Live at Home?

[Brown429]

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I live about 4 miles away (10 minutes) from the medical school I will be going to in 2 years. I am debating whether to live @ home and save some $$, so I will have less loans. Can someone give me some advice, the only problem is finding parking, it is in a city (small). I do not know if this will be too much of a pain or doable? I do not want to be going back 3-4 times everyday.

Also, I just hate the fact of being in debt. I know I will have to get use to it...but it just sucks. I have 2 years to find some scholarships, anyone have any advice? I want to try to go to medical school with less than 50k debt coming out (ideally I would like to go for free, however its an ivy so i doubt it)

 

[inked_caduceus]

I live about 20 minutes away from school, but that's the norm where I live (Detroit - everyone commutes!) It's usually not a problem, especially considering we having streaming media lectures and some people only come in about once a month for exams and mandatory lab/letures.

 

[pillowhead]

I live about 4 miles away (10 minutes) from the medical school I will be going to in 2 years.

Out of curiousity, how do you know that you will be going to this medical school in two years? Have you already been accepted for two years down the road and got a long deferment or something?

 

[Dancing Doctor]

I live about 4 miles away (10 minutes) from the medical school I will be going to in 2 years. I am debating whether to live @ home and save some $$, so I will have less loans. Can someone give me some advice, the only problem is finding parking, it is in a city (small). I do not know if this will be too much of a pain or doable? I do not want to be going back 3-4 times everyday.

Doesn't the school have its own parking?

 

[Brown429]

it was an early acceptance, and no parking really, just street.

 

[Arsenic]

I live about 4 miles away (10 minutes) from the medical school I will be going to in 2 years. I am debating whether to live @ home and save some $$, so I will have less loans. Can someone give me some advice, the only problem is finding parking, it is in a city (small). I do not know if this will be too much of a pain or doable? I do not want to be going back 3-4 times everyday.

Also, I just hate the fact of being in debt. I know I will have to get use to it...but it just sucks. I have 2 years to find some scholarships, anyone have any advice? I want to try to go to medical school with less than 50k debt coming out (ideally I would like to go for free, however its an ivy so i doubt it)

for 10 minutes i would totally stay home and save the $$$. if we were talking about a 45 minute commute both ways then i would tell you to move closer, especially for 3rd and 4th year but 10 minutes is nothing so save your money!

 

[Dancing Doctor]

it was an early acceptance, and no parking really, just street.

If living at home won't interrupt your studies than by all means save the money. I wouldn't worry about parking too much. Most of the time classes start earlier than people are parking so you can find a spot.

 

[WhatUpDoc!]

10 mins!?!?! Are you serious??? Your parents should smack you across the head for even mentioning moving out. I'm staying at home and live about 30 mins from my school. I was kinda hard-headed and set on getting my own place, but ohhhh how money (or lack thereof) can be a motivator. Save the loot, crash at home

 

[jocg27]

10 mins!?!?! Are you serious??? Your parents should smack you across the head for even mentioning moving out. I'm staying at home and live about 30 mins from my school. I was kinda hard-headed and set on getting my own place, but ohhhh how money (or lack thereof) can be a motivator. Save the loot, crash at home

This is a pretty personal thing though, different for everyone and every family. After 4 years away at college and coming back to my city for med school, there was absolutely 0% chance of me going back home. It would have been a 25 minute drive, definitely not a problem. Just too many distractions, too many headaches, too much readjusting to living in a place I hadn't since high school. I go back randomly sometimes and visit, so I still see everyone, which is fine...But every time I go back, I realize there is no possible way I could have lived in that nuthouse and succeeded as a full time student. Money's a factor for sure, but you have to weigh your own family dynamics and what the situation at home will be like before you decide whether its worth it to try to balance all that with the demands of med school - that's something only you can decide, we can't help much beyond telling what we did.

 

[Dancing Doctor]

This is a pretty personal thing though, different for everyone and every family. After 4 years away at college and coming back to my city for med school, there was absolutely 0% chance of me going back home. It would have been a 25 minute drive, definitely not a problem. Just too many distractions, too many headaches, too much readjusting to living in a place I hadn't since high school. I go back randomly sometimes and visit, so I still see everyone, which is fine...But every time I go back, I realize there is no possible way I could have lived in that nuthouse and succeeded as a full time student. Money's a factor for sure, but you have to weigh your own family dynamics and what the situation at home will be like before you decide whether its worth it to try to balance all that with the demands of med school - that's something only you can decide, we can't help much beyond telling what we did.

