What is your commute like?

[hope4baylor]

I'm already racking my brain about what schools to choose and such. I'm hoping to get into a school in South Florida where my boyfriend and I can live with family to save money. Stats wise, I should be able to get into all 3 schools. Their house is driving distance to three PT schools.

Nova is about 5 minutes away (aka I could ride a bike if I wanted), REALLY expensive, I wasn't especially impressed by it and would prefer more of an academic atmosphere

FIU is about 30 minutes away, cheaper but still expensive (~70k more if tuition rises), they don't include gross anatomy in the curriculum and I was really UNimpressed visiting. Mostly because the person I had a meeting with just didn't show after I'd driven to Miami from Tampa to see schools.

UM is about 45 minutes, up to an hour, away. Expensive (~90k) but tuition is locked in. I LOVED UM and this would be by far my top choice if I could live near it. It's also my goal to live/work in Miami after school and forever.

Obviously, I can't turn down free room&board. I'd also like to work maybe 10 hours a week if I can (freelance paralegal stuff, maybe teach fitness classes) so, obviously, living closer to school would help free up time there.

What do you think? Anyone have a long commute that's worth it?

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[AlanWattsBlues]

I'm quickly learning that my commute (about 45min - 1 hr: Front Door to School Seat) is not nearly as bad as I'd feared.

In the mornings, it's just about the most peaceful part of my day. It's a daily ritual where I can be alone with coffee, an open highway and my thoughts.

The trip home is far less magical. I'm tired. Often hungry. I want to be home. And I have to time it right in order to not hit traffic. But still, it's not as bad as I'd imagined....A human being can get used to almost anything.

I would recommend you consider at least these things:

• The Entire Commute: it won't just be what google says...Parking at universities can be a pain, and walking to where classes are held can also add a hassle. If the commute is a sticking point, you might want to talk to some current students to get a sense of the realities of it. Bad parking options might make these programs more comparable wrt the commute.
• Your mileage: Crack open excel and plug some numbers....the miles of the trip there x 2, the days of the week commuting, the weeks of the year in school, the price of gas and the mileage on your car. You can play with these things to get a sense of what a longer commute will add to your monthly overhead and total indebtedness. If you factor commute in, then living at home might not be as great a deal as it seems at first glance.

 

[Lolawashere]

I attend UM and know of several people that commute from homestead, hollywood area, and a lot of the professors even commute from boca. As long as you leave before 7 am, traffic doesn't seem to be a deterrent. However the afternoon traffic is something that is unavoidable unless you leave before 4 pm or after 6pm. They all seem to make it work without too much complaint. An important decision about your career shouldn't be determined by the length of your commute. You can do it!

 

[DesertPT]

I'm quickly learning that my commute (about 45min - 1 hr: Front Door to School Seat) is not nearly as bad as I'd feared.

In the mornings, it's just about the most peaceful part of my day. It's a daily ritual where I can be alone with coffee, an open highway and my thoughts.

The trip home is far less magical. I'm tired. Often hungry. I want to be home. And I have to time it right in order to not hit traffic. But still, it's not as bad as I'd imagined....A human being can get used to almost anything.

I would recommend you consider at least these things:

• The Entire Commute: it won't just be what google says...Parking at universities can be a pain, and walking to where classes are held can also add a hassle. If the commute is a sticking point, you might want to talk to some current students to get a sense of the realities of it. Bad parking options might make these programs more comparable wrt the commute.
• Your mileage: Crack open excel and plug some numbers....the miles of the trip there x 2, the days of the week commuting, the weeks of the year in school, the price of gas and the mileage on your car. You can play with these things to get a sense of what a longer commute will add to your monthly overhead and total indebtedness. If you factor commute in, then living at home might not be as great a deal as it seems at first glance.

Excellent reply, I totally agree.

I spend almost an hour and a half to get to school each day right now because it's 30 miles from where I live in solid city rush hour and I park and get on a campus shuttle bus near my house, which takes an hour just for the bus ride. If I drove every day though, I really wouldn't save much time because the traffic is insane if you don't use the carpool lane, and I would be doing a little over 300 miles a week for school, which even in a fairly economical car ends up being probably $700 in gas over a semester, not to mention another 5,000 miles put on the car/tires. So if you live in an urban area and there are those kinds of considerations to make.

Nevertheless, spending a couple hours a day traveling isn't that bad if you can find some way to make it at least a little bit productive (books on tape? recorded lectures?). If you're on a bus or something of course you have more opportunity to study.