Save money and commute?

[LUC78]

I'm deciding between living on campus or commuting to Optometry school for my first year only.

My drive would be about an hour every morning, and I'd have to leave pretty early to make the 7am exams. I have an estimate of about $8,000 for my first year living 15 min away from campus. (there are no closer locations)

Keeping in mind the rigor of Optometry school, would it be more advisable to live near campus and save that hour of commute. Or is the commute doable and should I save myself an additional $8,000 in loans and debt.

Any insight at all would be much appreciated! Thank you!

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[UnicornOpt]

I don't think you need to keep in mind the rigor of optometry school. Optometry school is no more demanding than working a regular job or going to undergraduate classes.

Treat this as any regular relocation-vs-commute scenario.

The biggest things in my mind personally would be general location perks vs proximity:

- are we comparing "home" vs a closer household, or household A vs household B (eg none were ever "home")
- noise level of each location
- living conditions, safety, and nearby amenities
- would you have to be moving a lot of furniture vs one place already being an established home not requiring moving.

A one-hour commute isn't that bad, and $8,000 isn't that incredibly large either (and if it is a large amount for you, then obviously rank that in your pros/cons and just commute).

My 2-cents.

I personally lived in the dorms despite paying more because it was 1 minute away from the lecture hall, it came with a meal plan and I didn't want to cook or shop or clean, I didn't have a car, and it was safe, quiet, had all amenities, etc. That's not an option for you, but the point is that do what will make your life easier considering factors other than cost and commute time (which neither sounds ridiculous) that would contribute to your overall happiness and ease.

And optometry school isn't so challenging that you would need every second of spare time in your life dedicated toward it. You can always make commuting a form of studying when listening to recorded lectures.

good luck

 

[Ryan_eyeball]

I know this sounds drastic but if I had to do it over again this is how I would have done it. I'd have bought an older camper that attached to/over hung the back of a truck and lived out of that instead. Wake up early in the morning head over to the university gym shower/shave and have no commute at all. You'd probably save at least 30-50k on living expenses. Rent, electricity, water, natural gas, gas for commuting totaling $1k a month over 4 years coming out to about $50k of living expenses. This would be extreme living but how much time did I actually spend in my apartment solo or with living with room mates? Not much! I worked and studied most days at the library.