Living at home

[thisistheyear]

Hey everyone,

I'm starting pharmacy school this fall at Mercer and I was looking for some advice about living arrangements. My family lives about 25 minutes (without traffic) from campus and they would like for me to live at home. However, I don't know if that is the best decision. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom that I could get. THANKS

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[mtravaglini27]

(User removed comment.)

 

[abr]

This would be a hard decision for me.

I would love to live at home because I have a great relationship with my mom, but with all of my horses being there, I would be distracted easily. I do not think the environment at home is a great study environment. But, living at home does have a lot of perks. You don't have to pay for rent or food (most likely), and in my case, I would not have to pay to board my horse.

In the end, the decision is really up to you. I am not sure what I would do in that situation.. But, none of the pharmacy schools are within driving distance, so I would not be faced with that decision.

 

[thisistheyear]

I've lived away from home for the last four years and I'm not used to being under my parents rule. Even though I'm graduating from college, my parents are still pretty over protective and they would have certain expectations from me if I lived at home. Also, I feel like I would get easily distracted at home and living with another first year pharmacy student, we could motivate each other and help each other study.

 

[parabolic]

Of course it's something you'll have to decide for yourself, but here are some things to think about:

Have you lived at home for any significant amount of time in the last few years? If not, you might have gotten used to your independence, which is suddenly lessened by living at home. Will you have a curfew?

Will you be sharing a room with anyone? If so, will not having your own space to study and relax negatively affect your time at school?

What are your other housing options? Are there apartments within your price range close to the school? Can you get a housemate, and would you want one? If you do decide that you don't want to live at home, having a plan in place to present to your parents (where you'll live, who you'll live with, how you'll pay for it, etc) might be helpful.

Either way, you'll probably be within 30 minutes or so of your family's home if you decide to find your own place. There's nothing stopping you from visiting them (and maybe bringing your laundry!), and if you get an apartment and don't like it, perhaps they would be receptive to you moving back in. Similarly, if you decide to live at home and eventually realize that it's not working out, you can start looking for an apartment then.

I hope this was helpful, and best of luck to you with it all!

 

[jun99]

Be sure to consider the commute you'll have to make. I spent most of my undergrad years living on campus and in walking-distance apartments, but I did spend a year living at home. My family lives about 15-20 minutes from campus, by freeway, when there is ZERO traffic, so I figured it would be no problem for me to drive back and forth, but I was SO wrong! I had no idea it would often take me 1.5-2 hours to get to class through rush-hour, and the same coming back. It was a horrible experience: I was tired and cranky from the commute, and whether it was a coincidence or not, the lowest grades of my undergrad career were earned during that year.

I'm not familiar with the area around Mercer, so I don't know how bad traffic would be for you, but I would definitely do a few test drives during morning and evening rush hour to see what it will be like for you if you decide to stay home.

On the other hand, living at home can wind up saving you tens of thousands of dollars over the long run, so if you can handle the commute, it's definitely worth considering.

 

[omnione]

I'm not sure which ethnicity you are, but I'd like to share my perspective from a member of a collectivist culture.

Over the past few years, living at home as become a distraction as I don't feel independent. I'm Vietnamese, so Vietnamese kids tend to stay around their parents. That is slowly changing, but I still am a part of that trend.

Though I chose to go to Creighton partly because it was the closest school to my family and friends, I'm glad that I will have a lot more autonomy in my life. I won't have to report home every so often. My dad won't always discourage me from staying out late. I can pull all nighter student sessions without the parents going ballistic about my health. I can hit the bar scene without dad calling at midnight and discouraging me from staying out later. Of course, I will have more flexibility and time for pharmacy school studies with less family commitment.

I'm not implying that I don't love my parents because I do. But no matter what ethnicity you are, professional schools require dedication and I felt it was necessary to eliminate any factors that may distract me on a daily basis. I won't work if I don't have to, I won't join any clubs aside from maybe one pharmacy-related clubs, and I simply want to live close to campus so I don't deal with the commute.

So, I would just look within yourself to see if your family life would conflict with your performance in pharmacy school. I think it would for me, but you are not me.

 

[Rumplestiltazepam]

I would live at home if my school was within 20 minutes. Free food, rent and booze, my parents respect me enough to let me make my own decisions and chime in when I ask for their opinion, I did not realize i had it is so good!

