How far would/did you commute to University
 

Hi
Sorry another Uni question, DD17 has completed UCAS form and now just needs school to do there bit and send off.
She has now put Chester Uni as well as Manchester Met but she wants to commute! Now Manchester is about half hour on public transport and Chester will be over an hour via tram and train.

What was your commute or what is your commute to Uni, she doesn’t want to drive there as wants to learn to drive when she’s a bit older. Tried a course of lessons but not for her yet.

Thanks, we are doing a campus tour at Chester in December so will do the journey she will have to do if she gets in there.

Thanks for any advice

Hello, what course is she hoping to do? I only ask because Chester has 2 campuses - one is near the station and the other is a good walk to the other end of town (Nursing and Teaching from what I recall)

I work in a Uni and we have students commuting quite a distance - I would say at least an hour for some.

Also, dependant on the course and its timetable she may only need to attend 3 days a week - one day a week in some circumstances!

I chose a long commute for uni so I could stay at home and save some cash. I actually really liked the commute and having that independence and in hindsight it was a brilliant decision as I couldn’t waste a lot of money on going out out as I always had the car and I made so many friends as I was usually on campus all day as I couldn’t go home in breaks between lectures so I ended up spending a lot of time in the library so never really studied at home as I could have four trapped hours easily most days and knew so many people who were also around it was fab! Definitely didn’t limit me socially.

It used to take me between 2-4 hours depending on traffic. It was 3 buses in total, one to the bus station, one to Manchester and one to Manchester Met.

Some days I didn’t like it, others I didn’t mind, it was a lot cheaper than living in which I couldn’t have afforded even if I’d wanted to. :)

My daughter stayed at home and commuted to Uni, (driving)probably about 40/45 mins in clear traffic

I could have commuted to Nottingham (around 27 miles ) but didn’t - it was time for me to grow up and stand on my own two feet and not come home until the first break (Christmas) and my parents were right - made me fiercely independent and value my parents and time with them all the more as I grew older .

PS no internet or mobile phones in the 80’s so one phone call a week home from a pay phone ! It’s what we all did back then and letters (have kept some of them ) - no weekend visits as I was studying and exploring Nottingham with my new friends

My daughter commuted last year - an hour on the train each way and then about a 10 min walk to the Uni. She didn’t have to go every day and, as long as the train wasn’t delayed/cancelled it worked ok. This year she is living up there.

I did room the Isle of Man to Manchester. Red eye flight every Monday and Wednesday, then the last flight home in the evening. It was only for a year but it was terrible.

I could have commuted to Oxford 28 miles, (first degree) but we had to live in College. I’m glad I did as I would have missed out on a lot of social life!
I did commute to Reading, 45 miles, (LLM and PhD) but contact hours were fewer and I drove by then.

My DD commuted by train to our nearest uni, Guildford, Surrey, for her masters this last year (she was 2.5hrs away in nottingham for her bachelors degree before that). The commuting wasn't pleasant, and certainly wasn't reliable. Trains were regularly delayed or cancelled and I would estimate at least once a week we needed to step in and take her to ensure she got to uni in time for lectures or pick her up due to last minute cancellations and problems as she needed to get back for her part time job. Luckily it was only about 13 miles from home but was a complete pain at times. It has certainly put her off applying for jobs in london where she would need to commute using trains.