Should I room with my best friend or a random medical student

[dcnetsfan77]

Hello!

I have recently been accepted into medical school and I will be starting next year (August 2016). My best friend who works in New York City (5 days a week) in sales and I were in talks of possibly moving in together somewhere in between my medical school in NJ and the City.

I am wondering if any of you recommend that I room with another first year medical student instead of my best friend for any reason.

Would being in the same environment as another first year instead of someone with an established job already be much more helpful? Could rooming with my best friend be a mistake because he would be able to go out more weekends than me and I could be tempted? Are any of you personally very happy you roomed with another first year or in your experience does it not matter?

Note: My friend is also very hard working and he is not someone to pressure me to be going out or distract me from my studies.

Thank you very much for your input!

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[mcworbust]

Hello!

I have recently been accepted into medical school and I will be starting next year (August 2016). My best friend who works in New York City (5 days a week) in sales and I were in talks of possibly moving in together somewhere in between my medical school in NJ and the City.

I am wondering if any of you recommend that I room with another first year medical student instead of my best friend for any reason.

Would being in the same environment as another first year instead of someone with an established job already be much more helpful? Could rooming with my best friend be a mistake because he would be able to go out more weekends than me and I could be tempted? Are any of you personally very happy you roomed with another first year or in your experience does it not matter?

Note: My friend is also very hard working and he is not someone to pressure me to be going out or distract me from my studies.

Thank you very much for your input!

It depends largely on the first year med student that you'd move in with - if they're normal then its probably for the best, but if they don't mesh with you then it might be more difficult. Also, your friend is in sales in NYC, and I can't think of another profession or location that is more prone to going out, which will certainly be tempting for you.

It would be nice to have an M1 roommate for school and study purposes, and also I'd guess it would be cheaper to live near school. The fact that you have a good friend in NYC with an established job is awesome because when YOU have time he will be a great outlet for fun time as well as a way to get out of the med school bubble.

For reference, I did not live with my classmates in med school but wished I had, so take the above with a grain of salt. I know many classmates that lived together enjoyed it and found it helpful, but I'll leave it to others to comment on this.

Congrats on your acceptance!

 

[Stagg737]

Agree with the above. Generally speaking it's not a good idea to move in with roommates that aren't either in med school or some other kind of advanced degree. I know multiple people in my class that lived with non-medical roommates their first year, and almost all were miserable and no longer live with them. Even if the person is your best friend, they just won't understand what med school is actually like, and working out any conflicts could potentially be very difficult or nearly impossible. Like mcworbust said, it's great that you have a friend in the area for when you do have free time, but I don't think it would be a wise decision to live with them during your first year or two.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

Hello!

I have recently been accepted into medical school and I will be starting next year (August 2016). My best friend who works in New York City (5 days a week) in sales and I were in talks of possibly moving in together somewhere in between my medical school in NJ and the City.

I am wondering if any of you recommend that I room with another first year medical student instead of my best friend for any reason.

Would being in the same environment as another first year instead of someone with an established job already be much more helpful? Could rooming with my best friend be a mistake because he would be able to go out more weekends than me and I could be tempted? Are any of you personally very happy you roomed with another first year or in your experience does it not matter?

Note: My friend is also very hard working and he is not someone to pressure me to be going out or distract me from my studies.

Thank you very much for your input!

probably better you room with a MS1 student. Ms1 is stressful... and you wanna keep your best friend your best friend... if you get what i am saying

 

[Psai]

i would say room with the random med student
you don't want to hate your friend for all of their little idiosyncrasies like not cleaning up the bathroom when you've done it 4 times or eating all your food or kicking you out to bang some broad while you're trying to study for the exam tomorrow

 

[J ROD]

You will become to understand that nobody understands what it is to be a med student unless you are one or have been one.

 

[J ROD]

Room with another student or if you can by yourself.......

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Hello!

I have recently been accepted into medical school and I will be starting next year (August 2016). My best friend who works in New York City (5 days a week) in sales and I were in talks of possibly moving in together somewhere in between my medical school in NJ and the City.

