commute or live in rez

[Guest dentisthopeful]

hi, I'm a first year undergrad faced with the difficult choice of whether to commute or live in residence. If I get a ride, it would take like 40 minutes, depending on the traffic. On the days when my mom can't drive me, it takes 75 minutes to get there by bus. My parents keep on telling me to live in rez, since time saved from commuting will help me study. However, I hear that rez (at UBC) could be noisy and there's parties going on. Also, I have a double room and my roommate might want to invite people over and stuff. These would all distract me. So I would really like some opinion as to which option I should choose. Especially for those commuting, do you find two 75 minute bus ride a day very time consuming? thanks

[Guest lex]

Two 75 minute busrides plus time getting to and waiting for the bus can easily add up to more than 3 hours per day. I wouldn't worry as much about being distracted - that's what libraries are for. Plus, living in res, you'd have 3 extra hours to use however you wanted each and every day. That 15 hours per school week assuming no rides from you mom. That's over 60 hours per week - working full time for a week and a half each month, all for free.

 

Also, you should consider some of the other benefits of res. Interacting with your roommate and the people you will meet through him/her and other people is one of the most important aspects of going to university. It's not all about studying (not that you shouldn't work hard).

 

All I'm saying is that the experience you'll have interacting with and involving yourself within the university environment will be invaluable. It will be difficult to see this from your perspective but I'd suggest talking to other people who've done it to verify what I'm saying. It will be significantly more difficult if not impossible to get this experience commuting from home.

 

Living in res, you'll meet new people, be exposed to new ideas, cultures, lifestyles, educational philosophies, careers, etc. Also, you'd place yourself in an academic environment. You'll be close to study groups, group discussions, debates, clubs, etc. It'd be a shame to miss out on this if you have the chance and funds to live away from home. Residence is not all about parties. Granted, they occur but that's also part of the experience. You don't have to participate if you don't want to.

 

You'll find that the intellectual, social, and personal growth that occurs when you live away from home (especially in an academic environment) will be what you cherish most from your university experience. I'm assuming that all this is ok with you as you're already considering living away. Of course, you may not be ready. But if you think you may be, I'd suggest taking the plunge.

[Guest aneliz]

I would go for living in res... it may not be perfect all the time, but there are rules in res too... things like noise restrictions so that people can sleep at night, rules about having guests, parties, etc. It is not a complete free for all!

 

The other bonus of res is getting to meet people... it is where I met most of my friends from undergrad... in fact the only people that I still have contact with are people that I lived in res with at some point. I found that the people that lived off campus in first year (especially those that lived with their parents) were fairly isolated from the social picture...because activities were largely organised by res social committees and the residences were the centre of the social world. I imagine that you would be pretty isolated being over an hour bus ride away from the action... further, university is about exerting some independence, so you don't want to necessarily be dependent on your mom to drive you everyday... and with a 40 minute drive, it is unlikely that she will like that system either... It may create some friction between you an your parents.

 

I know that going away to school is a big step... and there will be times that you are unhappy with residence... but there are plenty more good times as well. If you really like ultimate quiet to study... there is the library.

[Guest AH800]

I'd say definately live in res. I lived in res first year and loved it. You meet all sorts of people, plus your already on campus so getting to classes on time is a breeze. The library is probably the best place to study, even if living off of campus, so you don't have to worry about huge distractions. And contrary to popular belief, I don't think any residences anywhere are the loud gongshow type residences you see in the movies. Perhaps they used to be, but with the rising cutoffs just to get into uni, and the fairly high prices of tuition, the majority of people are actually there to get good grades just like you. All that being said, if you're not going to be comfortable living in res than it's probably best that you don't. I saw some people during my first year who were pretty depressed about being away from home:( . Anyways good luck with the decision.

[Guest mitchie41]

Rez is very convienient and stuff, but it's not for everyone. Although there are lots of people with good grades, you'll see lots of people loose it at their first sight of freedom. My suggestion is if you're going to UBC, go into Place Vanier. It's WAAAAAAAY quieter than Totem, and more people there seem to have a "study" mentality. And when the rez people say that they have "quiet houses", it's a relative term--It's quieter than most of the other residence buildings.

 

I go to UBC and It takes me >60 min by bus to get to Campus, but I am able to study on the bus so it's not too distracting for me. If you're able to read and stuff on the bus, it's really good because it forces you to at least read for 2-3 hours a day 'cause it's really boring on the bus.

[Guest starry234]

My bus ride to school was only 30-40 minutes in first year, and it was fine. I still had lots of free time to do things that I wanted to do, with time left over to study. However, in second year, my family moved and my commute became over an hour each way! I would come home later, exhausted and stressed out. I didn't really have as much time for my friends or extra-currics, because I barely had enough time to study.

