Coping with long-ish commutes...

[Greenback]

I did try and spend a few weeks commuting to Reading from Swansea. 2.5 hours (admittedly a bit longer than Chapeltom, but at least it was direct) each way. I had to elave at 0600 to ge tto work by 0900, left at 1630 and got home at about 1945 if memoery serves.

Although I had a sleep on the train most days, I felt trapped and that I didn't have any life. It was just a case of sleep, travel, work, eat sleep again. Tom;s commute will not be so bad, and he will probably not have such a rigid timetable as a job, but I think he is right to start being concerned about a minimum 1.5 hour commute each way.

 

[snail]

I had a couple of jobs that involved 1 hour journeys, that is about my limit. In some ways, a longer run is better than a 20-30 minute commute as you can learn to relax into it - listen to music, read something. It does get wearing though, especially in bad or cold weather. Although I was travelling a long way by train, it often took me less time than people driving in from a lot closer, and I didn't have the hassle of the car!

Other ways I coped with it was to vary the route occasionally to relieve the repetitiveness, or finding a good place to have a coffee and chill out on the way to the office. I also persuaded one of the firms to let me work from home one day a week - you should try to arrange your timetable so you don't have to travel every day of every week. Good luck, and above everything else, enjoy it!

 

[Greenback]

I had a couple of jobs that involved 1 hour journeys, that is about my limit. In some ways, a longer run is better than a 20-30 minute commute as you can learn to relax into it - listen to music, read something. It does get wearing though, especially in bad or cold weather. Although I was travelling a long way by train, it often took me less time than people driving in from a lot closer, and I didn't have the hassle of the car!

Other ways I coped with it was to vary the route occasionally to relieve the repetitiveness, or finding a good place to have a coffee and chill out on the way to the office. I also persuaded one of the firms to let me work from home one day a week - you should try to arrange your timetable so you don't have to travel every day of every week. Good luck, and above everything else, enjoy it!

It depends on the course and the institution, but it may well be that Tom doesn't have to travel every day for timetabled activities like tutorials, seminars and lectures.

However it may be necessary to travel nearly every day to access the library, meet with tutors, or carry out group work/discussions with fellow students. And that's without the social side! IIRC, during my course I had to go to the campus every day for one reason or another, but it was a very practical course involving a lot of out of hours work as well.

I agree, though, that d ay of from the endless grind of commuting would be very beneficial, if it can be managed!

 

[Strat-tastic]

I'd say go for it! You're a student and it'll certainly be a learning experience!

I did the work commute once, 3 hours a day. After a while you realise what a big chuck of each day is being wasted (and you're paying for it too).

 

[Madge Wildfire]

I did try and spend a few weeks commuting to Reading from Swansea. 2.5 hours (admittedly a bit longer than Chapeltom, but at least it was direct) each way. I had to elave at 0600 to ge tto work by 0900, left at 1630 and got home at about 1945 if memoery serves.

Although I had a sleep on the train most days, I felt trapped and that I didn't have any life. It was just a case of sleep, travel, work, eat sleep again. Tom;s commute will not be so bad, and he will probably not have such a rigid timetable as a job, but I think he is right to start being concerned about a minimum 1.5 hour commute each way.

I know that feeling, and only did less than half the journey you must have had (mine was Bristol to Cardiff). I put up with it for 18 months but by the end I was just a zombie and that was before any late trains or sudden cancellations/failures messed with my routine; they could add an hour or more to the journey.

I would arrive on the platform early in the morning and think - bloody hell its less than 12 hours since I was last here and getting off the train yesterday.

I dont wish to appear unpleasant, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and make the difficult decision, not worry about the unknown and try and keep as much of what is familiar as possible. So, to the OP I would say apply for halls - everyone else there will be in the same position at first so you will be not alone in your nervousness and disorientation. But it will soon go, and in the dark evenings you can relax in your room if you want rather than waiting on a freezing platform listening to the announcer saying repeatedly that your train is delayed by 30 minutes due to snow.

