After you graduate high school, choosing where you further your education can be a difficult decision, especially considering higher education can be very expensive. Thinking financially, I believe it is smarter to save money and live at home while commuting to college. Don’t worry about feeling any less of a student or that you aren’t experiencing college. Being a commuter still gives you a valid experience of college. Just because you don’t live on campus doesn’t mean you don’t get the same experiences that those who do.
I’m a commuter. I went to Pompano Beach High School and I live about 30 to 40 minutes from campus. I live with my parents, and before COVID I would travel to school each day. When talking to my friends who lived on campus, it appeared to me that I still had the same experience that most students that live on campus had. I think commuting is great for a person who still has their core of friends and family in the area. My girlfriend is an NSU student and my best friends all commute to FAU, so it works out perfectly. Personally, if possible, I’d recommend anybody that can commute to do so.
You’re still getting an education, as well as interacting with everybody. You can still attend all the events around campus. The experience of a commuter student compared to a student who houses on campus is relatively the same at NSU. I know some students that commute that are some of the most involved people on campus. Sure, there will be events around campus that you can’t make it to, but as far as I know, I haven’t seen any events that don’t allow commuters.
As for tips, I would tell you to find a place to study and relax. As a commuter, you don’t have a dorm room that you can study in. Finding a place that you can eat your lunch, study and relax in is essential. I personally enjoy just sitting in the Carl DeSantis building, putting my headphones in and studying or doing whatever homework I have.
You’re going to need to eat. Find somewhere that has food that you enjoy, whether it’s on campus or off. On campus, the Don Taft University Center has lots of food options for you to choose from. My personal favorite is the Flight Deck Pub. When I was on campus, I would order the burger sliders with french fries. When you’re off campus, every type of food you could ever think of is around and a short distance away. My personal favorites are Chick-fil-A and Chipotle.
As far as academics go, I picked classes that fell into the timeframe I needed. I was an undecided major at the time, so I wasn’t locked in to a certain course load. From an efficiency and money-saving standpoint, I don’t think there is a better strategy. I traveled to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and was able to stay home and study on Tuesday and Thursday. With M/W/F classes, each class is just 50 minutes long, contrary to Tu/Th classes that are an hour and 20 minutes. For example, I took my first class from 10a.m. to 11a.m. and gave myself two hours for lunch. Then, I took four classes consecutively from 1p.m. to 5p.m. and it was very easy to stay locked in for me. The only con to this strategy is that most of your midterms and finals have the possibility of occurring on the same day. The odds that this lines up for any of your schedules are slim, but I thought I’d share this just in case.
Overall, being a commuter doesn’t make you any less of an NSU student. You’re still experiencing the same college that everyone else is, but you might just have a little money left over from not paying for on campus housing.
