Moving back home for $$$

[muggle911]

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I was doing some calculations for med school debt and it's looking pretty bad. I'll probably be close to maxing out on stafford loans no matter where I go next year. Roughly $48,000/yr (tuition, fees, books, housing, food, gas/electricity, etc). With interest, this quickly adds up to quite a sum.
The one alternative I can think of is to go to my state school and move back home with my parents for the first 2 yrs of med school (I live roughly 30-40 min away).
This would cut out 10,000-15,000 per year. (the only added cost would be price of gas for transportation to and from the school).
Problem is that I know I would be unable to study at home due to the environment. So all of my studying would have to be done at the library and other places at the school.

So is that worth it? Do any med students actually live at home given that the environment is not conducive to learning? Please tell me if this option sounds ridiculous despite saving $. Thanks in advance!🙂

 

[drizzt3117]

I'd just deal with the extra expense and live near school. If it is going to hurt your performance in medical school to live at home, it's not worth it to save a bit of money. It may also make it harder for you to do extracurricular stuff.

 

[time2go]

go home, easy decision so much money saved

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

I think you have to ask yourself if that living environment is better than swallowing the extra debt. Personally, I think I'd go to school where I wanted and just take the debt as it comes. Living at home would not be productive to me and that would take away my sanctuary from the storm of life.

 

[muggle911]

thanks guys, I appreciate it. Right now I'm leaning towards saving the money and moving back home, b/c I also have some undergrad debt.

Second option is to work part-time during school (I know this sucks too, but if I continue teaching for a test-prep company, it's minimal hours and decent pay).

Or just take out the extra 10-15,000 in loans🙁. Thoughts?

 

[drizzt3117]

thanks guys, I appreciate it. Right now I'm leaning towards saving the money and moving back home, b/c I also have some undergrad debt.

Second option is to work part-time during school (I know this sucks too, but if I continue teaching for a test-prep company, it's minimal hours and decent pay).

Or just take out the extra 10-15,000 in loans🙁. Thoughts?

Teaching MCAT is totally doable, a bunch of people in our school do it and it's pretty minimal work, one night per week for four hours plus study time and good pay. I'd go with that over commuting every single day.

 

[muggle911]

Teaching MCAT is totally doable, a bunch of people in our school do it and it's pretty minimal work, one night per week for four hours plus study time and good pay. I'd go with that over commuting every single day.

Cool thanks! I asked about continuing part-time test prep work at each of my interviews and was almost always cautioned against it.
I'm glad to hear that it's actually feasible.

 

[qmcat]

Cool thanks! I asked about continuing part-time test prep work at each of my interviews and was almost always cautioned against it.
I'm glad to hear that it's actually feasible.

It's definitely do-able, but I think the school curriculum really matters. If you go to a school where classes are 8-12 everyday, then yes it's absolutely possible to do some extra work on the side.

Some other med students I know just skip class and watch podcasts, and they work part-time when they should have class. Definitely do-able also, but you really have to weigh your risks if you're going to skip class.

About living at home, if you absolutely cannot study at home, I wouldn't do it. I stayed at home in undergrad, and while it was okay for the first 2-3 years, it was really stressful coming home everyday and realizing I have to deal with family issues and my parents nagging at me for not cleaning my room and stupid stuff like that. It got worse when recently my mom lost her job, so now she's at home all the time, and everytime I get home, she just nags me to death about not having a job. I cannot wait to move out for med school in the next few months.

 

[muggle911]

It's definitely do-able, but I think the school curriculum really matters. If you go to a school where classes are 8-12 everyday, then yes it's absolutely possible to do some extra work on the side.

Some other med students I know just skip class and watch podcasts, and they work part-time when they should have class. Definitely do-able also, but you really have to weigh your risks if you're going to skip class.

About living at home, if you absolutely cannot study at home, I wouldn't do it. I stayed at home in undergrad, and while it was okay for the first 2-3 years, it was really stressful coming home everyday and realizing I have to deal with family issues and my parents nagging at me for not cleaning my room and stupid stuff like that. It got worse when recently my mom lost her job, so now she's at home all the time, and everytime I get home, she just nags me to death about not having a job. I cannot wait to move out for med school in the next few months.

