Commuting while in DS?

[r4nb]

---

Members don't see this ad.

For all those who have been accepted into dental school, congrats!

For students who will be attending their state schools, will you be commuting? If so, do you have any concerns in doing this?

Thanks!

 

[CedarZ4]

For all those who have been accepted into dental school, congrats!

For students who will be attending their state schools, will you be commuting? If so, do you have any concerns in doing this?

Thanks!

I guess it really depends on how far you are from school. Dental students I've talked to said to make sure your commute is under 20 minutes, otherwise you'll waste a lot of time just getting to and from school. Especially your D1 and D2, time is very crucial. One student told me you'll be lucky if you have time to... well... #2. There's a thread I read where someone was mentioning something about not getting a chair cause of traffic too. And you don't want to be late for class, tests, etc.

I'm not going to my state school, but I'd say if you are more than 30 minutes one-way, definitely consider renting a apartment or something closer to campus.

 

[qnzbabi91]

I am going to my state school and the commute is 1 hour and 40 minutes from my house. Hence, I am living on campus. I plan to come home every weekend.

 

[Msmouth]

I will be commuting 30 min each way. My husband and I own a home and have 2 children so obviously moving is not an option for me. I have an aunt that lives closer to school so I might crash at her place and/or a friends apartment from time to time when things get rough. There are also traffic issues so I will be leaving super early and just arrive way before class begins. It's not ideal but I'll make it work somehow.

 

[Bobby Fischer]

26 minutes each way. Same as Msmouth I have a home and other 'obligations' which preclude moving.

I'll leave home approx. 6am and leave school approx. 10pm everyday. I'll avoid traffic. Not ideal especially because I am NOT A MORNING PERSON but I have done it before for a number of years while in grad school.

Ideally I would be 22 years old, no kids, no home, no 'obligations' and I would move to an apartment across the street from the school. Not going to happen. I'll make the best of it though. It's going to be grand!

 

[predent12]

I'll be commuting too, probably 30-40 minutes of driving, plus I'll have to park my car and take a bus most likely since parking is hard at my school. But I'd rather come home to my boyfriend every night, then see him only on the weekends and spend unnecessary money on an additional apartment.

I'm sure things will be busy, but I don't believe that they will be as crazy as the rumors make them sound. That's ridiculous, you don't even have time to go to the bathroom? Maybe if you don't keep up with your work and you have to load up the days leading to the exam... but that's your own fault!

 

[Dent22519]

Honestly, it depends. I live about 30 min away from my state school and know I can easily save around 80k over 4 years on rent and food. However, I've lived at home for a little while now and I'm going insane. I think it depends on the relationship you have with your parents and how much you like being on your own and independent. For me, 80k is worth my sanity and independence although I realize that it will be 160k down the road in interest. I really wish my situation was different so I could save money, but unfortunately it's not. So I'm looking into an apartment closer to the school, which will be good because I've heard parking is challenging on campus.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

During my time at UTSD in Houston, I lived in a suburb on the south side of town because Idon't like living in the city. My commute on a perfect day was around 25 mnutes, on an average day 40-45 min and an a bad day 60-75 min each way. Would I rather have not commuted so I had extra time? Yes, but does that mean I would have changed things if I had the chance to do it all over again? No! Even though the commute took away from time studying, time in the lab, etc., I enjoyed where I lived. It was nice to escape the city. Did my grades suffer? No! I didn't do as well in my first semester as I know I could have, but in no way was that due to the commuting. That was due to not having been in school for 9 years and not knowing how to study. After that, i did extremely well until I determined I didn't want to specialize. At that point I just relaxed and didn't worry about being near the top of the class and competing with those who wanted to specialize.

So, my point is commuting isn't necessarily fun, but if you have circumstances that prevent you from living near the school or like my case where you loved where you lived then commuting is still possible while doing well in school. Just make sure that is what you want to do!

 

[user101]

im getting an apt 1/2 mile away from school..so I can enjoy the walk instead of driving.

if my state school accepts me i'll prob live with my parents (only 20min drive)

 

[suarez 7]

I'm a D1 and I commute each way from home ~45min, mostly highway with no traffic. I don't believe I would have achieved higher grades if I lived closer.
It's nice since I don't have to worry about food and rent since all that is taken care of.
I would encourage all those possible to commute to their school if they are a reasonable distance away. Don't fork over $60-100k extra to your 4-year tuition just for "convenience."
It's easy to say now as a pre-dent that you have no time to commute, but myself and others can say that commuting will not ruin your schedule and study time.

 

[dchoi]

I'm moving away from home and still going to commute 20 minutes each way because I'm going to live with a friend attending another school. If it's too much, I will move D2 year!

 

[r4nb]

Thanks for your input guys!

I too will be commuting, 45 mins one way without traffic. I plan on leaving very early to make it to class and leaving very late in the evening - all in an effort to avoid traffic. I was just worried if this is feasible, or if it would make my grades suffer.

Good to know that I'm not alone. It's also comforting to know that some of you have already finished at least a year of dental school doing this without much problems.

 

[dantemac]

If you're in a city, decide if parking and tolls/gas is worth it - maybe public transit is cheaper. If you're not in a city, commuting will probably be easier if your school has a lot for cars. A lot of people at my school take a commute under an hour.

 

[jeffity]

You just adjust and make it happen if that's what you're doing. I'm 35-45 minutes away with carpool. Without, it would easily be an hour or more. And I have to be there at 7AM every Tuesday and Thursday for an exam/quiz. Half way through D1 and it hasn't been a big deal. If I were to drive alone, I'd just spread out my start and leave times and utilize the library more. I lucked out with the carpool; the review sessions on exam/quiz days have really saved me a couple of times. And sometimes the decompression on the way home is good. This week we start doing dental decks during the drive.

Use of the lab on your off time might be annoying if you have to drive in. I just keep a minimal set of instruments at home if I want to take lab stuff home.

Social life with classmates might be lame if you care about that sort of thing.

 

[BWG]

Same as others. 25min with a mortgage and 2 kids, so i'll just have to deal with it.