the station and if I tried to make the 9am lecture I'd take a taxi for £5. So yeah, roughly 3 hours each way - the train going through the South Downs made it a bit more bearable.

If all your lectures are scheduled for late morning or afternoon, I'd say go for it. Another issue I should point out is that it made attending advice/workshop sessions difficult (hard to justify hours commuting for a 15 min talk) - was particularly annoying when I wanted interview practice or detailed advice about selection processes.

Ah ok, thanks for your response. I'm in zone 2 so possibly easier for me. Not too bothered about any extra curricular career stuff, it's rarely useful I've found. Were you not very tired with all that travelling?

So yeah if I do get a good timetable I'll definitely give this a go. Spending money on accommodation this year seems fruitless as I'm really only at Warwick to finish my degree, not for any of the social aspects.

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Only after 9am lectures I felt particularly exhausted. Just make sure you have a lot of reading material for the train journeys - its also a good time to proof read essays/diss chapters.

I had the same thoughts about the careers services before but I was impressed how much they helped. I was stuck on writing my Warwick Taught Masters scholarship app so I sought advice, and my advisor really helped me understand what they looked for and how to structure it.

But yeah, with the money saved I took a few holidays during the academic year to see my Erasmus friends. It was a great way to just forget about everything if you feel like you're burning out.

Ok thanks. How much do you think you saved? Also was your main motivation financial or were there any other reasons you lived at home?

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My friends already had living arrangements (I did 6 months Erasmus so didn't have to do 4 years). Chichester's a small town and far too dull for me so I didn't really enjoy living there so much. A lot of the resources for my dissertation were also in London so in the end I figured it was just best to be in London. Financial side was a plus, but I didn't prioritise it - I just did what I thought would be best for me academically.

My friends already had living arrangements (I did 6 months Erasmus so didn't have to do 4 years). Chichester's a small town and far too dull for me so I didn't really enjoy living there so much. A lot of the resources for my dissertation were also in London so in the end I figured it was just best to be in London. Financial side was a plus, but I didn't prioritise it - I just did what I thought would be best for me academically.

Work out how much travelling will cost. Living in Coventry is really cheap

I live in Coventry and commute to London. My rent is significantly less than the amount I spend on trains!

Thanks I know but I'll be in halls spending 3.5k for the year, when I could be commuting and only spend 1.5k over the year. Could do with an extra 2 grand post graduation

And you commute to London from Coventry every day? Wow how long is your commute one way door to door?

I've only just started commuting, but its an hour train and then 5/10 min walk either side. Not sure yet if I'll be doing it every day or how much I can do from home.

How many days a week do you have to be at uni?