London to Southampton

Original post by ChemistryBMP

Hello, I live in London I'm off to study medicine at Southampton. I do not want to move out and thought I can commute everyday ands the train as a way to revise, please, please please, help me. is this possible?
thank you

Heyy Soton Medic :smile:

Are you coming In BM5 or BM6? I’m sorry I don’t know much about BM4.

If BM5 you’re timetable will be 4-5 days per week. You’ll have group projects, essays and notes to write up. In semester 1 there is SSU which requires you to work in a project and that will require spontaneous meet ups. Semester 2 your timetable becomes more intense in hours but only a little. Throughout you’ll have MIP (half afternoon) placements but you’ll be back in Southampton @6pm so you’ll be back in London realistically at 9 ish.

If BM6 then why not just stay from Tuesday-Thursday and commute either way. You’ll still have all the workload as stated above but because it’s in a condensed week you can go home if you want to for the days between. You’ve also got your half day placements every other week so you could technically commute that day but sometimes you’ll have to be on the ward at 08:00-08:30 am so factor that in too.

And I’ve only covered pre-clinical years.

You’ll be drained. Move out. Halls has rooms and there’s also private rented if you prefer,

Feel free to ask anymore if you want :smile:

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 5

Sinnoh

22

That will destroy your wallet. Just move out, you'll have to eventually anyway

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

A season ticket would be £4924, might as well live there! Admittedly you will be able to get away with paying less by not having a season ticket for the whole year, and paying less. However it will still be very expensive.

Reply 7

sciencequestion8

11

I’ll offer a different viewpoint for you. I’m starting university at Southampton and I am going to be living at home and commuting. My journey will only be 50-70minutes which isn’t as bad as some other students may encounter. I see it as an opportunity to continue saving money as my student loan doesn’t come close to covering accommodation costs in halls. I also have a very good job at home which I am able to continue doing by not moving away. I won’t be paying rent and food bills and I will be able to escape the uni life which some people wish they could. I will still try my best to be social by joining societies and making friends and playing sports and so I don’t see why you cannot have a social life by not living in halls. When people comment on this I just remind them that a large proportion of people don’t go to university and make friends when they go straight into work, and they certainly don’t live with all of them so halls doesn’t always equal the best social life there are other options.
Do what’s best for you, at the end of the day you can always move out at the start of year 2!!

Reply 8

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by MedicalMuffins

Heyy Soton Medic :smile:

Are you coming In BM5 or BM6? I’m sorry I don’t know much about BM4.

If BM5 you’re timetable will be 4-5 days per week. You’ll have group projects, essays and notes to write up. In semester 1 there is SSU which requires you to work in a project and that will require spontaneous meet ups. Semester 2 your timetable becomes more intense in hours but only a little. Throughout you’ll have MIP (half afternoon) placements but you’ll be back in Southampton @6pm so you’ll be back in London realistically at 9 ish.

If BM6 then why not just stay from Tuesday-Thursday and commute either way. You’ll still have all the workload as stated above but because it’s in a condensed week you can go home if you want to for the days between. You’ve also got your half day placements every other week so you could technically commute that day but sometimes you’ll have to be on the ward at 08:00-08:30 am so factor that in too.

And I’ve only covered pre-clinical years.

You’ll be drained. Move out. Halls has rooms and there’s also private rented if you prefer,

Feel free to ask anymore if you want :smile:

Hello, i am starting BM6 however a. person which Is a year above me has said that 4/5 days a week are compulsory as 2 lectures a week are not recorded and 2 compulsory practicals a week

Reply 9

artful_lounger

21

Original post by ChemistryBMP

Hello, i am starting BM6 however a. person which Is a year above me has said that 4/5 days a week are compulsory as 2 lectures a week are not recorded and 2 compulsory practicals a week

Bear in mind during clinical years you will be rotating around different hospitals in Hampshire (including I think, potentially, the Isle of Wight) and you're even less likely to be able to live in London. Additionally, medics have longer terms than other courses at Southampton, so you will also be commuting for even longer. I really can't see it being possible, and this is even before considering the financial costs (you will probably spend as much commuting from London as you will on rent if you lived in Southampton).

Additionally, keep in mind the ~2 hour train journey is just for the train journey section. You still need to get to the train station in London you'll be departing from, then you need to get the bus from Southampton Airport Parkway (or worse, Southampton Central) to the uni, which is another 20-40 minutes on your commute, plus how long it takes you to get to the station in London. I used to commute to Southampton from very nearby (a town near Winchester) and even that was extremely draining over the course of the year and took at least an hour each way once all the buses and walks between train stations and bus stops and the course location (which wasn't on campus at the time) were accounted for, along with the train journey itself (which was a mere 20-25 minutes).

