Living at home

[viper2fast505]

I am 90% sure that I will be living at home with my parents for the first 2 years of med school. We live 10-15min from my school and it would just save me so much money that I have to at least try it. I lived here all through undergrad and while I was preparing for the MCAT. I moved out last year to get my masters and now that is over and I find myself back at home. Anyone think living here is a good/bad idea? It did work for me in undergrad, I was able to study at home it is very quite around here, and I was thinking that if there was distractions I could just live at the library and come home to eat and sleep. Anyone with experience about living at home your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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[njbmd]

I am 90% sure that I will be living at home with my parents for the first 2 years of med school. We live 10-15min from my school and it would just save me so much money that I have to at least try it. I lived here all through undergrad and while I was preparing for the MCAT. I moved out last year to get my masters and now that is over and I find myself back at home. Anyone think living here is a good/bad idea? It did work for me in undergrad, I was able to study at home it is very quite around here, and I was thinking that if there was distractions I could just live at the library and come home to eat and sleep. Anyone with experience about living at home your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Most of pre-clinical medical school is studying. If your parent's home provides, bed and shower, then you have 95% of what you need for living space covered. Many medical students study in the library, study rooms or places like Starbucks to minimize distractions such as the telly, roommates that are into home parties etc. There just isn't a ton of time for socializing and hanging around the house during medical school. During third year, you will be doing some overnight call and during fourth year, you likely will want to do some away rotations and thus, home will be a place where you eat, sleep and shower for the most part.

Saving money during medical school is always a great idea. You can bank your funds (minus room and board that you pay to your rents) and save for your place during residency.

I lived with my Mom during graduate school and it worked out well. I left early in the morning and returned home after she was in bed. I was able to purchase a nice car that is economical on gas. She said that she enjoyed my company even though I actually spent more time away because of the demands of school. I also saved loads of money too and paid room and board to her.

By all means, save as much as you can and borrow as little as you can. To be fortunate enough to have parents who are willing to allow you to live at their house while you are attending medical school is great. Any living arrangement, for that matter, that saves money but does not interfere with your coursework/studies is a great arrangement.

 

[yyd]

I am 90% sure that I will be living at home with my parents for the first 2 years of med school. We live 10-15min from my school and it would just save me so much money that I have to at least try it. I lived here all through undergrad and while I was preparing for the MCAT. I moved out last year to get my masters and now that is over and I find myself back at home. Anyone think living here is a good/bad idea? It did work for me in undergrad, I was able to study at home it is very quite around here, and I was thinking that if there was distractions I could just live at the library and come home to eat and sleep. Anyone with experience about living at home your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

The advice above is very logical: if you are primarily concerned with saving money. Now, I am not underestimating the importance of having as little debt as possible and it is important to have a budget and avoid mindless spending. However, over the years I have come to realize that not all decisions in my life should be ruled by money. I am about to start med school and I chose NOT to have roommates, for the sake of not having other people dictate how I go about my life. Thankfully, my school is in a location where rent is cheap, especially compared to that in Manhattan. Maybe it is just me and I had bad experiences with roommates in grad school (which were assigned by the way), but I choose to pay a bit extra for a peace of mind. And I would never EVER live with my parents for the same reason. If the OP is happy living at home then it is great, especially if they are considerate enough not to interfere with your private life. I just wanted to say that sometimes we make decisions to save the money and end up in situations which cause a lot of frustration. And then it hits you that perhaps it is simply not worths it.

 

[MSKalltheway]

The advice above is very logical: if you are primarily concerned with saving money. Now, I am not underestimating the importance of having as little debt as possible and it is important to have a budget and avoid mindless spending. However, over the years I have come to realize that not all decisions in my life should be ruled by money. I am about to start med school and I chose NOT to have roommates, for the sake of not having other people dictate how I go about my life. Thankfully, my school is in a location where rent is cheap, especially compared to that in Manhattan. Maybe it is just me and I had bad experiences with roommates in grad school (which were assigned by the way), but I choose to pay a bit extra for a peace of mind. And I would never EVER live with my parents for the same reason. If the OP is happy living at home then it is great, especially if they are considerate enough not to interfere with your private life. I just wanted to say that sometimes we make decisions to save the money and end up in situations which cause a lot of frustration. And then it hits you that perhaps it is simply not worths it.