Thanks! That's really helpful! I'll have to look into the diff. schools' class schedules.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Personally, moving home would be waaaayyy cheaper for me, too. After having lived with my family for a week (having been independent for 8 yrs) the bullet and gun I buy to shot myself with would save me about $250k.

 

[looma]

It's definitely do-able, but I think the school curriculum really matters. If you go to a school where classes are 8-12 everyday, then yes it's absolutely possible to do some extra work on the side.

Some other med students I know just skip class and watch podcasts, and they work part-time when they should have class. Definitely do-able also, but you really have to weigh your risks if you're going to skip class.

About living at home, if you absolutely cannot study at home, I wouldn't do it. I stayed at home in undergrad, and while it was okay for the first 2-3 years, it was really stressful coming home everyday and realizing I have to deal with family issues and my parents nagging at me for not cleaning my room and stupid stuff like that. It got worse when recently my mom lost her job, so now she's at home all the time, and every time I get home, she just nags me to death about not having a job. I cannot wait to move out for med school in the next few months.

How bad was it?? because i'm gonna do that and i thought it'll be alright. My dad is a professor at my state school so no tuition, and i have scholarship for the books and fees. Do you think its a good deal to stay at home and do my undergrad for free??

 

[Rebs28]

So is that worth it? Do any med students actually live at home given that the environment is not conducive to learning? Please tell me if this option sounds ridiculous despite saving $. Thanks in advance!🙂

Don't do it! I know that this is really a personal decision, and I don't know your family/home situation/finances/preferences, but I'd caution you to really think about every factor, not just money. Think not only about studying and commuting, but about the impact this choice will have on your personal/social life, and hapiness.

Living at home while applying has been completely awful, and I can't imagine trying to get through the first two years of med school this way. As scary as it is to be way in debt, everyone else will be right there with you.

Don't do it!!! But if you must, please really think about it.

 

[drizzt3117]

I dunno, I attend school in the same city where my parents live and still have an apartment off campus, I think it would be impossible for me to get anything done if I lived at home and I wouldn't do it regardless of the financial circumstances. I do go to my parents' relatively often to study, but I just need a refuge of my own. YMMV.

 

[DrJosephKim]

Live at home, save $, and study somewhere else. Never study where you know you'll get distracted or where you have opportunities for distraction.

 

[sindadel]

Why not try it? If it's really unworkable, you can claim that you have to move closer for second semester due to study groups late at night etc. Can you live in the basement instead of your old bedroom or something just for some psychological distance?

Also look into the costs of shared housing, renting a room in a house etc. It may be less than your own place.

 

[qmcat]

How bad was it?? because i'm gonna do that and i thought it'll be alright. My dad is a professor at my state school so no tuition, and i have scholarship for the books and fees. Do you think its a good deal to stay at home and do my undergrad for free??

Yea, I agree with the other posters. It all depends on how your parents are like though. My parents are extremely strict, and I actually really hated living at home for many reasons. Some of the things I hated most were:

- no privacy
- can't bring home girls (or friends at all for that matter)
- if i get home too late, my parents freak out (they still have this semi-curfew on me)
- if i stay up too late (all-nighters), my parents freak out
- i can't blast my music up really loud because it's supposedly a "disturbance"
- every time i play guitar or piano my parents think i'm done with homework and they want me to help with house chores. hellooo i'm a music minor, i need to practice!
- my parents sleep really early, so i have to be very quiet if i stay up past 10 pm

But, there are also good things about living at home, like cost, having mom cook for you, laundry, etc.

In my opinion, for undergrad, it was okay. I had to sacrifice some of my social life (and sanity), but I still found some ways around it here and there. For med school though, I know it's going to be a lot of hard work, and I don't want to have to deal with all of the distractions and limitations my parents put on me living at home.

 

[RSAgator]

It's a completely personal decision and it's likely you won't get a good/accurate answer for YOUR situation.

