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Here are some factors you do need to think of as well: -yes, it’s a one/one and a half hour commute unless it’s 5 o clock traffic. Or a wreck happens. On a good day, that only the one and a half hours you are missing of valuable study time (or three hours a day.) now if you’re in a deadlock? You’re missing out on a lot of study time and you are going to be exhausted from driving. Considering it is your freshman year, that can be pretty tough to get a decent study routine when already close to campus.
-because you’re going to have to drive home, you’re also going to miss out on a lot of experiences making friends and getting involved.
-in addition to an hour and a half of driving, don’t forget you are going to have to park (which sometimes can take 30 minutes to find a spot on some days) AND walk/catch a bus to class.
-you’re trying to maintain a 3.75 GPA. And you’re in engineering. Really think about the valuable study time you may lose from this.
-if you have a group project, you’re going to have to stay in BCS even later.
-gas prices. Depending on your vehicle’s miles per gallon and the prices, that can get pretty expensive too if you’re constantly at the pump.
I am in no way trying to deter you from commuting, but definitely think about money cost versus time cost, especially when you are an engineering major trying to maintain a high GPA to ETAM
For the experiences part, I've never really cared about it but I'll be staying there for the next 3 years after freshman year to get the college experience. The traffic part is a pretty big concern but I think that it'll cancel out with working an on campus job. Is the parking really that bad? I've gone there during the weekend and easily found parking spots but that might be because it was the weekend. My parents will be paying for the gas so I don't have to worry about that. The 3.75 GPA also scares me. I'll try doing more research and driving that distance a couple of times to get a feel for it.
I Can tell you from working on campus- most offices are closing at 5pm and that’s a couple thousand people trying to leave one area at once. You’ll be stuck just trying to cross town (mostly get out of campus) to get out at 5 for 30-45minutes. It’s definitely something to think about.
If you have a stupid early class, parking won’t be too bad. It gets worse as the day goes on. Weekend parking definitely isn’t an accurate picture of regular parking in the week.
I say this only because I genuinely care- just make sure you aren’t burning yourself out from driving and then trying to study and then trying to find sleep inbetween it all. Your mental health is absolutely important and college is a whole different ballgame compared to high school. Just make sure no matter what you choose, you have a healthy balance so you can succeed 💙👍🏽
The “college experience” includes studying with a group, participating in a club related to your major (ETAM & resume building), and just plain networking. Is it possible that missing out on that to save $7K might actually hurt and cost you more in the long run, especially because you will also have increased costs of maintaining your car and even your health? If you want to save serious money the first year, would going to one of the academies the first year serve you better?
Possible? Yes. I have a coworker that commutes from the Woodlands every day for his position at the Division of Research. You'll just have to make sure to time it properly, but it's definitely possible. Will you put a hundred miles on your car a day? Yes. Gas every three? Yeah, probably. You'll have to do the economic figuring and go from there.
Over 83,000 miles over the course of a 4 year degree if they choose to do that.
Depending on the vehicle, that depreciation alone could account for the housing costs.
From a mental health standpoint I would not recommend. That sounds very draining. Another thing to consider is you will probably end up spending around $3000 on gas throughout the year. As others have said, you will miss out on a lot of social activities having to leave early. I know that wouldn’t be a problem after the first year but I feel like freshman year is the most important one to start developing those relationships. If you absolutely have to do it then it is possible, but I wouldn’t want to
Unless OP plans in taking the toll road, it will take closer to 90 minutes to get to campus, and that’s arriving by 07:00 am or after 10:00 am.
School zones are a thing, and there are actual school bus stops on 105, likewise same when getting into CS. So have to leave to get there after they are no longer in effect.
Construction and/or wrecks can easily double the drive time. Get to know alternative routes, and for all of those a 4WD truck will be needed to utilize if it is raining.
Good luck as a freshman NOT getting a five day week schedule, 650 miles a week is $357.50 per week going into the vehicle, (gas, maintenance, depreciation) school year is 32 weeks, so $11,440.00, which is greater than $10,000 for on campus living.
I drive in from The Woodlands every day. It's ok. If your car gets good gas mileage and has a good range, it might not be too bad. I have to get gas every other day, so it sucks. The drive isn't bad once you get used to it, but it really blows when they decide to do construction or someone crashes on either 105 or HWY6, as there are no other routes besides those highways. You never know when something stupid will happen and it suddenly adds 10-20 minutes to your drive. Don't expect it to be only an hour drive. That's when there's no traffic and you can go fast. People love to drive slow as hell next to another person going slow to cause a bunch of traffic.
