Living Situation

[tophat118]

Hi everyone. I hope I am posting this in the correct forum. Anyways here goes.

I recently was accepted into a medical school about 40 minutes from my house. I am contemplating commuting from home , which would save me about $500-$700 a month (factoring in rent, money saved on food, utilities, etc.) The offset in extra money spent driving is not my main concern, but rather the loss in time if I chose this option. Depending on traffic, that could be almost 2 hours of time I could spend studying! In the scheme of things I realize that people make this type of commute to work everyday, but still it is concerning. I have heard the first semester is heavy on attendance because of the extensive anatomy covered during that time. After that I hear many students are comfortable coming into class less and maybe streaming the lectures from home or a nearby library. One thing I do like about going to class is that you are motivated by all the hard working people around you, which helps me to want to compete. To get to the crux of my question I would like to hear from any current medical students feelings on making this type of commute. Is it worth it to save the money?

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[SoundofSilver]

I think it's worth it for the first two years if your school streams lectures and you only have to go into school an average of 2-3 times per week. A 40 minute commute might be kind of steep for third/fourth year though.

You're going to save a ton of money (it's always good to minimize your student loan burden) and if you're going to be living with your parents, you're going to save time on grocery shopping and other normal household duties. Time saved on that type of stuff can somewhat offset the time lost during commuting.

 

[theshellyb]

Can you do it, is it feasible? Yes. Will the commute be impossible during the first 2 years? No. But should you?

Medical school, especially the first year, is a really social time. If I had to drive 40 minutes to and from school I would have missed out on a lot of social interaction on campus, as well as all of the parties on weekends, impromptu get-togethers with friends, etc. For me the savings wouldn't be worth it.

 

[Morsetlis]

Can you do it, is it feasible? Yes. Will the commute be impossible during the first 2 years? No. But should you?

Medical school, especially the first year, is a really social time. If I had to drive 40 minutes to and from school I would have missed out on a lot of social interaction on campus, as well as all of the parties on weekends, impromptu get-togethers with friends, etc. For me the savings wouldn't be worth it.

Agree.

If you are already married / are happy with your current hang-out friends, then do whatever you want.

If you want to hang out with med school friends, be where they are.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Can you do it, is it feasible? Yes. Will the commute be impossible during the first 2 years? No. But should you?

Medical school, especially the first year, is a really social time. If I had to drive 40 minutes to and from school I would have missed out on a lot of social interaction on campus, as well as all of the parties on weekends, impromptu get-togethers with friends, etc. For me the savings wouldn't be worth it.

+1. A lot of M1 is like college, at least after exams.

 

[tiedyeddog]

Feasible for first two years. Not feasible for third year.

 

[Packman2003]

As somebody who lives just 20 minutes from campus (no traffic), I definitely miss out on some of the social aspect of it. I'm married though, so it isn't that big of a deal to me. One of my classmates commutes 45 minutes and he pulls off the social part of it better than I do, but you definitely have to put much more effort into it. However, it is much more quiet where I live - I constantly hear about people dealing with their loud neighbors, etc. I guess it really just depends on what you want socially. I'm not at all saying you can't have a thriving social life, it just takes more effort. If you are young and straight out of college, you would probably enjoy being a bit closer. I'm going on 30 and had a pretty crazy 4 years in college and 4 years afterward, not taking life too seriously, traveling, partying, etc. I'm in medical school now, and I just don't need 4 more years of doing the same crazy ****. I still hang out with people, but I also don't mind just being away from all of that sometimes. It's different being married though - for me I care a lot less about being bffs with everyone in the class.

As far as studying goes, I wouldn't worry about that part of it. Just time your drive to and from school when traffic is light...assuming you don't go to Columbia or something. We have pretty bad traffic here that can easily double my commute, but I just leave early to class and either leave in the early afternoon or later in the evening, depending on my schedule. Sure you lose an hour and a half, but just listen to music and unwind. If you can't do well without getting that extra hour or so of studying in you are doing it wrong.