one hour commute or accom?
i have a med offer and the campus is about an hour away from where i live. i’ll be on one train for about 40 mins before switching to another. i was initially planning on living out for first year but my top choice uni only has shared bathrooms and i really don’t feel comfortable with that😭 also, i’ll definitely have to live out for my clinical years (years 3-5) and worried about the debt i’ll be racking up by living out for 4/5 years. do you think that commuting an hour is possible for the first 2 years of med (even if i watch some lectures online) and will it significantly impact me being able to make friends (im not very extroverted either)?
Reply 1
Original post by Anonymous
i have a med offer and the campus is about an hour away from where i live. i’ll be on one train for about 40 mins before switching to another. i was initially planning on living out for first year but my top choice uni only has shared bathrooms and i really don’t feel comfortable with that😭 also, i’ll definitely have to live out for my clinical years (years 3-5) and worried about the debt i’ll be racking up by living out for 4/5 years. do you think that commuting an hour is possible for the first 2 years of med (even if i watch some lectures online) and will it significantly impact me being able to make friends (im not very extroverted either)?
Hi there,
Firstly congratulations on your offer, that is great and you should be really happy!
Commuting is a tricky one as it really depends on how often you will be in uni. If you will be in every day, it might be quite tricky but if you are only in a few days a week, it is a lot more doable. As you are doing medicine, you might be in fairly often which might make commuting tricky, but it depends on your uni. Try and see if you can find out how many contact hours you might have per week and see if you can find out what someone's timetable is so you can get a bit of an idea about this.
You would be able to do work on the train, so you might not find the commute too bad as you may be able to use it to get some things done.
As for making friends, there are other ways you can make friends although it can be easier to make friends with the people you live with. Here are some other ways that you can make friends while at uni:
•
Join some social media groups. There will often be groups on Facebook or other social media where you can meet people from your course or just the uni in general. This is a great way of meeting people.
•
Join a society! You can still join societies even if you don't live in halls, so think about this as they are great ways of meeting new people.
•
See if your student union puts any events on. Often the SU will put different events on which are really fun and you can meet people by doing this so it might be worth a try.
I hope some of this helps,
Lucy -SHU student ambassador.
Reply 2
Original post by Anonymous
i have a med offer and the campus is about an hour away from where i live. i’ll be on one train for about 40 mins before switching to another. i was initially planning on living out for first year but my top choice uni only has shared bathrooms and i really don’t feel comfortable with that😭 also, i’ll definitely have to live out for my clinical years (years 3-5) and worried about the debt i’ll be racking up by living out for 4/5 years. do you think that commuting an hour is possible for the first 2 years of med (even if i watch some lectures online) and will it significantly impact me being able to make friends (im not very extroverted either)?
I’m assuming you have looked at accommodation halls that the University offer, why not try looking for private accommodation at your top choice?
Reply 3
Commuting 45mins-1hour is very doable, and is quite normal in the working world. Once you get past that hour mark it becomes a bit of a chore. If you are taking trains the mental toll is less than buses, as trains are generally more reliable (don't get stuck in traffic) and comfortable.
In terms of the whole student debt thing, it really depends on how much other debt you're going to rack up, and what maintenance loan you would be getting. The interest rates are quite high and will result in the debt growing quickly, so the amount you would have to pay back would increase. Many people pay back their original debt but only a portion of the added interest, so they essentially have a 9% tax for the next x amount of years. What you have to work out is how likely are you to clear the debt, if you are unlikely to clear it with interest growth, then take as much from student finance as they are willing to give you, as you will only ever pay back 9% of your income over x amount each year. If your other student finance debt is minimal (I would say like 20k-40k) then you are more likely to pay it off, and then potentially might want to limit your maintenance loan, but it's a gamble and depends on your financial circumstances. I suggest making a spreadsheet lol.
In terms of the whole student debt thing, it really depends on how much other debt you're going to rack up, and what maintenance loan you would be getting. The interest rates are quite high and will result in the debt growing quickly, so the amount you would have to pay back would increase. Many people pay back their original debt but only a portion of the added interest, so they essentially have a 9% tax for the next x amount of years. What you have to work out is how likely are you to clear the debt, if you are unlikely to clear it with interest growth, then take as much from student finance as they are willing to give you, as you will only ever pay back 9% of your income over x amount each year. If your other student finance debt is minimal (I would say like 20k-40k) then you are more likely to pay it off, and then potentially might want to limit your maintenance loan, but it's a gamble and depends on your financial circumstances. I suggest making a spreadsheet lol.
Original post by Anonymous
i have a med offer and the campus is about an hour away from where i live. i’ll be on one train for about 40 mins before switching to another. i was initially planning on living out for first year but my top choice uni only has shared bathrooms and i really don’t feel comfortable with that😭 also, i’ll definitely have to live out for my clinical years (years 3-5) and worried about the debt i’ll be racking up by living out for 4/5 years. do you think that commuting an hour is possible for the first 2 years of med (even if i watch some lectures online) and will it significantly impact me being able to make friends (im not very extroverted either)?
As above, commuting would be tricky if you go very often to uni.
You will have very long hours at uni and super heavy workload from day 1 year 1. I suggest you seriously reconsider.
Reply 5
Original post by Anonymous
i have a med offer and the campus is about an hour away from where i live. i’ll be on one train for about 40 mins before switching to another. i was initially planning on living out for first year but my top choice uni only has shared bathrooms and i really don’t feel comfortable with that😭 also, i’ll definitely have to live out for my clinical years (years 3-5) and worried about the debt i’ll be racking up by living out for 4/5 years. do you think that commuting an hour is possible for the first 2 years of med (even if i watch some lectures online) and will it significantly impact me being able to make friends (im not very extroverted either)?
Hi there,
Firstly, a big congratulations on your offer. Well done! This is something I was considering when I was applying for university and it can be tricky. What helped me a lot was a pros and cons list however, I was always leaning more towards moving out and having more independence. I believe you could commute for the first year or two and still make the most of your university experience. You could always watch lectures or do some studying whilst commuting which a lot of commuters do. With it being an hour commute, you aren't too far from visiting the campus for societies or events there may be.
Did you look at just university owned accommodation? It may be worth looking at some private accommodation as there will be more en suite options. What was a deciding factor for me moving out was being on campus and being able to go in when I wanted to outside my classes and make the most of the facilities available. It also allowed going to events easier however you can definitely do it by commuting.
Have you commuted frequently before? I didn't commute to university but I did commute during my placement year which was just over an hour each way which did get tiering to an extent. However, everyone is different and there are options if commuting doesn't work for you or if you did move out and changed your mind.
Hope this helps and you make the best decision for yourself 🙂
^Zac
(edited 1 month ago)
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