Please tell me no

[wholeheartedly]

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"Advice is what you seek when you already know the answer but wish you didn't." ~ Erica Jong


So, this is more asking for reinforcement than advice I guess. I'll try to keep it brief and to the point, but that'll be just a bit difficult.

I'm 29, live and work in one city, commute to another for grad school part-time in epidemiology. I'm seriously thinking about moving to the city where I go to school since I feel like I'm missing out some great opportunities and some interesting jobs have opened up. I currently own a house and have rather large dog.

Pros of moving
I love my grad program and everything related to it.
No commuting saves gas costs,
I could go back to working 40 hrs/wk instead of 30 upping my income by 25% (or ~$15k/yr gross)
I'm academic medicine oriented
I could do more research and possibly get a research assistantship/stipend/tuition assist.
More interesting job (hospital micro lab/ get to see TB, malaria, measles, etc)
Opps during the summer when I don't have class to work with the state health dept. on ID investigations
More involvement with campus activities, global health group, free clinic etc.
More friends there too
Could finish school 1 year earlier, possibly saving 2 years total (I'll owe my employer a year for tuition assistance if I stay where I am) and tuition went up $100/credit last year.
There is some chance I could get into the medical school there. That school also has an MD/PhD program if I decide I really am nutz.
Could cut my monthly housing costs by (250+/month) if I bought a house (renting would put me at the same or higher for space that would take my dog)
My current job has a new supervisor that I never see since I work nights, so I'd feel weird asking for a rec even though she seems nice.
Could save me from burnout
Factoring out buying/selling a house this would probably save me money
More opps avail. if I don't get accepted right away

Cons of moving
Makes no logical/financial sense to buy a house and move for two years before applying to med school unless I get lucky and into the local school there (or don't get accepted)
My current house will probably be difficult to sell
Moving sucks, so does renting
I don't love the work I do, but I work with good people and don't hate it either. No guarantee on coworkers or supervisor with a new job.
Do have job mobility in my current hospital after another year
Have to get trained for 3-6 months on new job.
The med school here is awesome, but I have better odds of winning the lottery than being accepted here.
Home selling factored out staying will probably cost me more long-term, both financially and time-wise, but you can't reasonably factor that out.

Basically if I didn't have a huge dog seriously limiting my rental options, I'd seriously consider putting my house on the market and moving as soon as I was able to sell it. I'd put my stuff in storage rent a cheap efficiency and make the most out of grad school and opps. available there while socking away money for med school.

Since that's not likely, please knock some sense into me and tell me it doesn't make sense to move two years before applying.

 

[dmf2682]

What flavour of dog and how long have you had it?

 

[wholeheartedly]

He's a mutt. The rescue group told me he's part golden retriever part black and tan coonhound. The vet thinks he's part great dane too. He's not St. Bernard or Irish Wolfhound huge, but he definitely surpasses the usual 50 lb cutoff most rental places seem to have. I've had him for about a year and half.

 

[dmf2682]

He's a mutt. The rescue group told me he's part golden retriever part black and tan coonhound. The vet thinks he's part great dane too. He's not St. Bernard or Irish Wolfhound huge, but he definitely surpasses the usual 50 lb cutoff most rental places seem to have. I've had him for about a year and half.

There's a szechuan proverb. The best flavor of dog is the one that barks loudest at night.

Seriously though. Sounds like a cutie. I don't have any advice for you but you're doing the right thing weighing it out. You'll make the best decision in the end. Good luck.

 

[DrMidlife]

I've done dumber things than plan a huge life change around a huge dog. Also: I've planned a huge life change around a huge dog.

Regardless of your current interest in moving, a big thing for the next decade is your current house. How much do you want to keep it? How easy would it be to rent, and do you have the capacity to be a landlord? How easy would it be to sell? Would it be worse for you if you have to keep it during moves during med school & residency, or would it be worse for you to get it sold and then end up getting into med school & residency nearby? Mill about and panic accordingly.

With respect to finding a dog friendly property to rent, I suggest looking at craigslist now. Get a sense of what's available where your current school is, and maybe look at some likely towns where you think you could end up for med school. I've managed this in 3 towns on both coasts, and one time I didn't even visit before I signed a lease (with a local friend to check a place out for me). In my experience there's always an apartment building or two that's dog friendly (and with some luck, not too grungy). Consider renting a house with a yard and collecting some roommates. If you have great references and great credit and some financial means, offer to post a sizeable dog deposit on a property where the landlord says no dogs - don't even try this at a place that has newly refinished wood floors, etc. Certainly for med school, a landlord's thinking stable longish-term tenant and might be willing to be flexible. Also surprisingly fruitful: www.realtor.com, but be aware that there are locales where realtors expect a month's rent commission. Hint: look for local dog parks on google/google maps.

You can certainly look into rehoming your dog, if that is something you can live with. PM me if you want some thoughts on this (unfortunately I have some experience).

Best of luck to you.

 

[LifeTake2]

First and foremost, figure out what to do with your current house...realistically.

No matter what else you do/don't like about moving if you can't get out of the one you own then your options are slim.

I moved when I started my self-guided post bacc as I couldn't afford my house w/o the job that I quit to go back to school. It ended up taking 14 months and a $70K loss to get rid of a nice house in Atlanta.

Obviously I would not recommend this to anyone, but I'd talk to a realtor and see if you CAN sell/rent yours before you worry about whether you WANT to.

Good luck!

 

[wholeheartedly]

Thank you for the good points folks. I think as soon as my basement project is done I'll have a chat with the realtor.

It's a complicated situation regardless, but at least I don't have kids or a spouse to factor into the equation.

 

[ljpm8224]

Thank you for the good points folks. I think as soon as my basement project is done I'll have a chat with the realtor.

It's a complicated situation regardless, but at least I don't have kids or a spouse to factor into the equation.

Hey wholehearted,

Just wanted to send you some good vibes for your predicament. We have a dog and find it amazingly hard and frustrating to rent nice apartments in the city where we live! So, I feel your pain.

Fwiw, posting in the craigslists "housing wanted" section that you have a dog, he's well trained, quiet, etc yields some better results than just random searching. Also, then you get to brag a bit about what a great dog he is. Put together a "dog resume" of his obedience training, Canine Good Citizen certification if you've done that one, references of your neighbors who can say he doesn't bark, etc.

One other tip- when apartment hunting, and this is totally hypocritical, but whatevs... I like to stay away from big apartment complexes that allow dogs. This is because while MY dog is wonderful and certain other well-trained and well taken care of dogs are great, there is nothing worse than random OPDs- other people's dogs. Barking, scratching, not being taken care of, neglected and then you feel bad for them, etc... we live next door to a neighbor that neglects his poor (horribly behaved) dogs now, and it's a distraction and a heart-wrencher for me now, for sure!

 

[Jennet]

He's a mutt. The rescue group told me he's part golden retriever part black and tan coonhound. The vet thinks he's part great dane too. He's not St. Bernard or Irish Wolfhound huge, but he definitely surpasses the usual 50 lb cutoff most rental places seem to have. I've had him for about a year and half.

Sounds like a Catahoula to me. I have one - they are the best dogs ever.