I have the option of living alone or with roommates. I've never lived with roommates, and I'll be going to med school in a new state. Will I be missing out on making friends/connections if I don't have roommates? Or does that not matter?
If you could do it all over again: would you live alone or with roommates?
- Thread starter JermanH
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You can always live with a roommate for the first year and then get your own place the second year and onwards until you graduate. That way you can get settled in with a good group of people and then once you are branched out at the end of the first year you can live in your own place.
That being said, I lived with a roommate for the first year and I'm living with a roommate again. However, I would be totally fine if I had my own place. I was not comfortable having my own place the first year since I wanted a roommate in the class which would make it easier to meet new people.
Good luck!
That being said, I lived with a roommate for the first year and I'm living with a roommate again. However, I would be totally fine if I had my own place. I was not comfortable having my own place the first year since I wanted a roommate in the class which would make it easier to meet new people.
Good luck!
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Definitely roommates, they kept me sane and out of my head during the many stressful times.
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I live alone and have had no problems getting to know my classmates. I also lived alone for my last year of undergrad and during my gap year, and I prefer having the freedom to do whatever I want (e.g. studying until 3 AM) without it affecting others.
unless its subjective and varies from person to person. you should ask yourself, can you live with a roommate (did you live with roomate with college, how was that for you and etc)
make pros and cons
Pros: save money, you dont feel alone, and list goes on
Con: not complete freedom of what you want to do. You can have a ****ty roommate. and etc list goes on.
P.S i lived by myself and i overall enjoyed it. Having to use my own bathroom was one of the best experience.
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I love my roommates. It helps me save money, I live in a nicer place than I could on my own, and it helps make me get out and enjoy life. My first roommates were not med students. My current roommates are med students. Both had pros and cons.
Probably depends on how introverted/extroverted you are.
Living alone was the best decision for me. I love having a room to myself and not having to worry about coming home and having to deal with someone else (not in a bad way, but just to have to be around someone else after a long day). I'm super particular so I don't have to worry about their cleanliness or habits and if I want to let myself go and be a slob during test week, I can do that just fine. I love living alone in medical school and I wouldn't give that up for anything.
That being said, for certain types of people, living alone would be terrible for their well-being, especially for the more extroverted people.
Ultimately it comes down to you and your personality and how comfortable you'd be living with or without roommates.
Living alone was the best decision for me. I love having a room to myself and not having to worry about coming home and having to deal with someone else (not in a bad way, but just to have to be around someone else after a long day). I'm super particular so I don't have to worry about their cleanliness or habits and if I want to let myself go and be a slob during test week, I can do that just fine. I love living alone in medical school and I wouldn't give that up for anything.
That being said, for certain types of people, living alone would be terrible for their well-being, especially for the more extroverted people.
Ultimately it comes down to you and your personality and how comfortable you'd be living with or without roommates.
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Agreed. There are two major benefits to living with roommates. One is reduced cost, which is inarguable, while the other is companionship, which is really hit or miss. You're taking a gamble every time you live with a random roommate (and they're taking a gamble on you too). If your roommate ends up being nice and becomes your friend while also being relatively clean and quiet and stuff, it can be a huge benefit, especially in an environment like medical school which is pretty intense and can drive you insane at times. One of my 2 roommates is my classmate and probably my closest friend at school and it has worked out very well, fortunately.
On the other hand, having a bad roommate can really put a damper on things. I would imagine the chances are less with medical students but you'd be surprised about all the stories you'll hear about messy or rude or downright weird people, even in med school. Living alone has a lot of benefits that are hard to overlook -- total privacy, you can keep the place as neat/dirty as you want, as quiet/loud as you want, you can set up everything the way you like, you're in full control of the thermostat, chores, etc. There are a bunch of small things that come up when you live with other people like arguing over the temperature or doing laundry at midnight or not helping out with chores that can be a source of frustration.
If you can afford it and you feel like you'll be able to still have fun with classmates without having them as roommates, then live alone. If you'd like to save money and have the companionship of another classmate or two, then live with roommates. See how it goes the first year and then adjust accordingly for later years.
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I'm an introvert. I enjoy my alone time doing whatever tf I want.
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A good roommate is a marginal social and moderate financial plus.
A bad roommate is a huge social and moderate financial minus.
Cancel the two like terms, you're left with marginal "hey how are you" upside versus huge downside...and almost everyone has a horror story about some weirdo roommate doing something incredibly dangerous/illegal/ridiculous/rude. Unless you are good at picking roommates, living alone clear choice.
A bad roommate is a huge social and moderate financial minus.
Cancel the two like terms, you're left with marginal "hey how are you" upside versus huge downside...and almost everyone has a horror story about some weirdo roommate doing something incredibly dangerous/illegal/ridiculous/rude. Unless you are good at picking roommates, living alone clear choice.
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Live alone year one and see if you enjoy it. Enjoy it? Stay solo. Don’t enjoy it? Well hopefully you made some friends during the year and can move in with one or more of them. This strategy pretty much eliminates the bad roommate scenario since you know what the people are like going in and have hopefully hung out at their place.
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My Mother always said "A good friend isn't always a good roommate."
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Your mother is right! My best friend and I became roommates, then we didn't like each other. Then we lived a part and we became best firends again!
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I am literally having this same dilemma! I am very extroverted and when I am alone or don't have social interaction for too long I get sad. Socializing gives me energy after a long day. BUT I have roommates now (random people) and while it started off good we now all hate each other and fight over everything making the environment VERY stressful at home to the point that I would like to try living by myself for med school. So yes take personality into account BUT you can always call your close friends from home if you get lonely and if you are extroverted you will have no problem making friends in med school.
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I've had my fair share of roomates early in undergrad, and it always ended up in a disaster. After a few weeks, I find out the person has some severe mental issues, or is involved with some shady stuff and invites shady people over.
I've been living alone for some years now and it's absolutely the best. I can do literally anything, anytime. It does get kind of lonely, so I make sure to spend some time outside my apartment as well.
I've been living alone for some years now and it's absolutely the best. I can do literally anything, anytime. It does get kind of lonely, so I make sure to spend some time outside my apartment as well.
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I hate living alone, it's really a personal preference
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I think I've commented on this topic before.
You can always invite people over. You can't ask roommates to leave.
You can always invite people over. You can't ask roommates to leave.
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If you've never had roommates, I think the start of med school is a really bad time to figure out whether it's the right thing for you. As for socializing/friendships, I think having FB or some other social media is probably more important than living with someone.
^^ Ditto
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Is it even possible to live alone if your school is in a big city? My income will be solely from student loans, and living expenses will be roughly 20,000 a year. 1 bed / studios at the city I'm moving to average around 1,000 a month, so half my expenses would be on rent alone...just seems like a financially stupid decision.
