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COmmute for 3 hrs to UNI.......Feasible?
I was wandering if it was a good idea to commute to uni for 3 hrs if one could not get cheap accomodation from uni or their uni landlord lists. Dont care about the uni experience because I am more worried about my debt at the end of my degree than anything else. So far I have come up with these:
Pro:
--can continue working on a part-time basis
--Still have same life as in sixth form
--I know people who have previously drove to their uni which was 3-4 hours away from their home, 3-4 days a week. At least I will be taking the train and sitting on my A** throught most of the journey.
--If I was living in uni accomodation then I would have to spend more than £150 on rent+food+entertainment. If living at home then food is free, and 3 days(dont know how many days I will have lectures or classes) train journey cost which should be below £150 possibly.
--No train cost for all the weeks in holidays. (christmas,easter NOT summer vac)
Cons:
--Missing out on uni experience>Dont care.
--if there is a class at 9:00 Am then will have to get up early>it's only 3 days a week possibly (I am not sure how many days a week though)
long journeys may tire me and reduce study time>that's why got the weekends and any days I wont be travelling.
Sorry for the long post. But, any advice, comment or addition to above list will be really appreciated
.
Pro:
--can continue working on a part-time basis
--Still have same life as in sixth form
--I know people who have previously drove to their uni which was 3-4 hours away from their home, 3-4 days a week. At least I will be taking the train and sitting on my A** throught most of the journey.
--If I was living in uni accomodation then I would have to spend more than £150 on rent+food+entertainment. If living at home then food is free, and 3 days(dont know how many days I will have lectures or classes) train journey cost which should be below £150 possibly.
--No train cost for all the weeks in holidays. (christmas,easter NOT summer vac)
Cons:
--Missing out on uni experience>Dont care.
--if there is a class at 9:00 Am then will have to get up early>it's only 3 days a week possibly (I am not sure how many days a week though)
long journeys may tire me and reduce study time>that's why got the weekends and any days I wont be travelling.
Sorry for the long post. But, any advice, comment or addition to above list will be really appreciated
.Scroll to see replies
After travelling 45 minutes to college and 45 minutes back from college 5 days a week for 3 years, I'm absolutely fed up of commuting. The accademic benefit was the only reason I went and for that I'm grateful but it's nothing something I wish for in uni.
If you're familiar with commuting and ok with that I don't see why you should have any problems. Also bear in mind the quality of service you'll be using (state of the trains/buses, reliability, etc.).
If you're familiar with commuting and ok with that I don't see why you should have any problems. Also bear in mind the quality of service you'll be using (state of the trains/buses, reliability, etc.).
Funny enough I have commuted for more than an hour by bus,to and back from sixth form for the last couple of years and I am still here! Surely train should be better.
Sorry, I don't think that is a very good idea. For the amount the train will cost you, you may as well spend that little extra and get accomodation. Plus, you mean 3 hours each way? That is 6 hours a day, that is a quarter of your life! You would have absolutely no social life, you would be constantly shattered, and your education would probably suffer. I know the debt is scary, but at least there are plans. The vast majority of the country is in debt, and it's not like you have to pay it all back in one go no matter what.
What about privately owned accomodation, is that any cheaper?
What about privately owned accomodation, is that any cheaper?
Wouldnt a 3 hour train journey be at LEAST 30 quid return??
Therefore you're forking out £120 a week to have what is essentially - a rubbish time.
So what if you end up £1000 more in debt over the course of a few years?? At least you wouldn't have wasted your youth - which is something that you can't ever regain.
Therefore you're forking out £120 a week to have what is essentially - a rubbish time.
So what if you end up £1000 more in debt over the course of a few years?? At least you wouldn't have wasted your youth - which is something that you can't ever regain.
--can continue working on a part-time basis
But you could get a part time job at uni as well...
--Still have same life as in sixth form
This is appealing when you're 17...And deeply unimpressive when you're 21/22
--I know people who have previously drove to their uni which was 3-4 hours away from their home, 3-4 days a week. At least I will be taking the train and sitting on my A** throught most of the journey.
