Commuting or Live Close By?

[sweetdaises2000]

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Hello all,
Just wanted to get some feedback concerning students' living situations-who will either be starting dental school, or are in dental school currently-this forum tends to be more active so I decided to post here.
For those who had the option to go to school about 30 min from home, or even a shorter distance, did you/would you decide to commute or get a place close by? I currently have a reserved apartment on the school's campus, but haven't officially moved in yet-or paid the rent for the first month. If I chose to stay in the apartment, I would be paying about 9k a year in living expenses, versus just paying about 1k for gas/parking if I commuted from home. I was enthusiastic about the option of living right on campus because of the difficulty of the first and second year curriculum-but upon looking at the numbers and learning more about loans, I'm really trying to examine whether spending that 9k is worth the convenience...
There is also a student who will be a second yr at my school that lives in my surburb-about 20 min away from me and commutes as well.
So I guess what I'm weighing is convenience/difficulty of curriculum vs. saving thousands per year.
Would love to hear from students who have finished first year, incoming students' plans, etc...
Thanks guys!

 

[lmaozedong1]

I'm going to live within two blocks of my school. I'm gonna do that for the first year so I can get used to the area, but then I'll weigh my options after that.

 

[Freeskier02]

I'm going to live within two blocks of my school. I'm gonna do that for the first year so I can get used to the area, but then I'll weigh my options after that.

I decided to do the same thing. I live about 10 blocks from school, takes me about 20 min to walk or 5 min to bike. For me, the extra money I spend for a place closer to campus, negates the money I'd have to spend on another car payment (I share a car with my wife). It's awesome because we're so close to school and downtown, so we're always in the middle of the action. I have some friends that live in a suburb just outside of campus, but they're always coming to our place because we're close to everything! I didn't realize how important living in a good location was for me, because I'm loving it. Maybe in a year it won't bother me to commute a little bit to have cheaper rent, but right now it's awesome getting to know the city and all the fruits it has to offer.

 

[txlonghorn]

I know a few people that commute about 40 minutes or more from UTDB that make it work. During my interview there, the professor interviewing me told me that he had two students that commuted from Port Arther that graduated at the top the class. Crazy!

 

[txaggie03]

I will be commuting 40 min, one way. We really like the pre-school my son is with, and it will be a closer commute for my wife to her work. At least she will be able to pick up our little monster and spend some quality time with him instead of sitting in traffic.

My understanding is that Baylor records lectures. I plan (we'll see how long it actually lasts though) to relisten to the pertinent lectures on the drive. I am also planning on staying at school to study and let traffic die down before going home in the evening. It sucks, but it is only temporary.

 

[sweetdaises2000]

I know a few people that commute about 40 minutes or more from UTDB that make it work. During my interview there, the professor interviewing me told me that he had two students that commuted from Port Arther that graduated at the top the class. Crazy!

Regarding the commuters from Port Arthur, thats crazy! I live in Pearland so I'm closer to the medical center actually. Really starting to wonder if I should just get used to the commute since I will be doing so 3rd and 4th year anyways-I had originally planned to go from home for those years since its so heavy on clinic and less on didactics. If these students can do it successfully, so can I...right? Just have to lock myself in the guest room at home and study into the wee hours of the morning...like I did in high school...lol...

 

[sweetdaises2000]

I'm going to live within two blocks of my school. I'm gonna do that for the first year so I can get used to the area, but then I'll weigh my options after that.

This was my original plan, but I'm from Houston,where I would be attending school, so really wondering if the learning curve is that steep that I should save myself 1-2 hrs commuting each day? Especially if I just stay after like txaggie suggested and hit the books till rush hour dies down....The less loan money taken out, the better right?

 

[lmaozedong1]

This was my original plan, but I'm from Houston,where I would be attending school, so really wondering if the learning curve is that steep that I should save myself 1-2 hrs commuting each day? Especially if I just stay after like txaggie suggested and hit the books till rush hour dies down....The less loan money taken out, the better right?

Well I guess it depends on how much money. I'll be spending about $150 more, but to me that's worth it.

 

[dantemac]

Instead of paying, on loan money or your own money, for the extra square footage closer to campus, save it for the square footage in your future practice 🙂