The Worst Things About Going To University In Your Hometown

For some people, the university of their dreams is thousands of miles away. For others, it is right down the road. There are things you need to know if you are planning to go to your local university, though. Here are the worst things I found about going to university in my hometown.

1. It Is Like High School All Over Again

Chances are you will not be the only person from your school going to your hometown university. Very quickly, you will realise your campus is filled with people you spent the past six years with. You can forget your dreams of leaving school and never seeing any of these people again. You have another four years with them.

2. There Is No ‘Student Life’

The thing about living at home during university is that you are not surrounded by other students all the time. You don’t get invited to the parties at halls, you don’t have flatmates constantly asking to go for nights out… Instead, you are at home watching Netflix in the Groovy Chick duvet you’ve had since you were a kid. Perfect for introverts, but not party animals.

3. People Will Judge You

There is something about not choosing to move across the world for university that people are really judgmental about. They see it as a cop-out to go to your hometown university – even if it is a fantastic campus. This attitude will get on your nerves quickly, but you will learn to ignore it.

4. Everyone Will Use You As Tourist Information

There will be a lot of people who have come from far away, possibly even other countries, to study at your hometown university. As soon as they discover you have lived in the town all your life, they will use you as a tourist information point. What is the best nightclub? Which bus takes you into the town? How much do the taxis cost? This will be your life for at least the first year.

5. There Is No Excuse For Lateness

You’ve lived in this town your whole life. You must know by now how long it takes to travel to the campus. At least, that is what your professor will say when you stroll into a lecture an hour late. On the plus side, if there is some major incident blocking your route to the campus, chances are the staff will have heard about it too.

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6. You Will Be So Bored When Everyone Else Goes Home

It is great living in the same town as your campus since a lot of your friends will be living in student accommodation around the town. The downside is that they will all go home for the summer and you will be left on your own like Hogwarts students at Christmas. Hopefully, you will have some school friends coming home from their own universities to keep you company.

7. Everyone Will Want To Come To Your House

Can you blame them? They have a tiny student flat and you have a full house with a bathtub and a garden. However, after you’ve hosted the study session once a week for a full trimester, you are going to start getting annoyed. You have a house, not a hostel. Make that clear to your classmates before they start moving in.

8. You Have No Hometown To Go Back To

If you go to your hometown university, you will not experience that homesickness the way your classmates do. This sounds like a good thing, but it means you do not have anything to look forward to during the summer break. You don’t have a home to go back to. You’ve been home the entire time – now you’re just home with nothing to do. The upside to this, of course, is that you don’t miss your family. That is a nice thing.