My parents are cool as hell, my mom is an excellent cook, and I'd have all the space in the world at home. I really enjoy my parents company and they don't nag me to do things when I'm at home, so I've got no problems from a personal space point of view. I live about 30 minutes away from my school with no traffic, probably 45 minutes with, and an hour by public transport, which is quite the commute, but I would be saving about 15k a year which is a large chunk of change (it would allow me to graduate with under 100k in debt). I do all my studying at the library anyways, and there's one right by my house, so "getting nothing done at home" really isn't an issue for me either because that's usually how it is. I haven't really made a decision yet, but I'm leaning towards at the very least getting a place for a year. I don't have any idea what my schedule will be like next year, and so while I'm ok with the idea of a 30-60 minute commute, I don't know if it will work out in practice. Additionally, I think that from a social perspective it's important to be close by first year simply because if anything spontaneous happens you're probably not going to want to drive an hour to join in on it. These are the thoughts running through my head, hopefully they'll help you. For whatever reason some people have the mentality that they're taking out massive amounts of loans, what's a few more thousand dollars, but at 15k a year that's 60k you're taking out in loans and over 100k you're ultimately going to be paying back. If you can make it work, I'd rather have 100k sitting in my pockets...

 

[atomi]

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[drizzt3117]

but at 15k a year that's 60k you're taking out in loans and over 100k you're ultimately going to be paying back. If you can make it work, I'd rather have 100k sitting in my pockets...

Unless you're a masochist, I don't think you're going to be commuting during 3rd year...

 

[aznb0y129]

I moved out my freshman year of college and studied abroad one semester during my sophomore year. This was back in 2004. Since then, I've lived at home through junior and senior year as well as the 3 years post-college that I've been working full-time. At this point, I'm itching to move out for med school. Saving the 10-15K per year isn't worth it IMO.

 

[RSAgator]

Unless you're a masochist, I don't think you're going to be commuting during 3rd year...

You're probably right, but in all fairness my father spent 3 years doing his residency at the same place. A 30 minute commute isn't bad if it's a 30 minute commute and not a 30 minute commute without traffic.

Sure, you'll pay the loans back (maybe even no problem), but that's hardly justification for taking out more money than you have to. We also have no idea what relationship the OP has with his family. If it's one that would be detrimental to his study of medicine, then I'd say move out, but if it has little to no bearing then I wouldn't go so far as to say "your independence is worth more than 15k a year."

 

[atomi]

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[atomi]

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[virusgirl]

It's up to you, but unless you have a really good and mature relationship with your parents, I would advise against it. I live at home right now to save $$, but I'm only doing it because I know it's only for a few months... it absolutely would NOT be sustainable over 4 years!

Even if your parents are totally chill and don't invade your space, having your own place is sort of a rite of passage. Even if I go to my state school, which is 20 minutes from my parents, there is no way I will live at home. The extra cost is worth it.

 

[kac714]

it depends on the situation. i live at home now because its easier and my parents are awesome, no curfew, no rules etc, plus they pay for food and gas... but if they were nagging or hindered my independence, then i definitely would not be doing it. it depends on your situation.

edit: also, i can't wait to move out for med school because i think it will be important to have my own space.

 

[RSAgator]

You can also eat crackers for 4 years and save thousands in food costs. Why not do that too? How about not using the heat during the winter and saving $100/mo on utilities? Instead of a gym memebership, you can just do pushups at home and run in place!!! OMG revolutionary ideas!!!

Reminds of the silly financial aid presentations at some schools where the suggested 'freezing' your credit cards, brewing your own coffee at home, buying your clothes from the goodwill, etc. It's just silly. If you go all the way through, you will be fine. Making your life miserable to save 5-10k per year is not worth it when you will be making 15-25k or more every month for the rest of your working career. That money is a drop in the bucket in the big scheme of things. Every doctor I know paid his/her loans off within 3-5 years, and those that didn't are the ones who insisted on living large immediately after residency with the $1M house and didn't have a problem with a 30 year payback plan on their loans or the ones who went into public service positions, where their loans were often forgiven. If you don't want the debt, join the army. Otherwise, don't buy into the finaid office's hot air about the irresponsibility of not living in poverty while a student.

By the way, HOUSING is a need, not a luxury. I think it is furthermore ridiculous that financial aid offices consider students living with their parents a 'reasonable' thing to do...reasonable enough to put it as a scenario on a financial aid chart.

