Commuting

[Longcatislong]

Does anybody go to school full time and commute more than 30minutes from home to class?

I am thinking about attending a formal post-bacc program which is apprx a 50-60min commute from my apartment. I could move closer to the school, but I just love my current place too much

Is a one hour commute ridiculous when taking a full load of science prereqs?

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[Helen Wheels]

Will you be working, too? If you are also working full time or nearly full time hours at a job that might make the longer commute more of a problem. If you are only doing the post bac I don't think it is a big issue. Also, for your commute will you be driving or taking public transportation? If you are riding on a bus, say, you can use that time to study.

 

[Longcatislong]

No, I won't be working. I'll probably be doing 5-10 hours of volunteer work per week though. Also, I will be driving. So no studying while on public transit for me

 

[spiderpete]

Does anybody go to school full time and commute more than 30minutes from home to class?

I am thinking about attending a formal post-bacc program which is apprx a 50-60min commute from my apartment. I could move closer to the school, but I just love my current place too much

Is a one hour commute ridiculous when taking a full load of science prereqs?

I did it last year. 60-75 min commute. I have a small horse farm outside Chicago and it wasn't practical to uproot my wife and elementary school aged kids.

My advice is arrange your timing to avoid traffic, and use at least one leg of the commute for studying. I recorded lectures and played them back and used mcat CDs.

gl

 

[Eik Ooc]

I missed a quiz today because I was stuck in traffic. I was up all night studying for it. So not only did I miss the quiz but I lost a day of mental acuity.

At least you're not planning to work. I'm balancing both work and school. I don't have any wiggle room in my schedule for anything unexpected.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I'm currently working full-time while taking 7 credits worth of graduate classes in another city. My commute is 1.5- 2 hrs depending on traffic & weather, but only 2-3 times/wk.

It gets interesting sometimes. I've had some weather related issues getting to class on time, once late turning in an assigment that was due at the beginning of lecture, but the prof was great about it since the snowfall was definitely bad.

I think what you're asking about is doable. I would try and make the time in the car productive even if you're driving. Walk through things in your head, or tape record lectures to listen to. If you feel comfortable with some sort of hands free phone device you could maybe have a friend quiz you while you drive.

I'd make sure your profs know you're commuting at the beginning of the semester just in case you run into trouble. I just sent out an email saying, "hey I'm a student commuting from X, in the event highways get closed how would you like me to handle turning the homework in (is email acceptable?) etc." That way it doesn't look like you're springing it on them as an excuse last minute and you've got email documentation of what their expectations are.

Some of the other downsides I've encountered are not being able to participate in group study sessions w/classmates and other on campus activities (more due to my work schedule).

Good luck.

 

[familyaerospace]

I'm 1.5 to 2 hours from my school as I live in the middle of nowhere.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

i live about a 20 min drive from school, maybe 10-15 when traffic is good. I drive 30 min away so i can park and take public transportation into the school so i can pay about a fifth to a sixth of the cost of on-campus parking. probably an hour transit time in total.

 

[ariah09]

My commute was about 1.5 hours last semester. It's definitely something you shouldn't do with semi-early class if you're not a morning person. I had to use 2 forms forms of public transit to get there which could sometimes get unreliable.

 

[startoverat40]

what about in medical school? Is it advisable to live on campus or very close by?

 

[cabinbuilder]

what about in medical school? Is it advisable to live on campus or very close by?

Not all medical schools have campus housing since it is a graduate school. Depends on where you go. You practically live there during your 2 yrs in class, I personally wouldn't want to live there too.

 

[mckittenplan]

Does anybody go to school full time and commute more than 30minutes from home to class?

I am thinking about attending a formal post-bacc program which is apprx a 50-60min commute from my apartment. I could move closer to the school, but I just love my current place too much

Is a one hour commute ridiculous when taking a full load of science prereqs?

i commute about an hour each way to my post-bacc program. the driving doesn't bother me - i actually kind of enjoy the time alone to think, sort of like a really long shower, only it's the gas bill that skyrockets instead of the hot water one - but having to figure out a different route for each class time is super annoying. i never would have thought that traffic would be so different between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning.

 

[Longcatislong]

i commute about an hour each way to my post-bacc program. the driving doesn't bother me - i actually kind of enjoy the time alone to think, sort of like a really long shower, only it's the gas bill that skyrockets instead of the hot water one - but having to figure out a different route for each class time is super annoying. i never would have thought that traffic would be so different between 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning.

Do you commute to class 5 days a week? With driving 2 hours a day AND taking a full load of classes, do you find you have enough time to study?

 

[mauberley]

*shrug* The last two years of my undergrad in electrical engineering, including a couple of 16-credit semesters, I commuted 60-75 minutes either way via subway. It's not unreasonable.

 

[montessori2md]

I commuted 100 miles each way my first 2 years of med school in order to keep my family in place. Podcasts, recorded lectures.

There are no rules. There are just trade-offs for every decision you make.

Not to be snarky, but if a commute + some classes + no job = trouble, you may want to rethink whether you actually really want to do this. It's sort of time consuming, I hear.