[g u m b y]

Hey guys, i'm going to UIC or IIT in IL next year...
I wanna save my parents a couple thousand by commuting, but
is it inconvenient? like would it hurt ur grade/ make u exhausted cus
ur're traveling every day?(45 min. each time to and fro)...

I could save $9000 a year if i commute. but is it worth it?
would i lose the college experience../?


ahh help me decide!

[i'm lagging yo]

one major benefit of dorming is you have everything available at your fingertips. You can walk to the library whenever you need to borrow a course textbook, you have computer labs right there, there's food of course, and the gym, TA's/professor's on campus, basically all the school's resources for your use. When you commute, especially 45 mins? you have to plan and everything's not as convenient or on-call.

$9000 for room and board right? you have to count in the food you eat at home too, and the gas money which is insane these days.

i would say dorm your first year to get adjusted to college itself. 45 minutes is a long commute... it doesn't seem like it but half way through the quarter you'll begin to say damn, i don't want to go to so and so class anymore, the drive isn't worth it. or.. I don't want to wake up at 6am just so i can make it to my 8am class, not gonna go anymore. or you'll drive to school, but just fall asleep on the road, same deal when chem lab ends at 10pm and you'll be driving home all dead tired after a whole day of classes...

but it's up to you.

[precious4e]

I like dorming just because I dont have to worry about paying utility bills or buying furniture (such as bed, matress, desk, lights etc...)

And if you ever have breaks in between classes, you can go back to your dorm and do your own thing instead of being stranded at school. For me its more convenient.

One sucky thing can be roomates. If you get one you don't like.....

But as i'm lagging yo said, if it's your first year in college you should try dorming to meet some people and get to know the campus.

[little mixed girl]

i chose to stay at home.

it all depends on what you want in college.
if you want to go out and party whenever, then do that. but whatever.

$9,000 is a lot of money.

and dorms can be so nasty.

[_ambrosia]

I love dorming because everything's so convenient and I live in a place where you can walk anywhere and everywhere. If I had to commute, I'd be so freakin lazy.

[ajs_886]

it all depends on what you want in college.
if you want to go out and party whenever, then do that. but whatever.

^Completely Agree. The only thing I'd add is that IIT isn't in a very nice area of Chicago Even though the campus itself seemed safe, I'm not sure I'd want to stay in a dorm if I went there. I've never been to UIC so I don't know what it's like around there.

[Trungy]

I think for me, either situation would be just fine, except my situation is slightly different. Although I'll be commuting next semester, I'm still largely living away from my family and relatives and living with some people I've met in college.

Living off-campus has a different feel. I wouldn't say you would feel more or less independent, but there are just some things that you must do in order to survive on your own, such as moping the floors, cleaning the bathroom and sinks, and paying utilities and such. In some ways, you have more control of what you need and what you want, but in other ways, you sort of lose time.. both by doing work and chores around the apartment and spending the time to commute everywhere.

Either way, I save more money living off campus. The price to stay at my dorms is ridiculously high, and there are so many restrictions and limits to what I can have in the room. Not only that, but I'd pay more money to share a room than to pay less for a room all to myself. Again, living off-campus gives you a little more control of what you're paying for, whereas living in dorms is pretty straightforward. You can meet people either way.

[YellohSwtTart]

id say live on campus your first year..

its very convenient to just wake up 15 minutes before your class and still be able to make it on time,

and to go to the library whenever you want

and the freedom you have from your parents... not even just with social situations, but even with dinner time and studying. if i was at home, my parents would control what time i have dinner, and what time i should sleep, but on campus, i control my own schedule.

but it all depends on you. 9000 is a lot of money. maybe you can live on campus for a semester. ..?

[sweet_treats1812]

i commute to class everyday but it's not so bad coz i only live 20 minutes away from my school..

however, i smtimes think to myself that id like to experience living in a dorm..i tried telling my mom about it but she says that it's a stupid idea to live in a dorm when u only live 20 minutes away and she's obviously right plus, it does cost a lot of money..

in ur case, 45 minutes is indeed a long drive..f u have 8 am classes, that wud really suck coz u have to wake up exra early. but then again 9000 is a lot of money..up to u though~ think it over carefully

[simplyme]

I just finished my first year and I commuted from home. During the summer when i drove to my school it only took 45 minutes, as soon as school started it took me an hour in the morning and roughly an hour and a half for when the day was done. You may think it's 45 minutes now but its actually longer, so be aware of that.

I would suggest living on campus your first year, too. At first I thought it was such a good idea to commute, the dorms are nasty, blah blah all that. But driving really wears on you. The drive is a pain in the butt and by the time you get home you don't want to study; you just want to rest. It's also really inconvenient to not be able to stay at school and study with your friends and all that. You really do miss out on the campus life and I think that's what I regret the most about living off-campus.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[boblovesbacon]

For me, I would choose to live farther and save that $9000 ($9000/yr x 4 yrs --> I think I'd like to have that $36k sitting in my bank account). Last summer, I also had to commute 45min 5days/week for an 8:00am class. I'm a morning person and don't mind that drive. Furthermore, if you're the typically night owl, I think it's a good idea to start getting adjusted so that you'll be able to wake up on time to get to work in the morning when you're out and about in the workforce. (Thinking completely ahead here -_^)

I hear where some people are coming from about living in dorms and getting to know other people. For me, college is a time to focus and learn. If you're like me, focusing is a problem in and of itself. Socializing and networking (good god I really hate that term) is beneficial later down the line but you know what? You can always talk to people in your classes (and gen ed classes to expand beyond your major) and you'll have (on average) 4 years to "get to know people".

