Commuting from Hoffman Estates to UIC...? (Schaumburg, Mundelein: apartment, tech jobs, transfer)

[M. Stanescu]

I recently moved to Hoffman Estates and will be applying to grad school shortly and am considering UIC... Any advice or tips on commuting from the NW suburbs to the city would be GREATLY appreciated! I just relocated from The Detroit area where public transportation is non-existent, so I apologize for sounding naive.

Is driving to and parking on campus an option? Is it easier to drive to and park at a train station? Are there certain times I should avoid when planning first/final classes of the day? I'm trying to avoid the pricier private school option if possible, but Roosevelt is right down the street and you gotta do what you gotta do, right?

Thanks again!

[MSchemist80]

I knew a student who commuted from Schaumburg to UIC and hated it. Both I-90 and 290 are lousy during the mornings and Afternoons and 2hr each way commutes are common unless you want to hang out at on Campus until past 8PM and come in at 6AM. You might be better off just getting a room with a roommate in the area.

As for Metra you are in-between the UP-NW and MD-W and with both parking is difficult and an added expense and the station is a 25 minute walk to campus from downtown. You can also drive to Rosemont or Cumberland and take the Blue line. You will have the U-Pass for pace and the CTA whether you want it or not anyways but you will have to pay for parking daily. It will probably be a 30+ minute drive to the station then 50 minutes on the train. so again that is a long commute and studying on the L is not easy with the noise, crowds, and gyrations of the trains.

[Vlajos]

Why are you in Hoffman Estates?

[andrewesque]

You don't have a lot of good options here. I commute from Wicker Park to Hoffman Estates via public transportation daily, and it is not a fun or short trip.

Public transportation for you would be time-consuming. I do it, but almost all the PACE routes in Hoffman Estates, including the one I take, are exclusively-commuter focused (here's a map: it's a PDF) which wouldn't work with a student schedule. Metra has more regular scheduling, but it's costly and time-consuming, as you'd have to drive to the train station, take the train downtown and then take the L/bus to UIC and pay for all of these.

Driving-wise, I'm from Los Angeles and the Kennedy at rush hour rivals the 405 (of late "Carmaggedon" fame!) for misery and woe. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I really wouldn't want to drive from Hoffman Estates to UIC regularly.

Unless you absolutely have to live in Hoffman Estates, or you have only have class once or twice a week, I would really recommend trying to get a place in the city.

[pvande55]

A friend of mine who teaches there rides the train from Mundelein (a far north suburb) with a collapsible bike, gets off at Western Av, and rides the bike the remaining mile or so. It may work from HoffmanEstates as well.

[MSchemist80]

I think the closest station to Hoffman Estates is Schaumburg about a 6 mile ride so maybe 20-45 minutes by bike depending on the wind and how fast a biker you are. Then probably an hour on the train. Finally a 10 minute ride from Union Station.

[M. Stanescu]

My relationship took me here! I followed my boyfriend on his move to Hoffman Estates (who is in a doctoral program in Schaumburg)- figuring I had some time to find a school for myself. I really like our apartment and I guess I wouldn't want to make another move until I look into all of my options.

Perhaps there's another option for an environmental/physical science/biology degree at a closer school? MSchemist80, this seems right up your alley!

Thank you everyone for your responses :0

[MSchemist80]

The only 4 year in the area is Rosevelt's Schaumburg campus which I believe is primarily a night school.

You could go to a local community college for 2 years like Harper and transfer over saving quite a bit of money.

I strongly advise against getting science degrees. They have no ROI. Biology has few jobs and what jobs there are are flooded with the 50% of med students who got biology degrees but did not get into med school. Also a lot of these jobs prefer chemistry majors who often have better lab equipment skills. They are typically crappy lab tech jobs that pay as little as $10 per hour without benies.

Chemistry is also bad. The last ACS survey indicated only less than 40% of of grads (BS or MS level) are employed full time and of those half or more are in lousy dead end techie jobs in academia that pay as little as $20k. Most companies hire chemists through temp agencies which offer no benefits and pay ~$15 per hour for a project possibly a long term one that lasts years and then when things get slow they lay them all off with one phone call and no severance. You will spend years jumping from lousy contract to contract without benefits or career advancement watching your life deteriorate until you are "overqualified" and not hirable anymore. However, most science grads switch careers quite soon after they graduate.

[reedo]

How do you get from Wicker Park to Hoffman Estates. I can't seem to find any public transportation option that works. What is the combo of trains, buses, etc?

Thanks for your help

Originally Posted by andrewesque

You don't have a lot of good options here. I commute from Wicker Park to Hoffman Estates via public transportation daily, and it is not a fun or short trip.

Public transportation for you would be time-consuming. I do it, but almost all the PACE routes in Hoffman Estates, including the one I take, are exclusively-commuter focused (here's [URL="http://www.hoffmanestates.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=2793"]a map[/URL]: it's a PDF) which wouldn't work with a student schedule. Metra has more regular scheduling, but it's costly and time-consuming, as you'd have to drive to the train station, take the train downtown and then take the L/bus to UIC and pay for all of these.

Driving-wise, I'm from Los Angeles and the Kennedy at rush hour rivals the 405 (of late "Carmaggedon" fame!) for misery and woe. OK, maybe that's an exaggeration, but I really wouldn't want to drive from Hoffman Estates to UIC regularly.

Unless you absolutely have to live in Hoffman Estates, or you have only have class once or twice a week, I would really recommend trying to get a place in the city.

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Loooonnnggggg waaaaaaaaaaaaaay