Is uni just as good if you stay at home??

Hi everyone!

I've been accepted into University South Bank to do Digital Design, the uni that i most wanted to go to! I only live a half an hour train journey from the uni, so I'm just going to stay home rather than live at the campus, but i wanted to find out from people on here whether or not the uni experience is just the same if you stay at home??

Thanks,
Katie

I am in 2nd year and i stayed at home as my uni is only 20 mins away.

i certainly have still enjoyed my uni experience thus far, however there have been a few drawbacks.

I would say the main thing for me is that it is harder with nights out as you can't just walk back to your flat, you would have to either pay for a taxi or try public transport. Obviously if you are out into the early hours of the morning then catching a train can be a hard thing to do.

i would say that was one thing that annoyed me. Luckily my group of friends at uni were all still living at home so it was a shared nuisance.

But if you are not keen on the night scene then this won't be a concern for you.

They say that it is harder to make friends if you are not living in halls but i have not found this to be the case.

if you stay at home, the good thing is that you still have your home comforts and don't have to worry about meals and washing etc.

Hope this helps !

it is, am living at home and met people who are my friends also staying at home as were all 30 min's to 1 hour away by train
you will meet wonderful people at uni you just got to interact with them, be yourself and don't change for anyone or anything
all the best for uni and the new year

Thanks for getting back to me!

They're some good points to be fair, I guess I could stay over a friends every other night out too?

You've definitely helped to answer my question, thanks

Your Welcome !

yeah i knew lots of people on my course who would stay over at friends so there are ways to work around the issue.

i have enjoyed staying at home as my course involves a lot of independent study, and so I feel like there are less distractions in my quite bedroom as opposed to a busier student flat.

I guess staying at home would be a good decision for me then, I'm so excited to go to uni, i was first of all looking at doing an apprenticeship but ever since i was offered a place at South Bank i've been more interested in going!

I suppose because my uni is in the center of London then i definitely wouldnt be the only one thats staying at home then :')

Thank you so much! Happy New Year

Hi everyone!

I've been accepted into University South Bank to do Digital Design, the uni that i most wanted to go to! I only live a half an hour train journey from the uni, so I'm just going to stay home rather than live at the campus, but i wanted to find out from people on here whether or not the uni experience is just the same if you stay at home??

Thanks,
Katie

It depends how much you want to go out really.. I commute on the train so I'm not too bothered so its fine for me.
The only other things to consider are that it can get quite tiring commuting, especially standing on the train and having to wake up way earlier than your friends to make your train

There is no doubt in my mind it's very different and it really depends on how well you can organise your self many students do find first couple of months pretty lonely more often students who live at home your only half an hour away so it's not so bad most students travel about half that to get to uni (walking) but I digress.

I guess the best thing I can do is rundown what you will miss out on and hope fully it'll help you make your final decision whatever that may be

1/ Sunday night this is one of the bigger nights on freshers week on the last night of the moving in weekend it's a chance for the students who have just moved in to bond and feel totally shocked when they suddenly see someone from their old school which they left at 16.

2/ Actually moving in it's pretty nerve wracking and when your parents leave it is the most gut wrenching terrifying thing ever and you feel totally lost for a few minutes but after half an hour you get over it and you can then try and get on with your flatmates who will be in a kitchen.

3/ Nights out this depends on many things for instance how easily you can get in and out of town wether you have lectures the next day and how cool your parents are with you coming in at 3 and then getting up for a 9 am lecture the next day if you insist on staking the train back then you are going to miss out on quite a lot of the night.

4/ Random fun stuff this basically means you will miss out on impromptu cinema trips with mates or course mates or movie nights video game tournaments and impromptu nights out because you'll have to plan everything in advance.

That's the social side the next ones are a little different some of these are things you might want to consider rather than things you'll miss out.

5/ Your timetable will have days that are good and bad now I lived out so it was a little different for me but I'm going to give you some of the more extreme days I had

10-8 1 hour break (later changed to 9-7)
9-6/7 1 hour break I finished at 6 if it was a day I didn't have a lab it alternated each week.
That was a Monday and a Tuesday and every hour was filled with lectures it was pretty full on. I really wouldn't have wanted to spend ages waiting on a frozen station platform waiting for a delayed train after those two those days were tiring and I would have fell asleep and missed my stop

This next day is from my second year

9-7 with a 9 count them 9 hour break sure you could study in the library but not for 9 hours at uni level it just can't be done I actually liked these days I of course could get some study done watch some TV play some video games and then go out that night.

6/Sports team often meet at weekends and so are works on the railway so you are going to miss out on competing at least.

Consider the door to door time do you need a bus at either end is it actually cheaper (it will be more if your going from a central station rather than a branch line to a central because you'll need to change) it would have cost me £100 a week to go from Reading to Southampton each day.

anyway I do wish you the very best of luck and a happy new year.

Thanks so much for your indepth reply!

You've definitely made me think twice about the social side of it all, i think ive made my decision and i'm going to stay at home, i dont think itll be too bad for me since the train is only about a half an hour journey.

I'm also thinking about the fact that i would enjoy my student finance even more as i wont have to pay for food and rent? Am i right in saying this?

So i take it you live at home? I'll be getting one train to and from unit that takes about half an hour, so im guessing it wont be too bad?