Tell me about it. I have a 5 year old sister at home. Definately wouldn't have been able to study with her around. When I go home I spoil her rotten, but when I need to be serious I need to get away. Thankfully it wasn't an issie as I am ~350 miles from home.

 

[NonTradMed]

I live 15 minutes from the med school I will be attending this fall. The idea of moving closer has never seriously entered my mind, although others have suggested this. I figure, with rent/utilities/etc, I would be paying an extra $700/month to save an extra 10 minutes commute to school every day, plus I'd be living in a shady part of town. Not to mention the icky apartments vs. living at home in the comfort of my own home.

I understand some people can't stand the idea of moving back home, but I think the savings one could have by living at home should not be overlooked. For most of us, we'll be living on loans, so that $500 apartment will cost us more to repay with interest accuing on that original payment.

And in my case, my parents have made it clear they will do all the major housekeeping stuff. I will only need to keep my own rooms clean. They will cook for me and take care of everything else. Good deal in my case.

 

[SwineLake98]

My apartment is actually further away from campus than my parents' house
I moved to the neighborhood where a lot of 2nd and 3rd years end up because it is closer to the hospitals (we don't have a single university hospital; we rotate through about 8 places). I also commuted to undergrad and never took out loans. I figured if I was staying in the same city for med school, the least I could do was get my own place (it was definitely time). I also justified it by telling myself that I was going to a state school, so loans for tuition and living were still less than just tuition at a lot of schools. It also turned out that I got a scholarship for the amount approximately equal to a year of rent. My parents and I get along well and they were pretty accomadating in undergrad, but I really wanted to be with/near other med students. I missed out on a lot by not dorming.
Oh, and I have a 17 year old sister who might not go away to college either... :

 

[Brown429]

I also commuted to undergrad from home, and paid hardly anything for the state school I attend. My state school was 10 minutes away, my medical school (private and about 36k tuition as of now) is 10 minutes away, and every single hospital is 10 minutes away (I live in Rhode Island). It just seems ludacris that I will be 26 and living with my parents. But then again, do I want to "waste" time doing the laundry, cooking, ect. ect.?? I mean I know that is part of growing up, but how much am I really missing?

My school will also have a 24 hr library by the time I matriculate.
I have will have a brother who will be in college, living in a dorm in the same state. My parents will most likely have to pay $15k/year for his education. Not too much noise in my house with only my parents and I. It all makes sense to just stay at home, but i do not know something just does not feel right. I have been in this state for 21 hrs and in the same house for that long, same city...almost want a change. But like some of you have ssaid...money changes a lot!! My parents are average working people, so I cannot rely on them for support with living expenses.

 

[ScreenName]

I lived on campus when I was an undergraduate, but lived at home for several years after I graduated (until I was 27 yrs old ) while I worked full-time and took the pre-req classes I needed to apply to med school. I understand your hesitancy in wanting to live at home at an age when your peers are starting their own adult lives and living on their own.

If you get along well with your parents, I suggest you try the "living at home" thing at least for the first semester. You can always find other living arrangements if living at home doesn't work out. There are a lot of advantages to living at home (reduced living expenses, less time required for chores/cooking, you might even be able to reduce your car insurance bill by combining it with your parents policy, etc.) and I think you should really consider these before you decide to commit youself to large expenses like an apartment lease, etc. (and the cost of housing in RI is not cheap!). I found that when I returned home after undergrad, my parents and I had a different relationship and they pretty much let me do my own thing without geting in the way.

Living at home will reduce your living expenses allowing you to not have to max out your loans in order to pay for your Ramen dinner. It should also give you a bit more freedom in the future, not having to worry as much about paying back your loans. You mentioned that the amount of debt you take on to pay for med school is an issue for you. Think about it...if the tuition for your school is $36K, then you'll probably use all of your Stafford loans just to pay for tuition, fees and health insurance. Assuming you don't get scholarship money, you'll need to take out GradPlus loans (at 8.5% interest) or Private loans (with variable interest rates) to pay for your living expenses. You'll have to judge whether or not living on your own is worth accumulating all that debt.

 

[Brown429]

Thanks screenname that was helpful. I am assuming most students take out loans, in terms of the tuition being a problem...yes it is considering I am paying about $700 a year for tuition now (due to merit schoalrships). But I just hate the fact that I will be getting out "late" in life with such heavy loans. I mean I want to start my life...marriage, house, car, savings, ect. ect. The idea of being 30 and 160k in debt after 21+ years in school is a bit alarming. I know that physicians make good salaries, it just does not seem like a good deal until you are in your late 30s. but you get to do what you want in life...priceless...(hopefully)

So I guess it makes sense to stay at home with my mentality.