Help on internship living situation

[zoolander]

Looking for life experience from any former interns out there-

Anyone have to choose whether to live close to the hospital or in a neighborhood that you enjoy?

The situation:

Starting internship way uptown in NYC 7/1... could live in a giant (safe, impersonal, in a pretty safe but quiet area) apartment complex near the hospital, or stay in my cozy downtown brownstone and face a 30-40 min door-to-door subway commute every morning. I'm looking at 9 months of call during this time, but heading out to categorical elsewhere for the next year.

Anyone been through this? Wish you would have been closer or farther away?

Thanks from an upcoming intern.

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[maxheadroom]

you need to know if the subway will be running when you need it (early morning/late night). you should also consider how much you can tolerate a 30-40 minute commute each way. an extra half-hour of sleep each morning sounds pretty good to me . . .

 

[edmadison]

you need to know if the subway will be running when you need it (early morning/late night). you should also consider how much you can tolerate a 30-40 minute commute each way. an extra half-hour of sleep each morning sounds pretty good to me . . .

NYC subway runs all night. However, you can wait a long time for a train off hours.

Ed

 

[fourthyear]

I'd stay, especially if it's only a year before you move again anyway. Use the commute to do some reading, then you won't have to read when you get home. I chose to live a 30 minute drive away and, yeah, sometime I wish I could sleep another 15 minutes, but I'm so happy with my place when I am at home, that the drive is worth it.

 

[edfig99]

what's the difference in rent? if your place right now is fairly cheap, i'd say keep it and do the commute. one of my intern commutes from Brooklyn to Columbia. It's rough but with the amount of money he's saving in rent, it's well worth it to him. 'sides, some of my best sleep occurs on the subway.

 

[Apollyon]

'sides, some of my best sleep occurs on the subway.

Ever miss your stop? I did once, but a buddy of mine did it 4 times...waking up in Bed-Stuy instead of Park Slope was kind of a surprise.

 

[beyond all hope]

30-40 minutes twice a day six days a week - give yourself a break. Commute home a few times a week instead. You?re going to be pretty dead after a lot of shifts, especially post-call.

 

[edmadison]

Ever miss your stop? I did once, but a buddy of mine did it 4 times...waking up in Bed-Stuy instead of Park Slope was kind of a surprise.

OMG that's funny I have to tell this story: I'm riding the 2 or 3 train at about 9pm from midtown to home (brooklyn heights) and this family fresh off the turnip truck gets on at 14th street. You've seen them. Dad in his dockers shorts with a plaid shirt, big camera. All pale white with read hair. So they keep riding the train down town and I figure the must be going to the battery or the something. Nope, they stay in the train into the tunnel. Still, maybe they want to walk over the Brooklyn bridge. So I'm curious and say, "I sorry to bother you, but do you know where you are going?" Dad says, " We're going to Rockefeller Center". I'm thinking, want to bet?. I tell them, "Well actually you are going to Brooklyn, you got on the wrong train." "You really need to get off at the next station cross the tracks a go back to manhattan." They did so, but I don't think it would have been fun for them. I can just see it now: Wisconsin family killed in Bed Stuy.

Ed

 

[zoolander]

Hilarious re: train adventures, I can just picture it.

Thanks for all your advice on this- decided to move uptown today.

That sleep in the morning is sounding better and better, and those express trains just aren't doing it... turns out that before 6 am only one green line runs, local only, q 20 min.

Now that summer's coming it's great to avoid quality time underground with those friendly folks on the green lines.

 

[Bobblehead]

You absolutely have to like where you live. There will be days where your life as an intern will suck enough at work that coming home to an unpleasant home situation will make you want to quit. So if you absolutely love where you live stay put and find a way to make the half hour worth your while.

 

[BeefyRedEye]

Commuting sucks, especially if you have to deal with those crowded subways day in and day out. 30min x 2x/day x 300+ days = A LOT OF TIME. I would stay by Columbia if I were you. Luckily for me at Cornell my hospital is an underground tunnel away from my apartment Bed to OR in 5 minutes!