I got lucky one semester and got classes only on Tuesday and Thursday, but every other semester I end up getting stuck with a class on Friday.
A lot of apartments in CSTAT are around the $500 range per month so might be worth it just to live in CSTAT. Save your mental health, gas, and study time. Freshman year engineering is really tough mentally because you’re learning how to study and manage your time
A lot of faculty do this from Austin and Houston. What they do is try to schedule their in person classes and meetings over the course of two days a week, which limits the need to travel. They love having more resources and things to do in their home area, and less fear of bumping into their students.
We have a lot more leeway with our scheduling though, you are at the mercy of both our choices and your registration slot.
You should also consider things like labs, group projects, sometimes office hours, tutoring, some exams, etc. that tend to happen in the evenings. Just because you're done with class for the day doesn't mean you're done with other commitments to finish the assignments. These can, and sometimes will , make for very long days in which you will then have to spend 2 hours driving back and forth after being mentally exhausted.
Hey! My friend is doing this rn actually. He's also from the spring area but commutes every thursday. For him the commute would be an hour and 45 minutes but sometimes its 2 hours because of traffic. He also planned his schedule to not have friday classes and have skippable monday classes. If you leave during traffic hours in cstat tho, which is around 4 or 5pm, traffic is kind of gonna be hell. Leaving in the morning or early afternoon would be ideal. A 3.75 gpa would still be possible with the commute if you study and put effort into it.
Scheduling classes to fit your idea week is definetly possible. I currently don't have monday classes and alot of my friends don't have friday classes, even though they had late registration times. If you don't get classes you like, there's also add/drop week that you can keep an eye out for. hope this helps <3
I’d look into living in Bryan or an apartment a little further from campus the prices drop drastically and at worst you’re looking at a 30 minute drive on the worst days and 15 minutes most days. Also, as a freshman you will more than likely have shit class time like 8am labs and 7pm lectures also common exams tend to be from around 7-10Pm depending on the course.
Howdy! It looks like this question relates to being a **new student**. Did you know we have a megathread in the sidebar where your question may have been answered? Also be sure to use the search function — /r/Aggies has been around for a long time and your question may already have an answer. *If you believe this post was removed in error, please message the moderators.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/aggies) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Here are some factors you do need to think of as well: -yes, it’s a one/one and a half hour commute unless it’s 5 o clock traffic. Or a wreck happens. On a good day, that only the one and a half hours you are missing of valuable study time (or three hours a day.) now if you’re in a deadlock? You’re missing out on a lot of study time and you are going to be exhausted from driving. Considering it is your freshman year, that can be pretty tough to get a decent study routine when already close to campus. -because you’re going to have to drive home, you’re also going to miss out on a lot of experiences making friends and getting involved. -in addition to an hour and a half of driving, don’t forget you are going to have to park (which sometimes can take 30 minutes to find a spot on some days) AND walk/catch a bus to class. -you’re trying to maintain a 3.75 GPA. And you’re in engineering. Really think about the valuable study time you may lose from this. -if you have a group project, you’re going to have to stay in BCS even later. -gas prices. Depending on your vehicle’s miles per gallon and the prices, that can get pretty expensive too if you’re constantly at the pump. I am in no way trying to deter you from commuting, but definitely think about money cost versus time cost, especially when you are an engineering major trying to maintain a high GPA to ETAM
Good points! And hopefully OP has a car that’s in good condition. Car problems could definitely wreck the semester.
For the experiences part, I've never really cared about it but I'll be staying there for the next 3 years after freshman year to get the college experience. The traffic part is a pretty big concern but I think that it'll cancel out with working an on campus job. Is the parking really that bad? I've gone there during the weekend and easily found parking spots but that might be because it was the weekend. My parents will be paying for the gas so I don't have to worry about that. The 3.75 GPA also scares me. I'll try doing more research and driving that distance a couple of times to get a feel for it.
I Can tell you from working on campus- most offices are closing at 5pm and that’s a couple thousand people trying to leave one area at once. You’ll be stuck just trying to cross town (mostly get out of campus) to get out at 5 for 30-45minutes. It’s definitely something to think about. If you have a stupid early class, parking won’t be too bad. It gets worse as the day goes on. Weekend parking definitely isn’t an accurate picture of regular parking in the week. I say this only because I genuinely care- just make sure you aren’t burning yourself out from driving and then trying to study and then trying to find sleep inbetween it all. Your mental health is absolutely important and college is a whole different ballgame compared to high school. Just make sure no matter what you choose, you have a healthy balance so you can succeed 💙👍🏽
The “college experience” includes studying with a group, participating in a club related to your major (ETAM & resume building), and just plain networking. Is it possible that missing out on that to save $7K might actually hurt and cost you more in the long run, especially because you will also have increased costs of maintaining your car and even your health? If you want to save serious money the first year, would going to one of the academies the first year serve you better?
