commuting to campus: anyone have experience?

[Leahlearns]

So I'm considering living in a neighborhood where I would have an 10-15 minute commute to campus depending on traffic. I don't have a car so I'll be relying on public transportation, although I'm told it's decent. I don't know what my work schedule will be yet (the $$ variety of work), but with the exception on one day a week (when I have two classes three hours apart--I figure I could eat (a bagged) lunch and go to the library in the interim), I only have one class per day and only have classes 4 days per week. Am I going to go crazy or is this doable?

The neighborhood has its pluses or I wouldn't be considering it: safe, no frats, etc. in the near vicinity (read: quiet). The rent is neither particularly high nor low.

[joro]

As an undergrad, I commuted to campus and work. My typical Tues/Thurs was waking up at 7am to get ready and to get to school by 730am, takes about 15 min to get there, to drop off papers I've graded and pick up new papers to grade. Then I'd head to work and make it in by 8am. After work, I would go straight to school which would be about a 20 min drive. I took 6 classes during this time completely maxing out the number of possible units I'm allowed to take and would end up getting home from school at around 12am. I came home late because I stayed at school to study and work on my homework. My Mon/Wed is the exact same thing except I would just head to work in the morning then school afterward. My GPA for that term was a 3.65.

So I think it's possible to manage it all. Most of my friends work and go to school at the same time.

[MaximKat]

How can 10-15 minutes in a bus be a problem? It is not like you will need to ride a train for hours every day

[Leahlearns]

I don't think it should be either. But when I asked the landlord about the commute she told me, "to be honest with you some students think it's a bit long." I told her it didn't sound all that bad to me and she agreed. (I think I spent that long on the bus going to elementary school, albeit I was less busy back then. :wink: ) So yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to figure out. I mean I guess if you have to go back and forth multiple times a day I guess it could become a bit tedious, and of course the 15 minutes doesn't include any time I might spend waiting for a bus to arrive. So yeah, I'd like to hear the arguments against.

[kahlan_amnell]

10-15 minutes is really short, I wouldn't worry about it unless the buses don't come that often or are unreliable.

[aginath]

If my husband drives me to campus, it takes roughly 12-15 minutes depending upon traffic (it's only about 4 miles). On days where he is on shift, I take the city bus. It's about 35 minutes from the time I get on the bus until I get off in the center of campus (and then it's another 5-7 minute walk from the student union to my building). Really, it's not all that terrible. I load my iPod with audiobooks and podcasts and go.

[joro]

I don't think it should be either. But when I asked the landlord about the commute she told me, "to be honest with you some students think it's a bit long." I told her it didn't sound all that bad to me and she agreed. (I think I spent that long on the bus going to elementary school, albeit I was less busy back then. :wink: ) So yeah, that's exactly what I'm trying to figure out. I mean I guess if you have to go back and forth multiple times a day I guess it could become a bit tedious, and of course the 15 minutes doesn't include any time I might spend waiting for a bus to arrive. So yeah, I'd like to hear the arguments against.

My commute to Stanford was roughly 1 hour and 30 min long. That was a combination of both bike and bus. Biking 2 miles to the bus stop at 630am trying to catch the last bus to Stanford from my area. Then 40 min later, getting off and biking another 2 miles to get to the campus and then to the building I worked at by 8am. Then the same thing on the way home.

[Leahlearns]

If my husband drives me to campus, it takes roughly 12-15 minutes depending upon traffic (it's only about 4 miles). On days where he is on shift, I take the city bus. It's about 35 minutes from the time I get on the bus until I get off in the center of campus (and then it's another 5-7 minute walk from the student union to my building). Really, it's not all that terrible. I load my iPod with audiobooks and podcasts and go.

Exactly. The more I think about this the more I think even if this commute ends up being 30 minutes instead of 15, maybe it's not as pleasant as a 2 minute walk to campus, but if I decided to I could make good use of the time. Thanks all.

[jlee306]

It is very, very doable! As an undergrad, I commute 1 hour and 30 minutes to school and 1 hour and 30 minutes back home. I go to school 2 days a week, so that is 6 hours per week devoted to travel time. I wish there was a bus that would take me from home to school and back so I could read, do homework, or something school related during that time, but there isn't. It worked for me all last year and I'm doing it again this year. My first two years of college, I commuted 35 minutes both ways to my community college. Living in the country of TX, you tend to have commute quite a distance to everything. The nearest place to me to get grocery's and gas is 20 minutes away.