For context, both my firm (Royal Holloway) and insurance (Reading) are a 20 minutes drive from my house. Royal Holloway is a 30 minute and cheap bus and Reading is a 15 minute train ride with a 20 minute walk.
I recently got my student loan (£6k ish) which just about covers my accommodation and I have £1K left for personal expense. For my firm, my accommodation was my last (12th) option and it’s a shared room (founders) with a shared bathroom. This has put me off accommodation quite a bit.
My parents have advised me to commute this year seeing as it will be disastrous if I am given an impossible room mate. However, I’m scared that I won’t be able to form a decent friend group (that goes out often) if I decide to commute.
However, I am still quite close and can manage to stay late for events and Freshers, as the commute doesn’t require me to come home early from events, which apparently stops people from socialising properly. On top of that, my best friend is going Royal Holloway too and has offered me to stay over at hers if I’m too drunk to travel etc.
I still can’t make my mind and results day is next week - commute to university or stay in Halls? My parents say that I should spend my loan on other things rather than waste it on university. But making friends is really a make or break deal for me! xx