 

[Statto]

The OP also has to remember that Hope Uni is in the Liverpool suburbs, & a good 3 to 4 miles from Lime Street Station[Mossley Hill is the nearest station, even then it's a good couple miles walk to the Uni]l, & will have to use the bus[Stagecoach 86C, which stops outside the Uni, or 74/75/78 from Liverpool City Centre, which stop a short walk from Hope Uni], & prob have to get a PlusBus ticket & maybe a PlusBus season ticket add on

The bus journey alone is about 20 to 30 minutes, & add that in with the train, i'd rather stay at the Halls of Residence.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The OP also has to remember that Hope Uni is in the Liverpool suburbs, & a good 3 to 4 miles from Lime Street Station[Mossley Hill is the nearest station, even then it's a good couple miles walk to the Uni]l, & will have to use the bus[Stagecoach 86C, which stops outside the Uni, or 74/75/78 from Liverpool City Centre, which stop a short walk from Hope Uni], & prob have to get a PlusBus ticket & maybe a PlusBus season ticket add on
The bus journey alone is about 20 to 30 minutes, & add that in with the train, i'd rather stay at the Halls of Residence.

This answer is excellant as it is specific to the original query of the OP. Liverpool Hope University is very popular and the commute against Halls of Residence decision must have been in the minds of many young people wishing to study there who live in the large towns and cities that are in a 50 mile radius of Liverpool. We had friends whose daughter in Sheffield tried the commute option as she was unsure of living with other people of her age group, having always had the security and home-comfort facilities offered by her parents and being quite a shy young woman, but found the travelling so onerous after two months, that she made the decision to join in a shared house with other young women, which fortunately still had a vacancy available. She said that she never regretted the decision to move away from home.

 

[exile]

Halls is by far the best option. My daughter considered commuting and rejected the idea - and that was only a 20 mile/ 1 hour journey. Think of having to work late eg in the library and missing the last train.....

 

[Greenback]

Moving away from the safety net of home to reside in University has certainly done a lot for some shy individuals of my acquaintance. Without exception they all foudn that fending for themselves increased their confidence, as did the opportunity to live and interact with other people from a wide variety of different backgrounds.

As to the length of the commute, I'm not sure if Tom has accounted for the bus element in his 1.5 to 2 hour estimate.

 

[Tilly]

I've been lucky enough to have done both sides of this Uni discussion with having studied 2 degrees.

My first was in Aberystwyth where a commute was not an option. It once took me 13 hours to travel back from Southport one day! and so I lived in. My best, closest friends are those that I made at Uni and I would certainly recommend living in. Timetables are not 9-5/6, Monday to Friday. As other have said you may only be in for an hour in the middle of the day or at the end, and the commute for this up the Aber hill was bad enough! and the same for my second degree at Edge Hill Ormskirk living in Southport and driving in.
I did not feel the same attachment to Edge Hill as I did to Aber and this was mainly because I didn't live in and also I was studying Nursing so you are often not in Uni when other students are due to placement.

My Husband currently commutes from Southport to Warrigton daily for his placements leaving the house at 6.30 and often not getting back in until after 7pm on top of uni work it does affect his grades but that is where the Uni have placed him for the 3 years. As others have said, Winter is the worst. He copes with the drive (not practical by train) by listening to podcasts but wishes he could do work at the same time!

Routing through Southport looks practical but often there are many delays more on the Manchester line than Merseyrail and I lost count the number of times I had to quickly readjust my travel back to Aber because there were delays on the Manchester line (I wish the NRE app existed back then - would have made life much simpler than bits of paper with all 6 jouney routes printed off!).
Living at Uni also made it a good feeling to travel home (and nice to travel back to uni) and that feeling of independance is one you can not beat! But commuting daily will hinder your Uni experiance.

Just a few of my thoughts

Tilly

 

[Statto]

This answer is excellant as it is specific to the original query of the OP. Liverpool Hope University is very popular and the commute against Halls of Residence decision must have been in the minds of many young people wishing to study there who live in the large towns and cities that are in a 50 mile radius of Liverpool. We had friends whose daughter in Sheffield tried the commute option as she was unsure of living with other people of her age group, having always had the security and home-comfort facilities offered by her parents and being quite a shy young woman, but found the travelling so onerous after two months, that she made the decision to join in a shared house with other young women, which fortunately still had a vacancy available. She said that she never regretted the decision to move away from home.