This is also a good point. It just boils down to are you going to be able to go back to where you live and study hard without distractions? Will family/roommates take away from you being able to concentrate to the best of your ability? Me personally, had I gone back to NY where I grew up, I would have lived with my parents and commuted to school to save loads of money from room and board, and tuition. Honestly, the fact that they would let me live at home for free, feed me, and not call me 20 times a day to find out where I was had to be the biggest attraction for me to go back home...this is med student fortune and it would have been a great option. If you are happy at home and it wont get stress from it, you are set. School is stressful enough and it makes it worse if you have to deal with family/roommate issues a lot. It sounds like a wise choice for you.

 

[viper2fast505]

Thanks for all of your help. I have lived on my own and that has its own distractions and I can not cook, but my mother can. They are very happy with what I am doing with my life and will for the most part let me alone with my books even though I will be living here.

I have been warned by others that it may not work out and that med school is too important to mess up a year because I tried to save money. But I was able to study here in the past so I dont see why it wont work out for med school. Anyhow thanks again.

PS As I am sure you all know my social life sucks, it always has and now I am in med school it will continue to suffer, but I do have some close friends and thats all I need.

 

[postbacker]

Thanks for all of your help. I have lived on my own and that has its own distractions and I can not cook, but my mother can. They are very happy with what I am doing with my life and will for the most part let me alone with my books even though I will be living here.

I have been warned by others that it may not work out and that med school is too important to mess up a year because I tried to save money. But I was able to study here in the past so I dont see why it wont work out for med school. Anyhow thanks again.

PS As I am sure you all know my social life sucks, it always has and now I am in med school it will continue to suffer, but I do have some close friends and thats all I need.

If it doesn't work out, hey, move out!

The amount of money you can save is huge. I wish I had this option.

 

[yyd]

Thanks for all of your help. I have lived on my own and that has its own distractions and I can not cook, but my mother can. They are very happy with what I am doing with my life and will for the most part let me alone with my books even though I will be living here.

I have been warned by others that it may not work out and that med school is too important to mess up a year because I tried to save money. But I was able to study here in the past so I dont see why it wont work out for med school. Anyhow thanks again.

PS As I am sure you all know my social life sucks, it always has and now I am in med school it will continue to suffer, but I do have some close friends and thats all I need.

I think you are giving up on it too soon. Please consider that living with your parents will make it so much harder to have a social life of your own. You probably know that already, though.

 

[Twitch]

I love my parents and all that - but I'd never move back in with my folks to save $$ and give up what I have.

If you've never moved out ... you can't miss what you never had.

 

[pls accept me]

Stay with them! Why are you even thinking about it? You'll save money, and if your parents are like mine, they are going to help you with food/cleanup/life. Since you've lived with them for many years, you know how things work--saving you time+energy transitioning to the new environment.

I wish I have your option, it would be so much nicer. Hopefully I can move back for residency.

 

[swimmy]

The advice above is very logical: if you are primarily concerned with saving money. Now, I am not underestimating the importance of having as little debt as possible and it is important to have a budget and avoid mindless spending. However, over the years I have come to realize that not all decisions in my life should be ruled by money. I am about to start med school and I chose NOT to have roommates, for the sake of not having other people dictate how I go about my life. Thankfully, my school is in a location where rent is cheap, especially compared to that in Manhattan. Maybe it is just me and I had bad experiences with roommates in grad school (which were assigned by the way), but I choose to pay a bit extra for a peace of mind. And I would never EVER live with my parents for the same reason. If the OP is happy living at home then it is great, especially if they are considerate enough not to interfere with your private life. I just wanted to say that sometimes we make decisions to save the money and end up in situations which cause a lot of frustration. And then it hits you that perhaps it is simply not worths it.

I agree with almost everything you said here. Money shouldn't be the primary factor in our decision in med school. When you know you'll be able to pay it back afterwards, we should be more attentive to other factors.

