Travelling 1hr+ to uni (1 Viewer)

[Smeegen999]

My dilemma is that I live in wollongong and want to do commerce at unsw or usyd (moving up there is not an option, at least this year anyway). I am wondering if it is worth the travel ??(1.5hrs+ prob by train or car) or should I just go to the local uni.

I'd like to know peoples opinions who travel for over an hour to get to uni (or are planning to). How do u get to uni/how long does it take? What's it like? Do you regret picking a uni so far away etc..

 

[darkwolfzx]

i got over it, and i live something like 2 hours away.

or I decided to move out.

 

[chamelia]

I travelled two hours each way to uni for 3 years.

It gets frustrating sometimes. If you take the train - you can utilise those precious hours studying, catching up on sleep or just relaxing with an ipod/book. This is nice. Cheaper than a car too with your nice student concession.

If you enjoy the degree, then it doesn't take too much commitment to make the commute.

EDIT: Just be careful to work your timetable to your advantage. Compress it down into as little days/pw as possible.

 

[nimrod_dookie]

You do get used to it so don't worry too much. It takes me just over an hour either way and the first week of each semester does take it out of you but your body does adapt. Just minimise the number of days/hours you are at uni and the impacts will be less severe but I have 20+ hours at uni with a 5 day timetable and I cope (I do engineering).

As someone mentioned beforehand, you can use the travel time to study but don't always count on the bus/train being quiet enough to do so, especially if you get school kids cause they seriously don't STFU. I avoid study on the bus, I usually just stick my iPod on and listen to music or watch a movie. That way, I feel relaxed when I get home and only have 30 minutes off before studying, instead of up to 2 hours when I attempted studying on the bus.

Ultimately, if you like your degree, the travel won't bug you so much. The bus route I take drops many of my friends at the uni 15 minutes away from where we live, whereas I have another 50 minutes to go but I love my degree, many of my friends don't, they chose the uni because of travel times and bonus points for students in the local area and picked whatever degree their TER (SA's version of UAI) allowed.

Good luck in your decision

 

[dp624]

took my like 45 mins to get to high school. 1hr to uni
should be relatively similar

 

[rcr4fags]

its ok IF you can find a seat on the train.

 

[wixxy2348]

Pretty happy... took me 1-1.5 hours to get to school every day, to uni will take only 30-40 minutes. Wootage.

 

[squeenie]

I've been so used to primary school being down the street and high school being a 10 minute train ride away from home.

But it'll only take me around 30-40 minutes to get to uni by train, and I can live with that. If you're serious about your degree, then a 1.5 hour+ ride to uni won't matter to you.

 

[olivegreentiger]

It's going to take me an hour and 20 mins i think. Anyone know a quick way to get from the Hills area to Usyd?

 

[ambermorn]

I'm an hour and ten minutes drive from my uni, which is one of the closest ones offering the course I do. Because I live in a rural area, I'm used to driving everywhere (takes me 45 mins to get to work for example), so it doesn't take too much out of me. There's no public transport locally either. Not having a licence would have killed me, in my first semester I didn't have one but luckily I had a friend who drove me - we delibrately aligned our timetables so it'd work. Try and align yours as best as you can so you don't have to travel so far just for an hour lecture or something.

 

[Tulipa]

I'm the opposite. I live in the city and commute to Wollongong for uni. I used to live further north and it was about 2.5 hours each way. Now it's only an hour and a half. It's not a bad commute and if you can manage to get less than three days at uni it's no big deal.

Basically, if you think you can deal with a little downtime on the train then go for it.

 

[russianROULETTE]

i have the same dilemma (live in wollongong, want to go to uni in sydney). it's going to be a bit of an adjustment, since my high school was only a half an hour walk... but train rides don't bother me, and i think it'll be worth it to experience the new environment, since i don't go to sydney all that much.

 

[the-intercepter]

yeah, might drive the 2hrs up to wollongong to start off with, hopfully i can find some where to live up there lol

 

[MacFields4191]

Same problem here. Business UWS or Business Wollongong? Wollongong is like and hour away, so i dont know. PLus, UWS offers the Smart Start $2000 payment. Wat should i do?

 

[hollyy.]

I live on the central coast and plan to go to unsw. so thats a long way, but meh. my main worry is getting lost lol.
my school was 15 min away but it took 30mins on the bus to get there and back and in the arvo my friend and i had to wait 40-50 min for the bus to show up after the stupid primary schools, so thats well over an hr.

 

[Mongoz]

took my like 45 mins to get to high school. 1hr to uni
should be relatively similar

yea same ere
traveling has become a part of life for me

 

[AlleyCat]

i admire your collective dedication, but i could never live so far away from uni. when i was in melbourne, i lived half an hours train ride away from uni and that drive me nuts so i moved closer, and even 15 minutes pissed me off tbh.

now i live on campus so its about a minute's walk away.

you couldn't work part time and live in a share house? it'd be easier and way more fun. the whole experience.

 

[katie tully]

i'm 3 hours from wagga and even though i only have to go down a few times a semester, it's fucking gay and makes me wanna neck myself

 

[AlleyCat]

see thats ridiculous imho.

its ok if you're a distance student but 1.5-2 hours twice a day is nuts!

EDIT: i mean, i'm not really up to speed with how much a share house would be these days, but i'm pretty sure you could get one for $150/week.

if you're eligible you can get rent assistance/youth allowance, or you could just take the time that you would be using to sit on a bus/train/car and spend it working at a cafe/bar.

 

[katie tully]

yeah anything more than half an hour (by car) seems tarded and id get tired and drive into a tree

when i was at orange for like, 4 weeks, i drove every day and it was an hour each way and i was stuffed

i guess a train would be ok, you could study and read and stuff but it seems like an awful waste of hours just sitting there when you can be at home with a coffee