Living alone vs. with roomies in vet school

[deleted1153328]

Looking for any and all insight! I am not sure where I will be attending vet school yet as I am still waiting to hear back from some schools. I hope this discussion will be helpful for others trying to make a similar decision.

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[WildZoo]

Save money, live with roommates unless you have a really, really good reason not to.

 

[Minnerbelle]

For real. I paid half to a third of what other people in my class paid for rent by having a roommate and not going for the luxury apartments. Really cut down on my expenses. Part of the reason why I was able to pay off my loans.

 

[that redhead]

We just had a thread on this, and it’s been covered a few times before. Worth a search before a new thread 🙂

 

[zenarcade]

If you can, I think it's good to live with roommates as you can save a significant amount of money. That being said, while I have roommates this year, I plan to get my own place once my lease is up. For me personally, I don't think I do well with roommates, and I think it would benefit my mental health to live alone. So it kind of depends on you, and what you're able to handle.

 

[finnickthedog]

So saving money where you can is good idea. That said...

I lived with a roommate during the first year to save money. After the first year my roommate moved out and I was initially planning to advertise for another one... but once she was gone I realized how miserable I was when I had a roommate. I chose to live alone for the remaining 3 years.

 

[Bonfuturedvm]

I haven’t had the best luck with roommates so I may be a little biased but I still think you should do what you feel is best. That being said if you do go the roommate route pretty please make sure that you get to know them well before you make the decision to move in together. Its fun getting to know them on a personal level and problems may not even arise but ask them questions about their schedules, when they go to bed/ wake up, do they like to have people over, what their expectations are with you as a roommate, etc. I spent a lot of time asking silly questions with my past roommates and learned the hard way that their preferred way of living was not conducive to the way I liked to.
I’m not currently living with any roommates now and it has been such a relief! I have the freedom to be a little messy when its crunch time for school without worrying about being discourteous to others and I found a place that was still relatively cheap for my area!

 

[Horsin'Around]

100% depends on the person, I lived with roommates my first two years but we didn't really click and I felt like a third wheel all the time. They eventually moved out together and I moved out and decided to live alone despite the increased cost; I am much happier now. I was really scared at first to live alone but now love it so much and I highly recommend it. My other friends are currently having roommate issues so I feel for them. If you want to live with others it's really important to set up expectations on "house rules" so to say. Who takes out the trash/recycling and when, how are utilities and internet paid for, if they have/want pets, are they night owls or morning people, do they love to cook or eat takeout, and so much more. Living alone I don't have to worry about sharing kitchen space, dirty dishes, balancing sharing the bathroom, etc. I can invite friends and family over without worrying about coordinating and getting it approved by roommates.

 

[BigCats]

I live with roommates (fellow second years) and love it! Saves money and it's also really nice to live with people who understand what you're going through. Definitely depends on personal preference (I enjoy living with other people and like that I get at least 2 minutes of social interaction a day when I would otherwise be locked in my room studying lol) and compatibility- my roommates are awesome and we had a lot of time prior to living together to discuss our living styles to make sure we'd be a good fit.

 

[TheGirlWithTheFernTattoo]

I lived with roommates all 4 years of vet school and still do now at my internship.

I personally prefer to live with one other person and not in a full house, but it helps immensely with costs. In vet school it meant being able to pay rent during the year with what I made in money during the summers. Now after graduation, it means I can afford living in a larger more ritzy place on an intern salary compared to what I would be living in if I lived alone. Certainly had a year or two of roommates that caused a lot of stress, but overall for me the pros balanced the cons. My last 2 years I've had phenomenal roommates and I would actively choose to live with them even if I had all the money in the world.

ETA:
1. I personally would never live with a classmate. You spend so much time together already and although I saw it work for some people, I saw a number of times where it went very very South.
2. I would recommend living with someone in the vet college community (student, house officer, staff, whatever). You will both understand the schedule and stressors of the other, plus pet friendly with at least basic animal knowledge. My worst roommate of my vet school years was the 1 year I lived with a random.

 

[max_wildlife]

Looking for any and all insight! I am not sure where I will be attending vet school yet as I am still waiting to hear back from some schools. I hope this discussion will be helpful for others trying to make a similar decision.

I lived on my own first year and switched to roommates this year. I couldn't afford it anymore 😕

I loved having my own space, but even though my loans covered cost of living -- it wasn't enough for rent *and* groceries *and* bills. It’s a mess. I still have to work this semester to make end’s meet.

I like my roommates, but I’ve also had challenging roommate situations in the past and was really nervous about coming back into this world. But my current ones are great. Help keep the existential dread away, they love my dog, and I got noise-canceling headphones to help with certain situations. Things still happen from time to time, but overall they’re really supportive. we are all in different years, too, and I find that is immensely helpful to avoid comparison etc.