How much did they actually enjoy that though? I know it's a cliche but uni is about the experience as well as the learning...Not neccessarily going out and getting drunk every night, but you'll probably never have a chance to live with so many relatively like minded people again, are you sure you want to pass it up...
--If I was living in uni accomodation then I would have to spend more than £150 on rent+food+entertainment. If living at home then food is free, and 3 days(dont know how many days I will have lectures or classes) train journey cost which should be below £150 possibly.
...Just to save what may end up being a negligable amount? Three hour, peak time train journeys do not come cheap. Uni is also a really nice way to experience living away from home and get used to it without having all the associated pressures of having to go to work every day, pay a lot more in bills (council tax?) etc. Three hours is a very long journey, you should seriously consider university accomodation...
You won't have the same social life as you did in sixth form when you have to get up at 5am to get to a lecture first thing in the morning, then don't go home until 9pm.
This is just a completely misguided idea, it's not in the slightest bit feasible and you'll hate every second of it. Either go somewhere closer or move away.
This is just a completely misguided idea, it's not in the slightest bit feasible and you'll hate every second of it. Either go somewhere closer or move away.
Why do you expect all of your classes and lectures to be on the same day?
I think if you only had to go into your university three times a week, you would count yourself as pretty lucky?
What about joining clubs/socialising with people? You wouldn't exactly be able to go clubbing until 3 in the morning and then hop on a train to go home?!
You seem keen on the idea of commuting, but is that just because it's more comfortable to stay in your own surroundings and with your own friends, or because you genuinely think that you can't afford it?
I think if you only had to go into your university three times a week, you would count yourself as pretty lucky?
What about joining clubs/socialising with people? You wouldn't exactly be able to go clubbing until 3 in the morning and then hop on a train to go home?!
You seem keen on the idea of commuting, but is that just because it's more comfortable to stay in your own surroundings and with your own friends, or because you genuinely think that you can't afford it?
i think 3 hours seems quite a lot! my hour and a half seems huge to me! i don't think i could or would do 3 hours..travelling is quite shattering and if the transport isn't reliable that could bugger everything up-missing lectures/seminars/being late to meet people. I get peed off when I get somewhere late and feel embarrassed when I interrupt something because I'm late (so I'm always extra early for everything) but I get REALLY peed off when I'm waiting for people who only live half an hour away from the meeting place, whereas I live an hour away, and they still manage to be an hour and a half late! (you can tell I have issues :P )
isn't there anyway you could work during summer and maybe a few hours a week during uni to pay for accommodation?
Also where are you going to uni? If it's somewhere in London then I do get that accommodation costs are *really* high, which is a factor in my living at home in my second and third years.
isn't there anyway you could work during summer and maybe a few hours a week during uni to pay for accommodation?
Also where are you going to uni? If it's somewhere in London then I do get that accommodation costs are *really* high, which is a factor in my living at home in my second and third years.
Is it a three hour round trip or three hours each way? The former is doable (I know, I was doing it four days a week most of last year and will be doing it three days a week this year), the latter is crazy.
Here's what you need though. You need a good personal stereo and lots of music. It's also not bad to get some of those noise canceling headphones (I bought mine at Heathrow a while back for about £35). Get yourself a really good bag and really comfortable shoes. Learn to walk at 160% of your current walking speed. Stop caring about everyone else around you. Commuting is great. I can write essays, browse the Internet, watch movies, listen to music and read on the train.
In fact, it has one major advantage - it is a time when nobody talks to me. At uni, I have to talk to people. At home, I have to talk to people. On the train, nobody - except the conductor and a few drunks - tries to talk to me. And being a miserable old git, this has it's advantages.
Here's what you need though. You need a good personal stereo and lots of music. It's also not bad to get some of those noise canceling headphones (I bought mine at Heathrow a while back for about £35). Get yourself a really good bag and really comfortable shoes. Learn to walk at 160% of your current walking speed. Stop caring about everyone else around you. Commuting is great. I can write essays, browse the Internet, watch movies, listen to music and read on the train.
In fact, it has one major advantage - it is a time when nobody talks to me. At uni, I have to talk to people. At home, I have to talk to people. On the train, nobody - except the conductor and a few drunks - tries to talk to me. And being a miserable old git, this has it's advantages.
