Hello, lovelies! As you may recall, I commuted from home my first two years of college. I’ve written a lot about that, but I can honestly say that there isn’t much content out there for college students who don’t live on campus. (Trust me, I’ve looked.) Even though I live on campus now, I have a lot of tips on how to make commuting life easier. Especially considering the majority of my college experience thus far has been while living with my parents.
I’m not going to organize this post in any which way. These are just a large list of tips for students commuting to college with links to other blog posts. I hope it helps.
//Remember Why You Are Doing This
Whenever people in America dream about college, they think about living in a dorm and all the fun things they’ll do. Nobody imagines living in their childhood home while taking classes. Everybody has their reasons for commuting. The reasons most people have is money. I was able to avoid student loans entirely my first two years of college largely because I didn’t live on campus.
I had other reasons to stay at home, too, namely my brother who has autism, but finances were also a huge factor. One of the reasons I have been able to travel so much while in college is that I was able to save money while living at home. Whenever you feel down about not living the typical college life, remember your reason for doing so. You’ll move out eventually.
Related – 13 Things I Don’t Do To Save Money In College
//Wake Up Early
If I didn’t wake up at least an hour and a half before my first class, I would be late. My commute was only 45-minutes in the morning (15 minutes by car, 30 minutes on the train), but I had to factor in train delays and walking to class. I always tried to get to campus early because I didn’t want to be late for class. Schedule your classes at a later time and wake up early enough to have time to get ready and get to campus.
Related – My College Morning Routine | Commuter Edition
//Prepare The Night Before
When you commute, you can’t just roll out of bed fifteen minutes before class and still make it on time. Make your mornings easier by packing your bag, laying out your clothes, and readying your lunch. This will save you a lot of stress in the mornings.
Related – My College Evening Routine | Commuter Edition
//Schedule Your Classes Wisely
Be smart about the way you schedule your classes. Account for traffic time because even if you can wake up for earlier classes, your commute may end up being longer. I never scheduled classes before 10:30 AM because I learned my lesson during my Freshman year. When I took a 9:30 AM class, my drive to the train station would be significantly longer than it was an hour later. I frequently ended up being five minutes late for that class because of the traffic and the walk from the train station. Find your sweet spot for driving to campus and waking up on time. Schedule your classes around that.
Related – A Day In Life Of A Commuting College Freshman
//Make Your Commute Fun Or Productive
Trust me when I say that there will be moments where your commute will drive you crazy. Believe me. There are only so many times you can listen to the songs on the radio. (Update your playlist regularly.) I’ve never been one to listen to music on my commute. I always made it my designated reading time. I would listen to audiobooks while I drove and read a physical book on the train. It was a nice way to ease in and out of my school day, and it made my commute both enjoyable and productive.
If reading isn’t your cup of tea, there are so many other things you can do. You can listen to podcasts. You can download movies and shows off of Netflix to watch on the train. Just do something that doesn’t make your commute feel like a waste of time. I wrote a few more ideas in the post linked below.
Related – 16 Ways To Make The Most Of Your College Commute
//There Is Always A Shortcut
At the beginning of my Freshman year, I used the driving route my mom showed me to get to the train station. It took SO LONG. Like twice the time it takes me using the route I use now. I would literally bang my head against the steering wheel during my afternoon drive home due to the traffic. Use literally every maps app to find the fastest back road until you find the best route. It’ll save your sanity. The same goes for walking because I found so many shortcuts in Downtown Atlanta that would get me to class quicker.
//Pack your entire life in your backpack
When you commute, you don’t have the luxury of carrying a cute tote bag with a few essentials. Since you don’t live a ten-minute walk away, you will have to carry your entire life in your backpack. There were so many things I kept in my backpack, like extra clothes and medicine, in case of an emergency. I ended up using those things sometimes, which is why I’m glad I kept them with me. I’ve already listed all the things I carried with me back when I was a college commuter, so I’ll just link that post below.
Related – What Commuters Should Carry In Their College Backpacks
//Get a locker
On that note, get a locket so that you don’t have to carry your entire life in a backpack. Since I took the train, my car wasn’t on campus to store things, which is why I got a locker. I kept things like extra gym clothes, pencils, and snacks there. I would store my backpack in the locker and only carry a notebook to class so that I wouldn’t be distracted by my laptop. Having a locker made life a lot easier, but I didn’t get one during my sophomore year. My classes were a lot more spread out, location-wise, so it didn’t make sense to pay for one that I’d never use.