I am wondering if any of you recommend that I room with another first year medical student instead of my best friend for any reason.

Would being in the same environment as another first year instead of someone with an established job already be much more helpful? Could rooming with my best friend be a mistake because he would be able to go out more weekends than me and I could be tempted? Are any of you personally very happy you roomed with another first year or in your experience does it not matter?

Note: My friend is also very hard working and he is not someone to pressure me to be going out or distract me from my studies.

Thank you very much for your input!

As others said, room by yourself or with a fellow student. Live as close as you can to school. You don't want to have a long, busy commute. It'd be even worse during 3-4th years. The last thing you want to do is wake up an hour earlier than you would have to just to drive and then spend a bunch of extra time getting home in the evening. That'll get real old real fast.

 

[ortnakas]

I'd actually vote for rooming with your best friend, especially if you've lived with them before, but I've had bad luck with randomly assigned roommates in the past. However, that's only true if the commute is reasonable. You won't want to lose hours of study time to driving/finding parking/being on a bus/etc.

 

[masaraksh]

room with another med student.

I roomed with med students first year. Now 2nd year I am with 2 non-med students and even though they're awesome people it is seriously depressing when you see how much free time your roomies have compared to how much you have to spend studying.

 

[Psai]

room with another med student.

I roomed with med students first year. Now 2nd year I am with 2 non-med students and even though they're awesome people it is seriously depressing when you see how much free time your roomies have compared to how much you have to spend studying.

Lol

 

[J ROD]

room with another med student.

I roomed with med students first year. Now 2nd year I am with 2 non-med students and even though they're awesome people it is seriously depressing when you see how much free time your roomies have compared to how much you have to spend studying.

don't worry it get better...........

 

[W19]

You will become to understand that nobody understands what it is to be a med student unless you are one or have been one.

How about NP students who are learning in 2 years the material that med students learn in 4 years

 

[Kaustikos]

I was alone first year. Roomed with a fellow student second year which worked great during that time and was beyond awesome. But, personally, I'd say non-student if they are mature enough to pay the bills and not throw parties all the damn time.

 

[J ROD]

How about NP students who are learning in 2 years the material that med students learn in 4 years

Oh yeah, they are infinitely qualified to speak on this.

 

[J ROD]

It can work with others but not many. In general, given the choice stay with your own kind......we are a special breed that will take this crap.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

I could go either way in this situation I feel. I lived with fellow first years, and we got along well...but it turned out to be a more stressful environment than I anticipated. They were intense with studying, and coming home to that was mentally tiring for me sometimes. They were also good friends and I didn't really mesh as well, so I felt a bit lonely coming home.

But regardless, they understood what I was going through, we all kept a quiet house and respected each other. That helped a lot. And we still supported each other as needed. If an assignment was due, we could remind each other, give each other moral support, relax on post exam evenings. It was actually nice, and I liked them. The week before tests, we never gave each other flak for making a mess or not doing dishes. We just had an understanding that things would be taken cared of after the test. Housemates like that are nice. But not every MS1 housemate might be as understanding either.

Mentally, living with a good friend might have served me better. But, being with other MS1s came with it's perks.
Tough call. Could work either way I suppose, depending on how understanding and supportive your best friend is, and what your MS1 roommates are like.

 

[dcnetsfan77]

Thank you everyone for your input. It was definitely very valuable and I think based on all of your responses the best move would be to live with another MS1.

Thanks again!

 

[Psai]

How about NP students who are learning in 2 years the material that med students learn in 4 years

had an np tell me that a ph below 7.4 was metabolic alkalosis

 

[qw098]

Room with another student or if you can by yourself.......

By yourself +1

 

[ACSurgeon]

had an np tell me that a ph below 7.4 was metabolic alkalosis

Depends on the patient and where they normally live. Just like some diabetics have a normal blood sugar range of 200-300 that they must maintain.