Out of curiosity I decided to see how much a three hour train ride would cost. The route Brighton-Oxford avoiding London takes just under this amount, and costs £20 return with a railcard. I'd imagine a season ticket would work out to be around the same price, and if your travel route included London the price would jump. So, that's £100 per week spent on travel (days off? Unlikely, I'm afraid), which is more or less the same price as university accommodation.
That is certainly not your only expense though, since you won't be able to go home to eat lunch, that could add an extra £3-5 a day, depending on your tastes. Add this all on to the fact that you have got to spend six hours every day travelling to and fro' and you have a frankly abominable university plan.
You will not have a social life, at all. Where and when do you plan to do set assignments? Believe me, working on a train is neither comfortable nor desireable (and in my case, nauseating). If you do socialise on the weekends then your degree will suffer and you might as well not be going to uni at all.
You may say you don't care about missing out on uni experience now, but I'm more than willing to bet you'll change your mind later. It's unlikely you'll be able to enter uni accommodation halfway through your course, which may force you to walk out with a storm cloud over your head.
Also, as a side note, you don't have to pay rent during term holidays anyway, unless you apply to do so.
That is certainly not your only expense though, since you won't be able to go home to eat lunch, that could add an extra £3-5 a day, depending on your tastes. Add this all on to the fact that you have got to spend six hours every day travelling to and fro' and you have a frankly abominable university plan.
You will not have a social life, at all. Where and when do you plan to do set assignments? Believe me, working on a train is neither comfortable nor desireable (and in my case, nauseating). If you do socialise on the weekends then your degree will suffer and you might as well not be going to uni at all.
You may say you don't care about missing out on uni experience now, but I'm more than willing to bet you'll change your mind later. It's unlikely you'll be able to enter uni accommodation halfway through your course, which may force you to walk out with a storm cloud over your head.
Also, as a side note, you don't have to pay rent during term holidays anyway, unless you apply to do so.
To be fair, train delays/cancellations are not the big problem everyone makes them out to be. After taking the train into college for two years (10-minute ride), I'd estimate that 95% of all the trains I caught were within two minutes of their schedule.
Of course, when there are delays, it can have a severe impact. I've missed entire lessons before now, imagine missing out on an important lecture, or an exam.
Of course, when there are delays, it can have a severe impact. I've missed entire lessons before now, imagine missing out on an important lecture, or an exam.
--can continue working on a part-time basis
Um, if you were commuting six hours a day, the only time you could possibly work is weekends. If you were living at uni, then you could work weekends AND during the week.
This is clearly an atrocious plan.
I apologise if I'm just repeating what others have said, I haven't read through the thread properly.
That is an awful lot of time for you to spend commuting. I get sick of a half an hour journey home every now and again. I don't know how anyone could stay sane doing 6 hours several times a week. You might not think it now but it could end up putting you off uni and if you say you work aswel you'll be knackered. You never know, you might just find yourself thinking "sod it, I can't be bothered today" and once that happens it doesn't stop. Believe me. I'm retaking the year because I got lazy and I only live half an hour from campus.
Have you even bothered looking for any accommodation? You'll have rent and bills to pay but if you're careful and budget everything else you won't get in to too much debt. I'd say you'd be spending more money by doing all that commuting. I know a girl who commuted and she only lived a 40 minute train ride away and even with a student rail card she said it would have worked out cheaper for her to live away from home.
That is an awful lot of time for you to spend commuting. I get sick of a half an hour journey home every now and again. I don't know how anyone could stay sane doing 6 hours several times a week. You might not think it now but it could end up putting you off uni and if you say you work aswel you'll be knackered. You never know, you might just find yourself thinking "sod it, I can't be bothered today" and once that happens it doesn't stop. Believe me. I'm retaking the year because I got lazy and I only live half an hour from campus.
Have you even bothered looking for any accommodation? You'll have rent and bills to pay but if you're careful and budget everything else you won't get in to too much debt. I'd say you'd be spending more money by doing all that commuting. I know a girl who commuted and she only lived a 40 minute train ride away and even with a student rail card she said it would have worked out cheaper for her to live away from home.
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