 

[baylormed]

The advice above is very logical: if you are primarily concerned with saving money. Now, I am not underestimating the importance of having as little debt as possible and it is important to have a budget and avoid mindless spending. However, over the years I have come to realize that not all decisions in my life should be ruled by money. I am about to start med school and I chose NOT to have roommates, for the sake of not having other people dictate how I go about my life. Thankfully, my school is in a location where rent is cheap, especially compared to that in Manhattan. Maybe it is just me and I had bad experiences with roommates in grad school (which were assigned by the way), but I choose to pay a bit extra for a peace of mind. And I would never EVER live with my parents for the same reason. If the OP is happy living at home then it is great, especially if they are considerate enough not to interfere with your private life. I just wanted to say that sometimes we make decisions to save the money and end up in situations which cause a lot of frustration. And then it hits you that perhaps it is simply not worths it.

Amen. I'm so thankfull to finally have a place of my own (next fall) without roomates. While it would be nice to save that extra $100-200/month, I just don't think it's worth it. I do so much better if I have my own space.

 

[yyd]

Stay with them! Why are you even thinking about it? You'll save money, and if your parents are like mine, they are going to help you with food/cleanup/life. Since you've lived with them for many years, you know how things work--saving you time+energy transitioning to the new environment.

I wish I have your option, it would be so much nicer. Hopefully I can move back for residency.

Personally, I don't want to be helped with either: help always comes with strings attached.

 

[smq123]

I moved out last year to get my masters and now that is over and I find myself back at home. Anyone think living here is a good/bad idea? It did work for me in undergrad, I was able to study at home it is very quite around here, and I was thinking that if there was distractions I could just live at the library and come home to eat and sleep. Anyone with experience about living at home your input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

As you can tell, quite a few people on here are strongly opposed to it. It really depends on you. If you think you can handle it - why not?

One of my friends in med school lived at home with the parents - and did very, VERY well in school. Got honors and nominated for AOA, while still having a decent social life. It depends on your personal situation.

Until you know how you're handling the material, I would recommend studying at the library, and just coming home to eat, sleep, and shower. If you think that you could still study at home, then you can adjust afterwards.

The social scene in med school is different from undergrad. It's a lot more structured, and it's rare to be able to spontaneously decide to go out. Everyone's got stuff to do - some people are doing part-time research, others are out at student-run health clinics, others are doing volunteer work, and, of course, everyone has to study. Most socializing requires a little more advance planning than it did in undergrad. Plus, since many of your classmates will be married (often times with children) or engaged/involved in long-term relationships, there's a smaller group of people who are really into regular drinking/bar-going.

As for dating - if you're not already dating someone, the bigger challenge is finding someone. Specifically, finding someone who doesn't look dumbfounded when you explain that you need to study 8 hours a day for an exam that you'll be taking 5-6 weeks from now. (i.e. Step 1.) Or someone who doesn't ask "Oh, med student, huh? Got any percocet?" and then laugh loudly at their own joke. (Yes, I've had some particularly bad experiences in that department. I'm a little bitter.) You could date another med student, but just avoid the med-cest. That's all I'm saying.

Basically - it all comes down to you and your own situation. No one can advise you, because none of us know what's going on in your life.

Good luck!

 

[Instatewaiter]

During graduate school I lived with my folks. It definitely made my life a ton easier. Besides the money issue, it is nice to come home to a home-cooked meal a couple nights a week and not to have to worry about loud/obnoxious roommates. It was good for me because I get along great w/ my folks and they don't care what I do as long as I'm safe and don't wake them up when I stumble in.

It can be hard for some especially if your parents insist on butting into your life or treating you like you are still a child. But if they let you do your thing, then I say live with them.

I think it's also harder if you are a girl. Parents seem to be more critical of what their daughters do than what their sons do.

 

[TMP-SMX]

During graduate school I lived with my folks. It definitely made my life a ton easier. Besides the money issue, it is nice to come home to a home-cooked meal a couple nights a week and not to have to worry about loud/obnoxious roommates. It was good for me because I get along great w/ my folks and they don't care what I do as long as I'm safe and don't wake them up when I stumble in.

It can be hard for some especially if your parents insist on butting into your life or treating you like you are still a child. But if they let you do your thing, then I say live with them.

I think it's also harder if you are a girl. Parents seem to be more critical of what their daughters do than what their sons do.

Seconded...

 

[viper2fast505]

thanks to all for your wisdom. I think I will stay at home and hope for the best. And as others have said its nice to come home to food thats already made, might even save me some time that I can use studying.