 

My friends that lived in res always came to class looking refreshed. They had the option of taking naps during the breaks between classes. If you commute from home for an hour, you don't have that option because it just makes more sense to stay at school the whole time. Depending on your work ethic, it can be easy or difficult to study in those breaks. There are a LOT of distractions if you don't want to stay in the library. If you think you can make the most of that time, then go for it! But I know lots of people that just waste three hour breaks in between classes, and then go home and stay up studying till the wee hours of the morning.

 

Also, living at home does not mean that you will not make good friends! I met lots of great people who were in similar situations. There are many benefits to staying home, including sleeping in your own comfy room, eating your mom's cooking (including leftovers for lunch the next day!), having access to a clean washing machine, etc. but sometimes I wonder what kind of university experiences I missed out on.

 

It might be better to live in res in first year so you can get used to university life, make new friends, become independent, develop good study habits etc. and then re-evaluate your situation at the end of the school year. You could move back home if you didn't like res.

 

Another option you could look into is staying home and buying a parking permit so you could drive to school.

 

Whatever you decide, remember that your university experience is what YOU make of it. Good luck!

[Guest avisee]

I've commuted before, and it really saps your soul out from you. After commuting I was so tired that I didn't want to study when I got home, and I fell into my high school patterns of non-studying when I was in my parents' house. Commuting makes it difficult to meet up with friends, to use resources or student services on campus later in the day, and unless you're super-productive on the bus, you may feel like you have this black hole that you just throw your valuable time into.

 

The positive benefit about commuting is that you are stuck in one place for a chunk of time, so you can usually get yourself to pull out the books to study, but it's difficult to focus when there are conversations around you, or when you're with your mom and might want to talk. At some commuter universities, the bus is basically filled with students, so you almost build a comaraderie similar to living in residence, and you may find friends or classmates riding the bus. But it's not the same as residence, and unless you really want to stay by your family or save money, residence is usually the preferred option.

 

The other thing about residence is you can always find other people in your classes, making it easy to study, find help or missing notes, etc. As a top-marks hopeful, this may not be the biggest concern to you, but even by being the person who explains concepts to your peers may help your own learning.

 

Residence isn't as bad as movies make it out to be, and there are always systems in place to help you study, including quiet hours, libraries or even study rooms inside the residence. Plus you get the socio-cultural benefits. As mentioned above, you can always try to get into a quieter residence, if you still have the option, but don't worry too too much about it. I'm a total introvert and I've lived in residence for several years and completely enjoyed it.

 

You can also look into the residence withdrawal policy. Many schools (usually those that run on a semestered system) allow you to move out of residence in December, and not have to pay the rent for the second semester (or only a small portion of it). If UBC has such a system, you can tell yourself you will give it a try for one semester, and if you hate it, you can always move back with the parents. But don't stress too much about it. When it comes time to apply to professional schools at the end of your degree, most schools will look at your transcription with the perception that first year is a time of transition, so even if your first year marks aren't super-stellar, it's really the upper years they're more concerned about. If you're worried about residence impeding on your potential for academic success, just keep in mind that consolation, focus on maintaining a balance between studying and social life, and you should be more than fine.

 

Unless you are tremendously picky about what foods you eat, or when you go to sleep, you should be able to find that the benefits outweigh the negatives in residence. Just keep a positive attitude, and look at any potential problem (roommate, noise, etc) as a learning experience..

[Guest McMastergirl]

Res all the way! You won't regret it.

[Guest Vincent6]

During my first year I made the horrible mistake of commuting(one hour 45min). My grades suffered. I was always tired, couldn't stay late at the library to study, spent a lot of money on fares, froze my butt off in the winter, felt rushed during labs and lectures that ended at 9pm, I always had this panic of "must catch the bus on time" in me......I could go on forever. PLEASE LIVE IN RES!!!!! There are so many things to stress about in university, why should the nightmare that is public transport be one of them?

[Guest smooth operater]

Hello future dentist

 

My home locates in Surrey. It usually takes me about 1.5 hours commuting to UBC. So, I chose to live in Place Vanier last school yr as a 1st year undergrad. If you live in a double room, you may hate your roomate or love him/her. A friend of mine ended up being really close to his roomate, but another one ended up living with her bf b/c her roomate is messy and has bad attitude. I was lucky enough to get a single room, so I didn't have to worry about getting a bad roomate. I will break down what I like and dislike about living in rez from my experience.

 

what I like?

- save A LOT of time to do activities that I enjoy instead of wasting time on commuting. I was able to volunteer at Dowtown Eastside once week, involve in couple clubs, and participate in different events in UBC. I don't know if I could do those if I chose to commute. Some of my high school friends chose to commute from Surrey, and weren't able to involve with UBC community that much. They basically go to school early in the morning and come back home. They all envy me for living on rez.