At the end of the day, certain aspects are personal. What can you afford? What can you tolerate? At the most extreme, will the distraction of roommates take away from your ability to focus so much that your grades slip and suddenly you need to retake a class? Or will the anxiety of living alone do that?

 

[sheltermed]

I lived with roommates my first two years but we didn't really click and I felt like a third wheel all the time.

Going off of this, if you must have roommates, don't let there be 3 of you. it will usually turn into a 2v1 situation. personal experience and anecdotal evidence from others. one roommate is best. perhaps it also works if there are a bunch of people in a decently large space.

 

[Horsin'Around]

Going off of this, if you must have roommates, don't let there be 3 of you. it will usually turn into a 2v1 situation. personal experience and anecdotal evidence from others. one roommate is best. perhaps it also works if there are a bunch of people in a decently large space.

I think it's for sure a risk, however, I've also had 2 other roommates and we were like the three musketeers. For sure meet with potential roommates if possible multiple times before signing a lease.

 

[EB73674]

I think this is a situation where you really need to know yourself and your personality. I, personally, don't do well living alone - I get super lonely and edge way more into depression-isolation spirals. I honestly didn't figure it out until I had a roommate who was gone every weekend when I first left undergrad, but it helped me to know that about myself. If you do best living alone, prioritize finding a spacious studio or one-bedroom that is as cheap as possible. If you do best living with others, you can afford to maybe live somewhere closer to campus & with some nicer amenities. My first vet school roommate was a third year, and my current one is a second year (part of my former class before I dropped down). I was fairly happy in both situations, but current one is around a lot more, and my mental health is SO much better. So, truth be told, I think you have to do some introspection & be pretty self-aware about what's important to you in a living situation & qualities of an ideal roommate.

 

[battie]

Had roommates 4/5 years at vet school. 3 of those years were good to phenomenal. One year was meh. My solo year was clinics. For me, living alone is the one thing where I encourage people to prioritize it if they want to. That's all of vet school, though; if you prioritize it, it can happen.

 

[DVMdreamcometrue]

Do you have pets? If you have furry friends that will accompany you during vet school, it's another things to think about when deciding to live alone or having housemates/roommates. Also, living with someone you don't know or don't know well can be a bit of a gamble. Just having different living habits can be miserable sometimes. I had a roommate in undergrad who didn't like to wash used dishes until the end of the day, but I like to wash them after every meal. I couldn't stand having piles of dirty dishes in the sink, so I ended up washing her dirty dishes almost every time. This is already very minor, but still frustrated me. Sigh!

 

[Viscernable]

I do have a dog that will be coming to vet school with me! How do incoming first years find roommates in vet school (especially when they are moving out of state)?

Most (probably all) schools have social media pages for the vet student community, and people look for roommates there.

 

[EB73674]

Facebook groups! I found a great apartment with a third year my first year via our private FB group, and then she moved out & I had an acquaintance in my class that needed to move & we’ve worked out great.

I’m also going to chime in about moving in with someone with pets - I purposely didn’t have a pet of my own to bring with me to school, so I prioritized roommates with their own pets that I could mooch off of. No responsibility unless you agree to take it on, and super easy to find a roommate without worrying how your dogs will get along!

 

[DVMDream]

I lived alone for the first three years of vet school. Lived with a roommate the 4th year as I needed to for monetary purposes. It was ok, but I'm not a fan of roommates. Looking back I could've done that last year alone, may have been a bit tight but could've made it work. It worked out just fine with my roommate, we got along, but I'm 100000% not a roommate person. I enjoy living alone, being alone, having my own space. Any mess is my mess. That's just me. Everyone is different and if you feel like you would do well with roommates go for it and save the money. I know renting prices have skyrocketed since I was in vet school so not sure if you get enough funding for living alone, but check that. And keep pets in mind as others have said.

 

[vetsquared]

I think this comes down to a lot of personal preference and your own situation. I personally chose to live alone, but I’m in my 30s and older than the majority of other students. I haven’t lived with someone since I was married, and I haven’t lived with roommates in a decade lol. I couldn’t go back to that at this point in my life.

Is it more financially responsible to have roommates? Yeah, probably. But I know someone who ended up moving her first semester of vet school because of a terrible roommate situation, so you run the risk of it being worse for your mental health. If you do want to live with other vet students, I would suggest living with people from other class years. That way one person can “slack off” during heavy exam weeks while other people take on more chores, and you can do the same for them the next week. If everyone in the house is on the same schedule it gets a little tough, especially because you are always around each other. At least that’s what my friends with roomies tell me haha