Considering optometry school while raising a family

[ajliles3]

Without going into my history, except to say that I did not get accepted into optometry school the first time around, I'd like to get some feedback from those in optometry school.
I'm 31, married and have two kids under the age of 4. I live 1.5 hr away from the closest optometry school. Am I absolutely crazy for considering applying for school?? Has anyone else commuted that far to and from school? More importantly, has anyone else gone through optometry school with 2 babies and a husband?
Please don't hold back.. I'm open to thoughts, suggestions, opinions (whether positive or negative).

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[percyeye]

The 1.5 hour drive would probably be too far.

We had multiple guys (mostly LDS) who had kids during Optometry school. But their wives did not work so it made watching the kids easier. And I know of one girl who had a kid during school.

It's do-able but will be difficult.

 

[Snakedoctor1]

Several of my close friends had kids during optometry school (all of them male, however). That worked because their wives weren't working. We all lived about four blocks from school though. I strongly suggest you think several times before thinking you can deal with that kind of commute. I had one classmate who commuted about an hour, but she stayed the night with classmates pretty frequently.

 

[Ryan_eyeball]

Every situation is different and you'll have to decide what'll work best for you. Personally I wouldn't live more than 30 minutes from OD including factoring in traffic. If you forget something or have to go in for extra practice those trips will start to wear on you. I believe it would be much more difficult for female optometry students to have kids in school than males. best of luck to you!

 

[bigred]

Most people in this situation would fail out of school and blame it on some external factor. In order to succeed your entire family will have to be committed to four years of you becoming an optometrist. That commitment would start with living a reasonable distance from the school. Another big hurdle is all involved must agree that others will need to fill your shoes as mom while you study, practice, and attend school. At times optometry school is like a 60 hour a week job. Others it’s a 20 hour job. Regardless, you need to be prepared for 60 and welcome the breaks when they come. Good luck.

 

[ABaverage]

I was single during optometry school and am now a mother. I do not believe I could have survived optometry school with the demands of the home and children. The commute is just an added stressor. I agree that if you want to go to optometry school, you will need a lot of help. I lived 25 minutes away from school and that's about the longest distance people would have commuted. Many students did it for one year and decided they wanted to be right down the street from school, so many will move closer. 1.5 hours would have been unheard of.