How difficult is it to commute to med school?

  • Thread starter Thread starter LoveBeingHuman:)
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bananafish94 said:
I suppose it would be about a 30 minute commute and you would have to leave 30 minutes beforehand to get to school on time.
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nice lol

but to OP personally I would hate more than a 10 minute commute. that's just me though
 
LoveBeingHuman:) said:
Specifically a med school that has video lectures?

Assume 30 min travel time both ways
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Commuting is just a part of life. It's not usually hard unless you live in a mega city (NYC, LA, Chicago) or in a place with poor transportation infrastructure (Houston, Dallas).
Many, if not most, medical schools do not have dorms for students so you will need to find a place away from the campus. That often will mean commuting to class. 30 minutes is nothing just remember to add in another 15-30 mins for delays and/or parking.
 
At a recent interview I talked with a student who commutes ~60 min. each way (mostly rural/highway). He said it worked fairly easy for him, as he is a morning guy anyway, and he has just gotten used to what his schedule needs to be.
 
Half an hour isn't bad. At least for the first two years. Then when you hit the clinics and have to be there super early and leave super late, it might be more of a strain.
 
CloverBale said:
Don’t do it. I commuted all of undergrad (45-60min) drive and its such a soul-sucking drive. Not to mention a time waster. Those were two hours I could have done something else to be productive it’s
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That's what I'm worried about (the time waste.) I was thinking about a 60-minute commute myself to take some classes as a visiting student next year. I was thinking about maybe listening to lecture recordings or something, or maybe recordings of myself talking about my notes because technically the school has a policy against recording.
 
Your most valuable resource as a medical student is your time. 30 minutes isn’t *too* terrible, especially in a big city, but that’s still a lot of driving. I commute everyday to work and wish I lived closer to my job because I know I could allocate my time in a more efficient manner.
 
Drive the route on a typical weekday with the goal of arriving at 7:50 a.m. Drive it again with the goal of arriving at 5:50 a.m. (as if reporting for a surgical clerkship). I know a non-trad who bought a house with the idea that it would be an easy commute to school. Rush hour traffic was far worse than he had expected. 🙁
 
I’ve been looking at Google Maps in the mornings around 7:30 to 7:50 AM to see what traffic is like on the way to some schools I’ve been accepted to or waitlisted at. One thing I HATE about where I go to school now is that traffic is so inconsistent. One day I could get to school and be in class with time to spare within 30 minutes. Other days it could be over an hour (car accidents are a regular occurrence and I have to take the interstate, so it’s not a pleasant drive). It really drives me crazy, so I am looking for a location within a reasonable driving time for me (while my poor husband will have to commute significantly further only because he really doesn’t mind nearly as much as I do). You can use that time to your advantage if you want to listen to lectures from the day before or lessons on concepts you are having a difficult time with. I listened to khan academy on my drives. One thing I like about commuting is that I”m forced to be a lot more productive on campus and I get all my work done while I’m there. I treat it like work - when I leave, I may have a few more things I’d like to do at home, but I accomplish most of what I need to do at school. When I lived on campus, I was a bit less organized because I knew I could go back to my room if I wanted to.

That said, I’m the type of person who would ALWAYS choose location over comfort. We’ve purchased two houses and focused almost exclusively on location and we’ve done well. So we will do the same in med school. I’m happy to live in very cramped quarters to save time on my commute.


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I commuted in college but when I moved for medical school, I chose a place that's about 5 minutes from my school. So far, I have not regretted that decision. Several of my classmates have been late multiple time due to traffic, construction, etc. on their longer commutes.
 
I commute 50 minutes each way including train and walk to campus. It's totally fine. To each their own. I do flash cards, listen to Goljan lectures or watch Sketchy videos. It's only a waste of time if: 1) you have to drive and be an active participant 2) you don't use it to your advantage.
 
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