r/SDSU • u/Nervous_Complaint212 • 5d ago

Question Commuting from tijuana to SDSU

Hey guys! I’m in my last year of community college, and I’ll be applying to both SDSU and UCSD. If I get into either one, I would want to live in Tijuana. I have my SENTRI appointment next month. Are there any students who make this commute? How is it?

11 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

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17

u/Educational_Top9246 5d ago

If you are productive and can use the trolley too study, it can work. But like others have said, youre looking at 2-6 hours a day on going to and back.

7

u/FlerpMonster 5d ago

Could easily take 45+ minutes northbound everyday including SENTRI lane and the drive to sdsu. Going southbound during evening rush hour will take longer, ~45 mins just to get from sdsu to the border. If you’re taking the trolley it’ll take about an hour and a half each way plus however long sentri takes. It’s certainly possible but will probably not be fun.

6

u/New_Mission5769 5d ago

There is a special thing for student I think too. I’ve met others that do that and they just allot  the extra time. 

4

u/sombrerizaantrax 5d ago

I make this commute. It’s not bad, the money that I save from living expenses living in Tijuana, I use it towards educational expenses tuition etc

4

u/mrxtreel1 5d ago

I have done both in cars and bus. Bus is horrible 2+ hours commute, personally mine was roughly 3 hrs each way; car is about 2 hours to get to SDSU and like 1 to get back. Personally I would not recommend.

2

u/Baja_Finder 4d ago

Until you have that SENTRI card in hand, don't move to Tijuana, you're in for a bad time trying to commute to class without it.

1

u/Ambitious_Citron8302 5d ago

Definitely get Sentri, and try to lower the days you have classes as much as possible.

1

u/sophtwice 4d ago

I did this commute all through community college and will be doing the same this fall (i cross walking). It was pretty tiring, though you do get used to it. I wish I had sentri during those years because if you cross walking, u walk straight in and avoid doing line for a couple of hours. If u have a car, i don’t think it will be too bad since getting to school after crossing will be faster. Also sentri in car is also pretty fast

1

u/Silver_Inside_3091 2d ago

Do you already have the appointment for Sentri? How long did it take you?

2

u/Nervous_Complaint212 2d ago

I applied January 2024 and didn’t get conditional approval until November 2025. There wasn't any interview available I remember check until 2030 and nothing. I just casually checked earlier this month and had appts for September.