So bottom line, I vote for commuting.

[baokapris]

It depends if you live near the colleg or not. For me, I chose to stay a the dorms my first year...I get to have a single room so I didn't mind. The campus is in located in a city about 10-15 minutes away from my homecity. =)
There are times when my mom is yada yada...I just need my own space. *sigh* but living on campus is getting expensive even though there are benefits. such as...I'm never late for my classes. whenever i need something it's all in my dorm so that saves me time. I'm thinking about living at home though the spring semester after the fall. I guess it's really up to you and your situation.

[ms. rachellica]

wellz i'm planning to stay in my home state ny. buh i live on long island, and i wanna go to pace in downtown manhattan. nd since it takes 2 hrs to commute, my mom wud rather spend money fer me to dorm than to get home everyday tired.

[jahmez]

I'd also vote for commuting. 45 minutes is not bad. That's how long it takes me to drive from my place to school. At first it might be kind of tough, driving and stuff, but later it'll get a lot better. I'm at the point now that I don't even notice how long it takes me to get to school. It's a lot better commuting then having to work part-time to pay for a place. When I dormed the first year, I had to work so much just to offset some of the costs that I really didn't get to experience the dorm life and I did bad in school. Since I commute now, I have a lot more time to hang out with friends and I can concentrate on my school work.

The bad thing is thought, that u'll be spending a lot of time at school. Luckily, for engineers we get our own labs, so inbetween classes, I do work there and game it up with friends. It kind of sucks though when u have like 3 to 4 hour gaps inbetween.

[clauric]

im a commuter..i admit that dorming is really convenient..but another $9000 from my my mom's pocket is something i have to think abt..i mean i chose to commute because of my situation..it's just me n my mom--n leaving her alone in an empty house is something i can't bare while im dorming...
so i guess it depends on ur situation..if ur parents don't mind paying--well i guess go for it..but yeah i mean both living arrangements have pros n cons--so yeah...

[EYJAYJAY]

for me, for my school, i vote for dorming. but my scholarship has all the fees covered

it really depends on the living environment besides the cost, are the dorms there good? if they are very crappy.. might as well not live there and save the money. if the dorms are decent, then why not give it a try? live there for a semester or a year, see how u like it. if u dont like it, then u can switch to commuting. if u do switch afterwards, at least u have some dorming experience too

[wakeupsandy]

If it's your first year, definetly dorm. You don't know yet what opportunities you could be missing out if you commute your first year. I understand that money might be an issue, but if I could go back and change things, the very first thing would be to live on-campus my first year. I'd rather spend more money and have a social life than live off-campus and be miserable.

Especially since you mention that your commute will be 45 minutes? I would hands down pick to live in dorms than to commute. $9,000 is a lot, but you have to ask if it's worth sacrificing time, convenience, and your social life. For me, the answer is easy: no.

[elizabeth]

dorm is not so bad since I'm living with 7 girls, it's quite fun but next year I'll be living with 3 girls that I just made friends with.

[NO-1]

If it's your first year, definetly dorm. You don't know yet what opportunities you could be missing out if you commute your first year. I understand that money might be an issue, but if I could go back and change things, the very first thing would be to live on-campus my first year. I'd rather spend more money and have a social life than live off-campus and be miserable.

Especially since you mention that your commute will be 45 minutes? I would hands down pick to live in dorms than to commute. $9,000 is a lot, but you have to ask if it's worth sacrificing time, convenience, and your social life. For me, the answer is easy: no.

I agree.
You'll have 3 more years to save that money if you want, but if your parents are willing to pay it, I would say go for dorms.

[alive]

it all depends on what you want in college.
if you want to go out and party whenever, then do that. but whatever.

Are you going to college for the "experience" or an education? Keep in mind that a lot of students dorming don't get the "experience" either. College life is what you make of it. If it's really important to you to socialize, you will, whether you commute or not. Commuting won't prevent you from making friends. You also want to remember that unless you're dorming in the new upscale dorms, the regular dorms are not terribly nice.

I know people mentioned convenience, and they're right about the labs and all, but I've been down to the dorms at UIC, and I can tell you that they're not in a nice area, so you're convenience is most likely going to be limited to before dark. Nobody walks around there alone after hours.

You probably don't want to take the train that late either, so that's an issue with commuting, but if you plan your schedule that shouldn't be a problem, and I'm assuming you have a computer and library nearby, so that really cancels out the benefits of dorming. You may also have trouble concentrating at home or at a dorm (roommates, remember).

Btw, that 45 min. commute? That's nothing. That's average for most people working in the real world. As long as you don't have ADD, it shouldn't be a problem, lol. Wake up early, plan.

It really depends on you. Me, I would save my parents the $9000. You don't just throw away a few thousand dollars. That's months of salary.