 

-meet and make A LOT of friends. The ppl you meet will multiple! For instance, a good friend of mine from high school lived really close to me. So, I visited her often in the beginning since I don't know too many ppl around. Because she has a roomate, I started to chat around with her roomate. Then her roomate introduced me to other friends and so on. Then these friends introduce me to their friends. It's like a chain rxn! I could say I've made few potentially long lasting and close friends there. I also had the opportunity to meet students from different cultures since many international students esp. Japs and Koreans live in Vanier.

 

-get to go to bed late, and wake up early to my classes since they are soo close Vanir.

 

-Since I have some time to spare, I tried out different activites and exposed myelf to different things from partying to attending religious conference. Heck, I met Jesus on the campus !!

 

-ez to find study buddies, and group study is even more fun! We ate together and studied till late night together at the library. We were like a family!

 

-have time to participate in intraumarul sport during weekends.

 

-I was really shy before attending univeristy. It was the experience in rez that really opens me up to socialize with other ppl. You will definitely find someone that you feel comfortable with. Most people on rez will be on the same boat as you. I didn't like to party and drink. I went to a boat cruise party and didn't find it that fun. So, I stayed away from partying, drinking, and pulling pranks. You know, things that you see on typical american college movie . Some ppl on my floor were pressuring me to drink and party with them. But as long you can discipline yourself, you will be fine. I was able to walk away from friday night hammering and spend valuable time with other friends at the movies.

 

What I don't like?

-I am a light sleeper and I hate it when ppl next door talking loudly at night esp. I have big exam next day. Sometimes ppl would chat in the hallway at night. But, every time when that happens, I just ask them to shut up nicely and they would do it.

 

-sharing washroom and shower room

 

 

-I know that you are worried getting distracted from studying and receiving bad grade since you need good GPA to attend Canadian Dental schools There will be distractions in rez for sure. I admit that I was distracted from school work a bit doing other things. But as long you can discipline youself, you should be fine. I found that studying in my room ineffective cuz I had a computer in front me, so I spent most of time studying in korner library and came back to my room just to sleep and hang out with my floor mates.

 

 

 

so, I will give rez in UBC a thumb up! Although the grades I've got were not as good as I expected, I learn so much about myself and many life long skills. I met and made many good friends.The experiences I've got were more valuable than the grades on my transcript. I am living in Gage next school yr. Gage is known to be pretty noisy, so I will continue studying in the libary like I used to be and just go back there to hang out and sleep. '

 

oh yeah..try to live in Vanier if you can. Totem is known to have a party environment and is farther than most of your 1st yr classes. And their cafe sux!! :lol

[Guest smooth operater]

oh I forget to mention another thing that I don't like living on rez is that amount of money that I paid to UBC housing and food

[Guest cutieyellow]

Everyone here seems to be thumbing up for the residences, here's my two cents about commuting. I lived 1h15 minutes commute (bus/subway) from school and i really didn't mind it so much. The only thing i would say is the annoying fact that i had to wake up so darn early.

 

Otherwise, living at home definitely compensated for the commuting, eating at home, not having to worry so much about all the cleaning, the cooking, the washing...etc. I'm not saying that my folks did ALL my dirty work for me, but on days that i had to study or things like that, they were more than willing to help me out and do everything for me so that i could study. I think that helped a lot. That saves a lot of time. Now that i live alone, i can see that little house chores, even just cooking and washing dishes takes up a lot of time, time that i could spend studying instead.

 

I know that in res you make lots of friends, but that shouldn't be the reason to be in res, you'll make loads of friends in your classes as well. You will not be a social reject because you're not living in residences.

 

It is really your decision, especially seeing how your mom is willing to drive you and you're not even commuting every day. Time spent on buses can also be reading time you know, reviewing or whatnot. Oh well, just my opinion.

 

CY

[Guest dentisthopeful]

everyone's advice are so thoughtful and thorough. I really appreciate your insight. I've decided to live in rez, as so many of you recommended. :b

[Guest smooth operater]

Dentist, I am sure you will be living either in Vanier and Totem. Those places are reserved for 1st and 2nd yr students. You won't have to worry about cooking and washing dishes since housing forces you to buy meal points and eat at cafe which is very convient. Janitors will clean the washroom and hallway for you everyday, so you don't even have to worry about clearning. Janitors won't clean your room. But I only vaccumed my own room twice in 8 monthes . And if you are lazy like me and usually go home every weekend, just bring your laundry home to your parents If you don't go home, there are laundry machins and dryers you can use in the basement. You won't be doing too many dirty works. The environment in Vanier and Totem definitely does not feel as "homey" as my home. No nice TV, big bed, big private space, comforty couch, etc.... But I love the natural environment around the rez. You can stroll along a nice beach 5 min. walk from Vanier/Totem and study in a quite Japanese garden next to Vanier. But all this comes with a price, some ppl can't afford living on rez.