Commuting second year

4

hi! im currently a first year in york and my accom is £210 a week which is pretty much my full student loan, and its been hard to manage money, especially because my course has a year abroad in third year so i have to save for that. my friends have all begun to look for second year housing or are starting to think about it, but im honestly so stuck on whether it would be worth trying to find a cheaper accom/house here (which tbh after googling ive not found many) or just commute. if i were to commute i would save roughly £4000 a year which would be a huge help towards my year abroad and also prevent me worrying like i have been, but i love living here and im worried an 1h 30min commute daily would drain me, or impact the quality of my work.
i would appreciate any advice from people who went from halls to commuting and how it impacted you or whether you think it was the best thing to do! thank you sm!!!

Reply 1

University of Bath

Official Rep

14

Hi there!

Just like you, I lived on campus in first year, really liked it, then moved back home in second year to save money with a 1.5h commute each way.

I would say its a bit irritating if you have an early lecture, you still need to invest in a bus pass, and as its harder to get involved with things on campus you need to make extra effort to put yourself out there and join in with things, and this could mean coming home quite late (like, past 19.00 - 20.00 some days).

Honestly though, I found commuting doable. The journey gave me time to prepare for the day at the start and wind down with music after all was done. Usually I'd go up on my lecture days and just spend the day there working in the library and catching up with people in the SU. It also provides a bit more of a separation between work time and your free time like you'd get with a full time job which is something I struggled to get when living on campus.

Personally it didn't impact the quality of my work. I just used to make good, productive use of my campus time then clocked off when I got home to relax. In a way commuting and having limited time on campus forced me to work more smartly.

I saved a lot of money whilst commuting but also working as a student ambassador at uni, which as you said is so important.

I hope this helps! Any more questions please let us know 🙂

Reply 2

UniLancashire

Official Rep

15

Original post

by fxyiiz

hi! im currently a first year in york and my accom is £210 a week which is pretty much my full student loan, and its been hard to manage money, especially because my course has a year abroad in third year so i have to save for that. my friends have all begun to look for second year housing or are starting to think about it, but im honestly so stuck on whether it would be worth trying to find a cheaper accom/house here (which tbh after googling ive not found many) or just commute. if i were to commute i would save roughly £4000 a year which would be a huge help towards my year abroad and also prevent me worrying like i have been, but i love living here and im worried an 1h 30min commute daily would drain me, or impact the quality of my work.
i would appreciate any advice from people who went from halls to commuting and how it impacted you or whether you think it was the best thing to do! thank you sm!!!

Hi @fxyiiz,

I lived on campus during my time university but during my placement year, I commuted an hour and a half there and same on the way back. It can be manageable and it definitely was at the start but for me, it did get draining towards the end especially during the colder and wetter days. I think commuting works for many people but also doesn't for others. I do believe it varies from person to person but also what you do with the commute. Many people revise and study to make the most of their time. Will you be at uni everyday of the week or how long will your days be with the commute? There are many things you are already thinking about that need to be considered so well done. For example, can you see yourself doing a 9-4 day at uni with 3 hours of commute on top of that?

Saving money is important in this day and age so I completely understand the reasoning to commuting. I would say ask your yourself what is more important to you? Being close to campus, having your own space and not relying on public transport or would you rather commute and save money. It may sound really simple but pros and cons lists helped me in making big decisions like this whilst at university. Many more students commute to university so it is doable for sure.

Hope this helps and you make the best decision for yourself 🙂
^Zac

Reply 3

University of York

Official Rep

13

Original post

by fxyiiz

hi! im currently a first year in york and my accom is £210 a week which is pretty much my full student loan, and its been hard to manage money, especially because my course has a year abroad in third year so i have to save for that. my friends have all begun to look for second year housing or are starting to think about it, but im honestly so stuck on whether it would be worth trying to find a cheaper accom/house here (which tbh after googling ive not found many) or just commute. if i were to commute i would save roughly £4000 a year which would be a huge help towards my year abroad and also prevent me worrying like i have been, but i love living here and im worried an 1h 30min commute daily would drain me, or impact the quality of my work.
i would appreciate any advice from people who went from halls to commuting and how it impacted you or whether you think it was the best thing to do! thank you sm!!!

Hi there,

It sounds like you're making a really sensible choice to look into your options so early on. It's great that you're enjoying living in York and your concerns about commuting sound really plausible.

We've got some this blog by Georgie, who is a second-year commuting student studying Biology at the University of York that you might find relevant.

Did you know that we have offer some great advantages to not living on campus:

•

We offer overnight accommodation on campus for Home undergraduate students who have a commute to our main University of York campus of at least 20 miles.

•

You can enjoy use of our on-site parking, lockers, food and drink venues and gyms in between or after lectures - giving you a practical balance of studying and university life while on campus.

•

We have a vibrant community of local and commuting students, meaning you’re not on your own. There’s even opportunity at the Students’ Union to join social groups and events specifically for those who enjoy their commuter student lifestyle.

We hope this helps a little!

J 🙂

Reply 4

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by fxyiiz

hi! im currently a first year in york and my accom is £210 a week which is pretty much my full student loan, and its been hard to manage money, especially because my course has a year abroad in third year so i have to save for that. my friends have all begun to look for second year housing or are starting to think about it, but im honestly so stuck on whether it would be worth trying to find a cheaper accom/house here (which tbh after googling ive not found many) or just commute. if i were to commute i would save roughly £4000 a year which would be a huge help towards my year abroad and also prevent me worrying like i have been, but i love living here and im worried an 1h 30min commute daily would drain me, or impact the quality of my work.
i would appreciate any advice from people who went from halls to commuting and how it impacted you or whether you think it was the best thing to do! thank you sm!!!

Is it 90 mins there and back, or 45 minutes each way?

Commuting second year

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