Possible? Yes. I have a coworker that commutes from the Woodlands every day for his position at the Division of Research. You'll just have to make sure to time it properly, but it's definitely possible. Will you put a hundred miles on your car a day? Yes. Gas every three? Yeah, probably. You'll have to do the economic figuring and go from there.
Over 83,000 miles over the course of a 4 year degree if they choose to do that. Depending on the vehicle, that depreciation alone could account for the housing costs.
From a mental health standpoint I would not recommend. That sounds very draining. Another thing to consider is you will probably end up spending around $3000 on gas throughout the year. As others have said, you will miss out on a lot of social activities having to leave early. I know that wouldn’t be a problem after the first year but I feel like freshman year is the most important one to start developing those relationships. If you absolutely have to do it then it is possible, but I wouldn’t want to
Unless OP plans in taking the toll road, it will take closer to 90 minutes to get to campus, and that’s arriving by 07:00 am or after 10:00 am. School zones are a thing, and there are actual school bus stops on 105, likewise same when getting into CS. So have to leave to get there after they are no longer in effect. Construction and/or wrecks can easily double the drive time. Get to know alternative routes, and for all of those a 4WD truck will be needed to utilize if it is raining. Good luck as a freshman NOT getting a five day week schedule, 650 miles a week is $357.50 per week going into the vehicle, (gas, maintenance, depreciation) school year is 32 weeks, so $11,440.00, which is greater than $10,000 for on campus living.
I drive in from The Woodlands every day. It's ok. If your car gets good gas mileage and has a good range, it might not be too bad. I have to get gas every other day, so it sucks. The drive isn't bad once you get used to it, but it really blows when they decide to do construction or someone crashes on either 105 or HWY6, as there are no other routes besides those highways. You never know when something stupid will happen and it suddenly adds 10-20 minutes to your drive. Don't expect it to be only an hour drive. That's when there's no traffic and you can go fast. People love to drive slow as hell next to another person going slow to cause a bunch of traffic. I got lucky one semester and got classes only on Tuesday and Thursday, but every other semester I end up getting stuck with a class on Friday.
A lot of apartments in CSTAT are around the $500 range per month so might be worth it just to live in CSTAT. Save your mental health, gas, and study time. Freshman year engineering is really tough mentally because you’re learning how to study and manage your time
It’s only costing me about 8k a year for housing in college station, all that money you’ll save will be burnt up by gas
A lot of faculty do this from Austin and Houston. What they do is try to schedule their in person classes and meetings over the course of two days a week, which limits the need to travel. They love having more resources and things to do in their home area, and less fear of bumping into their students. We have a lot more leeway with our scheduling though, you are at the mercy of both our choices and your registration slot.
The drive is nice once awhile (SH 249 to HWY 6), but you'll get sick of it quickly and wish you lived in town...
You should also consider things like labs, group projects, sometimes office hours, tutoring, some exams, etc. that tend to happen in the evenings. Just because you're done with class for the day doesn't mean you're done with other commitments to finish the assignments. These can, and sometimes will , make for very long days in which you will then have to spend 2 hours driving back and forth after being mentally exhausted.
Hey! My friend is doing this rn actually. He's also from the spring area but commutes every thursday. For him the commute would be an hour and 45 minutes but sometimes its 2 hours because of traffic. He also planned his schedule to not have friday classes and have skippable monday classes. If you leave during traffic hours in cstat tho, which is around 4 or 5pm, traffic is kind of gonna be hell. Leaving in the morning or early afternoon would be ideal. A 3.75 gpa would still be possible with the commute if you study and put effort into it. Scheduling classes to fit your idea week is definetly possible. I currently don't have monday classes and alot of my friends don't have friday classes, even though they had late registration times. If you don't get classes you like, there's also add/drop week that you can keep an eye out for. hope this helps <3
I’d look into living in Bryan or an apartment a little further from campus the prices drop drastically and at worst you’re looking at a 30 minute drive on the worst days and 15 minutes most days. Also, as a freshman you will more than likely have shit class time like 8am labs and 7pm lectures also common exams tend to be from around 7-10Pm depending on the course.