Well I think it's pretty ridiculous how "unreasonable" you think it is. Firstly, no one is talking about living in poverty here. We're not comparing having your own place to pennypinching for a sh*thole in the ghetto, we're talking about living in a (likely nicer) house with, gasp, your parents. If you don't despise living with your parents, and they're close enough to your school to make it workable, then what the hell is wrong with doing so? Everyone's different, and I wouldn't suggest it to someone who can't find a workable arrangement, but my standard of living would likely be higher if I lived with my parents AND I would save a lot of money, so that to me is worth it. Unfortunately my parents live too far from the school for me to really have a workable arrangement so it's probably not what I'll end up doing, but it works for some and you can hardly deny that for people who don't mind doing so it makes good financial sense.

 

[muggle911]

Yea, I agree with the other posters. It all depends on how your parents are like though. My parents are extremely strict, and I actually really hated living at home for many reasons. Some of the things I hated most were:

- no privacy
- can't bring home girls (or friends at all for that matter)
- if i get home too late, my parents freak out (they still have this semi-curfew on me)
- if i stay up too late (all-nighters), my parents freak out
- i can't blast my music up really loud because it's supposedly a "disturbance"
- every time i play guitar or piano my parents think i'm done with homework and they want me to help with house chores. hellooo i'm a music minor, i need to practice!
- my parents sleep really early, so i have to be very quiet if i stay up past 10 pm

But, there are also good things about living at home, like cost, having mom cook for you, laundry, etc.

In my opinion, for undergrad, it was okay. I had to sacrifice some of my social life (and sanity), but I still found some ways around it here and there. For med school though, I know it's going to be a lot of hard work, and I don't want to have to deal with all of the distractions and limitations my parents put on me living at home.

The things in bold remind me of my parents. I went to undergrad in a diff. state and whenever I came home, they would pile on the responsibilities. I was home for part of one summer and had to take care of my younger siblings, cook dinner, etc. And while their day ends at about 10pm, they are very social people so either people come over to their place in the evenings or they go on family trips on weekends. So being distracted and/or pre-occupied with other activities are some of the things that would probably be problematic if I moved back home.

But I generally have a good relationship with them, not at all antagonistic. I just don't think they realize what med school will be like so I'd pretty much have to be at the school until I need to get to sleep.

Oh and I moved out on my own during undergrad (just b/c it was cheaper than campus housing) so there's nothing really special to me about having my own place.

Thanks guys for all the advice! If I do get an apartment for med school, I will of course look for roommates to offset the cost a bit.

 

[Siverhideo1985]

I have a great relationship with my parents...my mom is always a source of support and my dad is like one of my best pals. BUT, I think that is 50% due to the fact that I moved to another country when I was 16 years old.

 

[looma]

I have a great relationship with my parents...my mom is always a source of support and my dad is like one of my best pals. BUT, I think that is 50% due to the fact that I moved to another country when I was 16 years old.

Did you move with them??

 

[Siverhideo1985]

Did you move with them??

Nope, I moved to the U.S. and my parents remained in my home country. I did live with family friends through the last couple years of high school.

 

[yangxx2]

I was doing some calculations for med school debt and it's looking pretty bad. I'll probably be close to maxing out on stafford loans no matter where I go next year. Roughly $48,000/yr (tuition, fees, books, housing, food, gas/electricity, etc). With interest, this quickly adds up to quite a sum.
The one alternative I can think of is to go to my state school and move back home with my parents for the first 2 yrs of med school (I live roughly 30-40 min away).
This would cut out 10,000-15,000 per year. (the only added cost would be price of gas for transportation to and from the school).
Problem is that I know I would be unable to study at home due to the environment. So all of my studying would have to be done at the library and other places at the school.

So is that worth it? Do any med students actually live at home given that the environment is not conducive to learning? Please tell me if this option sounds ridiculous despite saving $. Thanks in advance!🙂

You said it right there. If home is not conducive to learning for you, I personally would take out the extra loans.

 

[mic2377]

I would NEVER move home again. I come from an ultra conservative family and they really aren't cool with me living with my GF now. I can't imagine the trouble if I came back home and they discovered I didn't attend church 3x/week.

It would certainly cut into "extracurricular" activities as well. 🙂

Your mileage may vary, though, that is bummer you had to max out your stafford loans. Yikes.

Do whatever you need to learn best! You are going to school to learn, and given the cost, why penny pinch!