 

[KellyBean]

I'm not sure which ethnicity you are, but I'd like to share my perspective from a member of a collectivist culture.

Over the past few years, living at home as become a distraction as I don't feel independent. I'm Vietnamese, so Vietnamese kids tend to stay around their parents. That is slowly changing, but I still am a part of that trend.

Though I chose to go to Creighton partly because it was the closest school to my family and friends, I'm glad that I will have a lot more autonomy in my life. I won't have to report home every so often. My dad won't always discourage me from staying out late. I can pull all nighter student sessions without the parents going ballistic about my health. I can hit the bar scene without dad calling at midnight and discouraging me from staying out later. Of course, I will have more flexibility and time for pharmacy school studies with less family commitment.

I'm not implying that I don't love my parents because I do. But no matter what ethnicity you are, professional schools require dedication and I felt it was necessary to eliminate any factors that may distract me on a daily basis. I won't work if I don't have to, I won't join any clubs aside from maybe one pharmacy-related clubs, and I simply want to live close to campus so I don't deal with the commute.

So, I would just look within yourself to see if your family life would conflict with your performance in pharmacy school. I think it would for me, but you are not me.

Amen!! When I lived at home, I would even feel bad for staying out late (11PM) to STUDY!!! My dad would be calling me constantly wanting to know why I don't just study at home. Growing up, I never had a curfew, and I didn't have a lot of rules to follow, but there were a lot of unspoken rules that I never dared to break. Maybe that's why they didn't have so many rules for me, because I was always so "good". I like the freedom of doing whatever I want. Do the dishes whenever I feel like it. Sleep late on the weekends. Don't make my bed. Shower 3AM in the morning..lol...I mean these simple things that some people just take for granted. I just don't think I can go back to the way things were. I like being close to my parents, but I don't think I would want to live with them.

 

[NDGirl]

I am actually in a similar situation. I have been away at college the last 5 years. I am now planning on attending pharmacy school in my hometown and my parents continuously offer to let me live at home for free and pay for my food, internet, cable, etc. It sounds like an amazing offer, but my parents are overly protective and I have grown accustom to the freedom of living alone. I don't even like having roomates that are my own age, so I really don't think I could ever live in the same house as my parents again. As crazy as it may be, I have decided to rent an apartment that is not to far from my parents house (it's actually closer to my parents house than it is to the college) just for the sake of my sanity. I will have to pay rent, electric, internet, cable, food, etc... but I feel I will do better in school because I will be happier, I will be able to concentrate better, and I will be able to do my own thing. I am sure I will be visiting my parents place often (like almost every day) because they have a treadmill I will want to walk on in the cold ND winters and to steal some food here and there. But in the end I know I will have a place I can go home to and be able to do whatever it is that I need to get done without any distractions.

 

[ageldred]

That's a really tough decision. I moved back home after being gone for 5 years so I could do my prereqs without getting in a ton of debt. My mother is bipolar so it was a tough time and I will be absolutely relieved to be leaving. (At the same time I will feel immensely guilty because I am the only one who understands her.) I would say think back over times you came home during breaks. Did you get along then? Did they have ridiculous rules? Will they understand when you need to stay out late to study, are they going to accuse you of partying late instead? Also, how will the commute be...you say 25 minutes. I heard in Atlanta traffic can easily clog up. I personally know I saved a lot of money over the years by living at home, but I wasn't able to have a place to call my own. My mother has her ways....and so it was impossible to get anything done at ehome unless I was the only on there. Best of luck to you and I hope if you do decide to move out that they will be supportive of it!

 

[rxlynn]

Hey everyone,

I'm starting pharmacy school this fall at Mercer and I was looking for some advice about living arrangements. My family lives about 25 minutes (without traffic) from campus and they would like for me to live at home. However, I don't know if that is the best decision. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom that I could get. THANKS

Hi - I go to Mercer, and I can tell you that they do a good job of trying to match up incoming p1s with potential roommates, in both on and off-campus housing if finding a roommate is a concern.

I have a friend in a very similar situation as yours - he lived with his parents the first year, and then after he had made friends the first year, he moved to campus for his second year. He told me that he found he was having to drive back and forth too much, especially if he wanted to study at night or go out with friends (most of the p1 classes are in the morning, and the latest afternoon one gets out at 3).