Pretty much so, you've also got to remember as well the Uni's location when deciding whether to commute from home. If the op was going to Liverpool Uni, then he could quite commute from home, with a walk up/down Brownlow Hill[prob 20 min brisk walk]were as Hope Uni is in the Suburbs & unwalkable from the City Centre. As i've already mentioned, even the nearest[Mossley Hill] is a good couple of miles away, i certainly wouldn't fancy walking to/from there every day. although there is a frequent bus service from there[no 61, but the train service that stops at MH is normally the stopper from Oxford Road] I also wouldn't fancy relying on the bus, it only takes a small delay, or a bus faling to turn up then you could be late for Uni, or miss the train home.

 

[richw]

My brother is currently studying at UWIC in Cardiff, before he moved into halls, he was so shy wouldnt speak to anyone, now he is the complete opposite, speaks to any random person. Hes a totally transformed person. Stay in halls would be my advice, seeing my brothers (and many others too) transformation in confidence living away from home where mum and dad arent doing everything for you. Not only a degree but excellent life skills too will be gained moving to halls

 

[Eagle]

I know someone in the year below me whose parents live in the main bus route between UW campus and Coventry city centre (so her commute would have been no different to that of students living out in Coventry). She still chose halls, and in second year she lived out in Leamington, which is three times further out from uni than her parents'.

Going to university is a lot about being independent.

 

[SS4]

If you feel self-sufficient you won't have much issue with commuting. Time will be your biggest problem (for example having to get up 3 hours before your lecture starts - a right PITA for a 9am lecture)
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I'd say it's easier to live in halls for your first year and then decide how to proceed.

 

[Mark_re]

I went to Durham for my first degree. I lived in college in first year, (which was about 1/2mile from home) then at home thereafter, once I'd made a load of mates.

Having said that, I quite enjoy long commutes. My usual commute is Winchester - Southampton, which I find far more irritating than some weeks where I have to commute much further. I can read the Economist or watch a film on my phone.

I have done Winchester - London every day (leaving at 0602 and returning at 1935) and Winchester - Lawrence Hill (0559/1700ish). Neither of which bothered me, but I was bloody tired!

All that said, live in halls!

 

[bgstrowger]

If you have the option of halls, I'd go for that instead.

Uni is also about learning "life skills" and socialising is an important part of that, so travelling 50-odd miles to attend uni means you'd miss out on a lot of that.

 

[Gathursty]

I'm a Lancaster University student and I'll sound like other posters when I say it would be better to live in halls. I'm working up there for odd days this summer and the commute is grim:

5am: Wake up, get ready
Xam: Cycle to station
6.25am: Train to Lancaster
6.54am: bus/taxi to uni
7:30: arrive and work.

Then I do the reverse at the end of the day (4ish)

Doing that in place of living there for term time is unthinkable.

 

[Ticket Man]

despite my commute being just shy of 14 miles, it takes me just under an hour and a half to get to work across a short car journey, a short walk, 2 trains and another short walk. On a bad day it can take 2 hours one way

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

In 1993, I was on secondment to a sister company in our group and on Monday to Friday, I commuted from Hale (where we lived in those days) to Bangor, changing at Chester, for a period of three months. It was bearable for such a short period of time and better than driving, as the A55 improvements were only a glimmer in some planner's eye in those days.

 

[amcluesent]

Agree, commuting while an undergraduate would be grim indeed.

Sure, the first few months in halls you'll be going home at weekends, frequently at 1st and then quickly you'll prefer not to bother!

Uni changes peeps in many ways and, not being funny, you'd quickly find your old mates from school in your home town rather boring and get frustrated that they weren't interested in discussing what you were studying etc. Hard to believe I know...

