Anyone nervous about commuting?

[pumpkinpatch]

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...I know I am! It's about 45 minutes in the middle of the day, so when I leave it'll probably be close to an hour each way. It's about 35 miles away and traffic really isn't too bad in this direction, but what I'm really worried about is when winter comes. I've heard parking is an issue at my school, so I'm not looking forward to that either.

I'll be recording lectures to listen to on the ride, which will at least mean I'm not completely wasting two hours a day. But I'm guessing that commuting will make me even more exhausted each day on top of getting used to a rigorous new curriculum, and it'll take away from my sleeping/studying/relaxing time.

Has anyone been through this? Is it really not too bad or is it worse than I'm thinking? Anyone else feeling anxiety over their new commute?

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

Is it possible to take a train? I did that for a solid month (plus an additional 1-2 times every month anyway), and while I had to get up early and had to pay for the train tickets, it was a great use of time (napping or studying). My commute was about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes via train (depending on if it was an express or not). I don't know how I'd feel about driving, which would have been an hour each way, especially with gas prices and the winter :/ Plus, I'd be worried I'd be too exhausted.

 

[pumpkinpatch]

No, I wish there was, but I'm in the suburbs commuting away from the city into the cornfields... as far as I know, driving is really the only way to get there from where I live.

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

Wait time out....cornfields, from suburbs commuting away from the city....any chance you're going to NIU? lol. If so, I know people who commute there from Geneva for undergrad, and I think I worked with a guy who lived in the Wheaton area who started PT school out there last year. I took the Metra into the city every day, but you're right, it would only get you to Elburn, assuming you're on that train line anyway.

Where are you commuting from? (You can just PM me if you don't want to tell the whole board. lol). Dekalb is pretty cheap as far as apartments are concerned, so you could probably find something that would be cheap enough to be no more expensive than what you'll spend on gas money, unless you're tied to staying where you are for family/personal reasons. If you're not going to NIU, disregard this message.

 

[pumpkinpatch]

Haha, nice guesswork! Yes, I am going to NIU. I live in Aurora, but I'm pretty far east, I'm basically in Naperville. I did think about living out there. It would really just be extra money I'm spending, though, because my parents are gracious enough to let me use their car and help me out with gas money... if I got an apartment, it would be an extra $400 or so a month that I would have to spend. I'm lucky enough to be able to pay for the whole three years with my savings and subsidized loans, but in order to do that my budget is pretty tight so I would definitely need to take out extra loans for an apartment. And, I know this is kind of a dumb reason to not get an apartment, but I really don't want to live by myself! After all the weird things that have happened at NIU I'd be nervous living alone, and obviously I haven't met any of my classmates yet...

I'd also like to make this arrangement work because my boyfriend and I are pretty serious, and it seems like marriage is in the not too distant future for us. He works in Oakbrook though, and where I live right now is basically already the halfway point between DeKalb and Oakbrook, so I know I'll be making this commute at some point anyway.

My thinking was that the cons of getting an apartment outweighed the cons of commuting. I found out an old friend of mine is living around there next year so I know I have a place to crash if the weather is really awful. My brother actually goes there (he lives in a frat though, I'm definitely not staying there unless it's absolutely necessary) and due to some health issues he will probably have to commute with me as well for the first month or so, so it works out nicely with that.

I'm hoping someone out there has some words of encouragement... has anybody done this successfully? I've been dreading this part of PT school for a while, so I'm trying to boost my confidence that I made the right choice so I can actually be excited about starting in a few weeks.

[Worst case scenario, if I find that I absolutely loathe commuting, I guess I could move over winter break, which would be before winter gets too bad anyway. For the time being though, I'm really hoping this arrangement works out.]

 

[DancerFutureDPT]

I was going to say you definitely can always change your mind and move there if necessary, so you're not 100% committed to commuting the whole year. I commute to NIU every once in awhile from the Geneva area to take dance classes or visit people, and I usually just go straight up Roosevelt/38/Lincoln Highway/whatever you want to call it...it's a pretty painless drive, especially as you get closer to the campus...and the speed limits are fairly high (but be careful - my brother also went to NIU and he got pulled over one night doing 85 in a 50 lol). I think it's totally manageable. Just make sure you have a good playlist too incase you decide you need something refreshing after a day of lectures and don't want to listen to the lecture recordings.

and you're so lucky your parents are being so generous!!

 

[pumpkinpatch]

Oh my god, I know. They are being SO helpful; tuition and books are all on me but they help me out with the car, gas and groceries, which reduces my living expenses basically to zero. I'm really grateful and lucky.

Thanks dancer for your words of encouragement!

 

[johncronejr]

I am so grateful that I live across the street from the campus and that the PT building is a leisurely 10 minute stroll from my front door.

Honestly, I wouldn't do a two hour daily commute. I have heard too much of the first years spending nights and weekends in the gross anatomy lab or in study groups. I would have to miss out on so much of that if I lived an hour away. To me, the price of an apartment and expenses very close to the school would be well worth the money to not miss out on the study groups and to avoid the bad weather or break downs.

To each their own though.

 

[TheOx777]

I certainly don't look forward to a commute time for the didactic portion of PT school. I found an apartment very close to the medical campus specifically for this reason. Also, I do not currently have the luxury of a car so that played a part in my decision making process, and more importantly one of the most common pieces of advice from students in my program is to find a spot as close to campus as possible. In their words, "A long day is made even longer with a commute more than 20 minutes." If you have to do it then I imagine you just suck it up and get on with it though!