Related – What Commuters Should Expect Their First Week of Freshman Year
//Keep Extra Supplies In Your Car (Or Locker)
Like I said, I didn’t have a car with me, but the same tips work here. Keep things like extra clothes, ibuprofen, pads, etc. just in case you need any of that. I know of commuters who sleep in their car in between classes, so if you want to do that, keep an extra blanket and pillow with you. (Just be safe about it)
//Talk To People In Class
Honestly, the majority of college social life takes place in the dorms and being corralled in the same environment every day. We miss out on that as commuters, and it’s honestly the worst part about not living on campus. The majority of our regular social interaction comes from being in class, so talk to the other students around you and find ways to spend time with them outside of class.
I’ll be honest with you, the majority of the people I spent time with while commuting were with people I knew prior to starting college, but I did manage to make a few friends in class.
Related – Real Talk: The Struggles Of Transitioning To College
//Take Advantage Of Time In Between Classes
Make the most of your time on campus. I don’t know about you, but I did not study super productively while I was at home. I tried to finish ALL of my homework and studying while on campus because I did it faster that way. Being in an academic environment surrounded by other students will motivate you a lot more than laying in bed in your childhood bedroom. I’ll link a post I wrote about things you can do in between classes down below.
Related – 25 Things To Do In Between College Classes
//Find places to study near your home on weekends
Depending on how far away you live from campus, going there on weekends to study isn’t always the most productive. I think it’s worth it to go back for social events or group projects, but if you don’t need to drive back, just don’t. I always studied at the public library ten minutes away from my house whenever I did school work on weekends. Find someplace away from your home that will get you in the mindset of doing work on weekends.
//Join A Club
Joining clubs is a lot harder when you commute from home because most club meetings take place at night. By the time my classes were done, all I wanted to do was go home. I didn’t have the time or energy to come back to campus again at night to attend club meetings, which is why I wasn’t in any my first two years of college. If you can, find a way to join a club while you are commuting because it’ll help you make friends who you can see regularly.
//Pack Your Lunch & Extra Snacks
Now that more and more college students are living off-campus, some universities offer commuter meal plans. My university did provide those, but I didn’t get a meal plan because it was cheaper to just bring lunch from home and eat out once or twice a week. Keep an abundance of snacks with you, both sweet and salty, to curb your cravings and save you money. Vending machines are tempting when you are on campus for 10+ hours, so keep extra food with you.
//Make Friends With Residents
So you have someplace to crash when you stay on campus late. That’s honestly what most of my commuter friends did when they stayed super late to go out or study with friends.
//Bring Chargers (Laptop, phone, all of them)
Because there is nothing worse than lugging a dead laptop or phone around campus. Or, god-forbid, your laptop dies in the middle of writing an essay. Be prepared for everything. On that note…
//Always Carry An Umbrella
Because the day you forget your umbrella is the day it will rain. ‘Nuff said.
Related – 11 College Commuter Essentials
//Check Your Email Every Morning
This way, you will know early whether or not a class is canceled. It sucks when you commute all the way to campus only to find out that you could have slept in a while longer. Make sure your professor hasn’t canceled a class before heading to campus.
//Stay On Campus As Long As Possible
This is both for productivity’s sake and for social life’s sake. One of the reasons I stayed on campus for as long as possible is that I got more done quickly while on campus. But I think it’s also worth it to hang out on campus simply to soak up as much of college life as you can. When you’re a commuter, it’s easy to seclude yourself at home, but I think that makes you less happy in the long run. Attend the free events, hang out at coffee shops, and do all your work while at school. It’ll make it feel like the typical college experience.
//Explore Different Parts Of Your City
Because I didn’t have a living space to head to in between classes, I was able to spend a lot of time walking around Atlanta. It was one of my favorite parts of commuting. I saw so much more of Atlanta than I do of Athens, GA because I didn’t go back to a dorm room during my free time. I’d eat lunch at Centennial Olympic Park ever so often and would study in coffee shops. I don’t do that as much anymore because I can’t justify spending money at a cafe when I don’t have to spend money to drink green tea and study in my room. Take advantage of not having a place to go to by exploring the area you are in.
//Appreciate The Perks Of Living At Home
Even though commuting isn’t the college life you imagined for yourself, appreciate the benefits of living at home. You save sooooooooo much money and dinner is cooked for you every night. Enjoy your time with your parents and siblings because, in a few years, you won’t see them as often. If you move to another state, you’ll probably only see them twice a year, so savor the time you have with them now. You never know what the future holds.
Related – How To “Survive” Living With Your Parents In College
Phew! That was a doozy to write! I hope this helps all you college commuters out there, and I’ll see you next time!
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Did I miss anything? What are your tips and tricks for commuters in college?