I am about to start my sophomore year of college as a commuter. I am constantly looking for apartments because I do not want to commute even though I know it is the right decision for this first semester of school. As I think about it more, I begin to wonder if I should just throw in the towel and commute all 4 years of college. I am not interested in joining organizations on campus and I currently have no friends at my school so it just seems logical to live at home and save money.
I guess I should mention that I go to a college in Chicago so it is not uncommon for people to commute to my school. The commute is about 1hr 20mins each way by train. Also, I have a job in the city that requires me to work late nights 3-4 times a week but it is not that bad.
I guess the reason I am making this thread is to hear opinions about commuting all 4 years of college because I’m not so sure that I have heard of anyone doing that.
I commuted all 4 years of college, 1976 - 1980. I lived variously with my parents and my boyfriend. I worked to afford school and didn’t belong to any clubs or do any activities. Since I considered college merely a way station on the path to law school, I did what I needed to do.
Do I wish I could have gone away to school? Not really. I would have had even more debt. It was a different time but the vast majority of my friends who went to college also commuted. Even the class genius commuted.
I’m entering my third year of college as a commuter - I too take the train in a major metropolitan area to get to school (along with many other students at many other surrounding colleges.) I obviously have a bias because I’ve never actually lived on-campus or in an off-campus apartment away from home, so I can’t say if the experience is stellar compared to commuting. What I can say is that commuting has saved me a tremendous amount of money since my family subsidizes my living costs - I’m also particularly fond of having two “spheres” of life - my home life and my school life, which allows me to compartmentalize stress from one sphere and so on.
You say you aren’t interested in joining any organizations but I think that commuting sort of necessitates a more vigorous involvement on campus because it is very easy to feel isolated from your college’s community. You said you don’t have any friends - I don’t know if this is by choice or it’s something that you’re currently grappling with, but involvement in organizations is a great way to meet people and establish relationships (even if the people in XYZ club don’t become your closest friends in the world, at least you can be on friendly terms with them and have people you can go grab lunch with, etc.)
Since you commute by train, I imagine you have some downtime which you can use for homework (particularly reading) – since you have such a lengthy commute, I highly recommend using that time for something productive so it doesn’t end up completely wasted. Don’t just think of your commute as a time drain that you need to just get through - actively and consciously use it as a time to get stuff done.
“Going away” to college is a financial privilege, not a human right, nor even what the vast majority of college students in the US experience.
College is first and foremost about getting an education and completing degrees. Contrary to popular belief it is not a party resort, and not everything about living on campus is perfect. If your situation works for you, then there is nothing wrong with that.
I commuted a LOT in undergrad (minus a couple semesters of having a dorm, where I would stay there sometimes but just end up driving home often). My commute was (by car) anywhere between 45 minutes - an hour and a half depending on traffic/weather (I went to school in Michigan where the snow could be erratic and terrible in the winter).
Honestly, it wasn’t bad at all. Sure, I sometimes had class every day of the week and would spend around 10 hours a week driving (usually only had class 3 days a week, though), but I had my own quiet place at home to study, I had a separation of school and home, I still had friends and would sometimes just stay with one of them if I came out to campus on the weekend, etc. It worked for me because I had some anxiety issues and the prospect of living away from home was too much for me at the time.
In short, don’t be “suspicious” of commuting because not too many people on here seem to do it. Commuting is actually what most college students do (and there’s only a small sample of college students on this forum anyway), and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’ll save you a lot of money, which is something very important.
I commuted all 4 years back in the day, but I was in a sorority. I loved my college years, some of the best days of my life and I don’t feel like I had any lesser of an experience than the kids that lived there. But I do think to get the most of your college years you do need to join some clubs and make friends. It’s good to network; you never know which of your friends is going to help you get a job later in life, so try to get involved, but don’t feel you can’t do that and commute.
Both my husband and I commuted all four years of college. It worked out fine. Super glad to have graduated without debt. I wish I had gotten more involved on campus. It wouldn’t have been impossible but i didn’t make any effort.