Reply 10

Original post by ChemistryBMP

Hello, i am starting BM6 however a. person which Is a year above me has said that 4/5 days a week are compulsory as 2 lectures a week are not recorded and 2 compulsory practicals a week

BM6 is Tuesday 9-5, Wednesday 9-12, Thursday 9-5. Then placement either Monday or Wednesday mornings.

BM6 year zero isn’t recorded you’re correct. Lectures are lectures. They’re not compulsory but the BM6 leads will check up on you if you keep missing stuff and they’re all registered too.

There aren’t practicals every week. But compulsory, useful etc But you would have to factor that into your travel etc too so that’s super important.

Reply 11

OP

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by artful_lounger

Bear in mind during clinical years you will be rotating around different hospitals in Hampshire (including I think, potentially, the Isle of Wight) and you're even less likely to be able to live in London. Additionally, medics have longer terms than other courses at Southampton, so you will also be commuting for even longer. I really can't see it being possible, and this is even before considering the financial costs (you will probably spend as much commuting from London as you will on rent if you lived in Southampton).

Additionally, keep in mind the ~2 hour train journey is just for the train journey section. You still need to get to the train station in London you'll be departing from, then you need to get the bus from Southampton Airport Parkway (or worse, Southampton Central) to the uni, which is another 20-40 minutes on your commute, plus how long it takes you to get to the station in London. I used to commute to Southampton from very nearby (a town near Winchester) and even that was extremely draining over the course of the year and took at least an hour each way once all the buses and walks between train stations and bus stops and the course location (which wasn't on campus at the time) were accounted for, along with the train journey itself (which was a mere 20-25 minutes).

I understand the struggle, I lived 20 minutes from London Waterloo, is it not easier to go to Southampton central as its a quicker bus ride to the campus

Reply 12

artful_lounger

21

Original post by ChemistryBMP

I understand the struggle, I lived 20 minutes from London Waterloo, is it not easier to go to Southampton central as its a quicker bus ride to the campus

No, the bus takes longer from Central than from the Parkway (which is also the stop before Central). It's about 20 minutes from Parkway or about 30+ from town (dependent on traffic), as I recall. My experience was it always took longer to go to/from town than to Airport Parkway by bus from the main campus, I don't know if this was due to the route (more stops, maybe) or traffic, or if it was just further.

Reply 13

TajwarC

17

Just imagine it's December, 2 degrees outside and raining. Lecture attendance drops to like <50% and that's with the majority of people living within a 20 minute walk to campus. You'll still have to get up at 5am to make the 9am lecture because if you don't, depending on how frequent the trains are, if you take the next one you might miss the following lecture too.

I don't mean to scare monger and I don't know what your specific reasons are for wanting to stay home but I would strongly advise not commuting if it's even remotely an option.

Reply 14

OP

Original post by MedicalMuffins

BM6 is Tuesday 9-5, Wednesday 9-12, Thursday 9-5. Then placement either Monday or Wednesday mornings.

BM6 year zero isn’t recorded you’re correct. Lectures are lectures. They’re not compulsory but the BM6 leads will check up on you if you keep missing stuff and they’re all registered too.

There aren’t practicals every week. But compulsory, useful etc But you would have to factor that into your travel etc too so that’s super important.

would the second year of BM6 be recorded because this will be much easier as I will only need to attend practical sessions and placements

Reply 15

EstelOfTheEyrie

19

I would highly recommend staying in student accommodation; as someone who had many medicine flatmates last year, the early mornings are not going to be pleasant when you have to travel 1 hour plus and then half an hour on the bus to the hospital or campus.

At least with Uni of Soton accommodation, you receive a free bus pass that expires on the 1st of July with unlimited use until then. Plus having a lie-in is great :biggrin:

Reply 16

Original post by ChemistryBMP

would the second year of BM6 be recorded because this will be much easier as I will only need to attend practical sessions and placements

No nothing is recorded unfortunately :frown:

med school policy. There are a few exceptions of modules e.g. BM6 Year 2 Research Modules are recorded but on the whole falling back of lectures being recorded is a bad move.

Reply 17

OP

Original post by MedicalMuffins

No nothing is recorded unfortunately :frown:

med school policy. There are a few exceptions of modules e.g. BM6 Year 2 Research Modules are recorded but on the whole falling back of lectures being recorded is a bad move.

sorry for the late response, but HOW DO WE TAKE NOTES, I am BM6 year 0 and all my notes are taken when viewing recorded lectures as I am a slow writer

Reply 18