Commuting to uni

[m90]

Hi all, I'm heading into my final year studying Law in London. For the last 2 years, I've been fortunate enough to live in central London but this year I'll be living about a 1 hour commute away from uni. I'm pretty worried as I don't want to exhaust myself to the point I can't study esp as it is my final year, but given lectures are online and I'll only have to attend maximum 4 days per week (probably 3 tbh) for a one hour tutorial I'm feeling slightly more positive about it. But I do want to still see friends who are all living more centrally which makes it easier for them to go out!

Is anyone in a similar situation, or has been? How did you find the commuting and did you ever feel very detached from uni friends etc by doing so?

 

[HorsesForCoursesNeighNeighNeigh]

1hr isn't horrendous, but is that mode of transport reliable? What are the bus options for when the tube/overground is down? That's something I would be careful about, having had previous issues with Picadilly line and with an overground.

Have you done the journey, is it a very busy route with lots of changes or a straight run? I've lived places with a long, long single bus and it honestly didn't feel bad as you always got a seat and could catch up on some reading. Equally, I've lived places where the journey had been hell due to regular changes and the transport being too full.

Good thing to remember: if you have a decent night bus, they're often a LOT faster than what google maps say, due to lack of traffic.

It takes a while to get used to, but it becomes the new "normal" distance for you.

 

[Dheepa]

On the days where you do have to go in to university, I’d consider bringing packed lunches (and maybe even dinners) with you and just sticking it out in the library to study. When I lived slightly further out in second year that’s what I did and it took a bit of getting used to but it’s what worked best for me. On the seeing friends point, sometimes it does mean leaving slightly earlier (to catch the last bus/train) or honestly a lot of the times I just said no when I was too tired, it just depends on how much you want to attend the thing/party that’s happening.

 

[m90]

1hr isn't horrendous, but is that mode of transport reliable? What are the bus options for when the tube/overground is down? That's something I would be careful about, having had previous issues with Picadilly line and with an overground.

Have you done the journey, is it a very busy route with lots of changes or a straight run? I've lived places with a long, long single bus and it honestly didn't feel bad as you always got a seat and could catch up on some reading. Equally, I've lived places where the journey had been hell due to regular changes and the transport being too full.

Good thing to remember: if you have a decent night bus, they're often a LOT faster than what google maps say, due to lack of traffic.

It takes a while to get used to, but it becomes the new "normal" distance for you.

Thanks very much for these considerations! Luckily, it's a pretty reliable service so I hope it should be okay.

 

[m90]

On the days where you do have to go in to university, I’d consider bringing packed lunches (and maybe even dinners) with you and just sticking it out in the library to study. When I lived slightly further out in second year that’s what I did and it took a bit of getting used to but it’s what worked best for me. On the seeing friends point, sometimes it does mean leaving slightly earlier (to catch the last bus/train) or honestly a lot of the times I just said no when I was too tired, it just depends on how much you want to attend the thing/party that’s happening.

Thank you - that's definitely helpful and a great idea to make a study day around in person classes!