Plus, in freshers week you'll sign up for loads of socities and clubs which will meet in the evenings. Some you'll never visit again, but other will draw you in. And you'd miss the bands on at the Union.

Rather than making new friends at uni then, in the 2nd and 3rd year when peeps have got to know each other and agreed to share a house, you'd still be on the train! Of course, many peeps meet their partner at uni.

Plus, unless you're unique, you won't get all your essays done and will be pulling 'all nighters' in the library (or at least until they kick you out at midnight!) in a last minute push to get work done.

 

[Greenback]

I must be an exception - I didn't go 'home' at all during my first term at Uni, I found it much easier to get used to the environment by staying there! Mind you, as a mature student I'd already moved out of my parents home by the tiem I went to Uni, which might have made a difference!

 

[amcluesent]

>which might have made a difference!<

I'm thinking a very big difference! When I did my MSc I was a mature student, in fact of an age closer to some of the lecturers. Still stayed in hall Mon-Fri, just for the logistics of having time to research in the library etc.

 

[IanXC]

I must be an exception - I didn't go 'home' at all during my first term at Uni, I found it much easier to get used to the environment by staying there! Mind you, as a mature student I'd already moved out of my parents home by the tiem I went to Uni, which might have made a difference!

I didn't either! Bizarrely I was probably a little less independent then, and wouldn't have even considered getting a bus, 4 trains and another bus to get home. I'd been dropped off by my parents, and as far as I saw it I was there until they came to get me!!

 

[Mojo]

I think you'll miss out on quite a bit by not living in halls. As well as getting to meet new people and participate in night-time social events there is also the frustration when you have a 9am - 11am and a 3pm - 5pm lecture and finding you don't have enough time to go home inbetween.

 

[Chapeltom]

I think some posters have got it into their heads that I must catch a bus! Mossley Hill station is 1.3 miles away, hardly a bus journey and walkable in 20 minutes as I did on my applicant day earlier this year.

I'm going to do the commute till Christmas at least and see how it goes. My course will involve a lot of reading and I can never find enough to read on the trains as it is haha.

 

[Greenback]

Your decision mate, hope it works out for you!

 

[Butts]

I must be an exception - I didn't go 'home' at all during my first term at Uni, I found it much easier to get used to the environment by staying there! Mind you, as a mature student I'd already moved out of my parents home by the tiem I went to Uni, which might have made a difference!

Staying away is all part of the learning experience.

However with the abolition of maintenance grants (for most) and the increase in tuition fees I can understand why a lot of students will opt to study from home

 

[Greenback]

Staying away is all part of the learning experience.

However with the abolition of maintenance grants (for most) and the increase in tuition fees I can understand why a lot of students will opt to study from home

Yes, it's probably much cheaper to do that, I was lucky in that I went when there were no tuition fees!

 

[Chapeltom]

I've not got any intention of staying at home for 3 years, its more pressure by my parents to stop at home . My job is 7 miles away and has pulled in a serious bit of money for me this Summer.

I'm aware the commute could 'kill me' and I'm not the kind of person to put up with it. As I said, a lot of the posters have made me quite aware of what could end up happening. My Saturday's are spent out the house watching football and if it comes to it, I'll just stop watching the game!

I can always break up my journey in the evening anyway, most nights I think I'll be having an hour or two in Manchester to have a pint or two and do some work if I need to.

 

[Greenback]

I've not got any intention of staying at home for 3 years, its more pressure by my parents to stop at home . My job is 7 miles away and has pulled in a serious bit of money for me this Summer.

I'm aware the commute could 'kill me' and I'm not the kind of person to put up with it. As I said, a lot of the posters have made me quite aware of what could end up happening. My Saturday's are spent out the house watching football and if it comes to it, I'll just stop watching the game!

I can always break up my journey in the evening anyway, most nights I think I'll be having an hour or two in Manchester to have a pint or two and do some work if I need to.

But it's your decision, and not your parents! If you made the decision for your own reasons, fair enough, but if you really made the decision to please your parents, it may well make your commute even more difficult to cope with.

May I ask if you are intending to continue with the job that is seven miles away as well as commuting and studying?