What whould you do?

[demayette]

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If one is going to matriculate to a medical school that is about 45 minutes to 1 hour drive from where you live (a house that you own) and you already have a family. Should you rent an additional place closer to the school campus? Or Is 2 hour drive everyday will be too much while attending medical school? What would you do in a situation like this?

 

[crazynate]

this is a position i may find myself in a year (without the family).

I don't think the commute would be too bad and is possible, but if you can afford it, i think it would be helpful to have a place closer to school, especially so you have some space to yourself to study and such. and you can always go home, whenever you want.

 

[demayette]

this is a position i may find myself in a year (without the family).

I don't think the commute would be too bad and is possible, but if you can afford it, i think it would be helpful to have a place closer to school, especially so you have some space to yourself to study and such. and you can always go home, whenever you want.

I would have to take more loan for that, which I don't want to do.Therefore, I will not be able to afford it.

 

[FuturaDocta]

I would take a bus so I can study during the ride, in case I can't afford to live on campus.

 

[slarveson]

whats another 30,000ish in debt to add on to the 175,000+ debt that you will already have? It would be a huge pain in the as* to have to commute everyday and when you add up all the hours of doing that over the course of 2-4 years (depending on where you do you're clinicals), you are wasting valuable study time which will affect your grades. It will just take you a few more months of work when you're a doc to make up for it compared to the years of wasted gas and time....i would definitely do what ever you have to do to live near campus. You say that you can't afford it but people take out loans most of the time when going to med school for housing so you could too right?

 

[nlax30]

whats another 30,000ish in debt to add on to the 175,000+ debt that you will already have? It would be a huge pain in the as* to have to commute everyday and when you add up all the hours of doing that over the course of 2-4 years (depending on where you do you're clinicals), you are wasting valuable study time which will affect your grades. It will just take you a few more months of work when you're a doc to make up for it compared to the years of wasted gas and time....i would definitely do what ever you have to do to live near campus. You say that you can't afford it but people take out loans most of the time when going to med school for housing so you could too right?

You say that now, but the general wisdom is to do what you can to MINIMIZE what you take out, because when all is said and done you will be paying back much more than what you took out..... Especially not knowing what field you may go into, what the future healthcare environment is going to look like over the next decade or so, certainly not a time to throw caution to the wind and rack up more debt that is needed.

I guess it all depends on your financial situation (family help, spouse income, etc...) but with supporting a family and a home, if you have to take out a significant amount to cover a 2nd apartment then I'd recommend just commute.

We had several in my class and class ahead who had similar commute during first 2 years of school. Tampa is about 45min - 1hr away, St Pete is at least 30min - 45min. Several students lived in those areas because of family reasons, already had a house there, and/or their spouse worked or went to school in those areas.

Could always find a classmate who's willing to let you crash at their place every once in a while when you just need to stay late for a study session or during test week or something.

 

[zetabetazeta]

I would commute!

My undergrad school is one hour drive away from my house and I've been commuting. It's bad but it's bearable! And when you go home, you have a family to support you, plus you don't have to take out extra loans for your rent. 😀

 

[slarveson]

yeah, i guess there would be situations where maybe it might be better to commute, but if you don't have any extra expenses other than the normal med student, i would live close by the school. If you're really smart and can sacrifice the 2 hrs/day to drive then go for it but I would definitely need those 2 hrs for studying or taking a nap so that i could study better. I would also say that regardless of how smart you are that those lost 2 hrs/day will definitely affect your grades to some extent and if you want to get into a competitive residency then it would only make it that much harder to get into one. Also, if you want to get into a more lucrative competitive residency and don't make it in but probably would have if you could take the 750ish hrs over two years and put that towards study time then you are actually losing money because to save on the 30,000ish dollars is going to cost you 150,000ish dollars/year that you could have had if you would have done better on your tests etc.....just a thought....sorry if this is confusing to understand, i didn't take the time to write it properly.

 

[GraceEuphoria]

I would NOT make that drive every day if you can avoid it. I live literally 2 minutes from school right now and it is SO nice, especially since classes start at 7:30am most days. Those two hours are valuable time. Think of it this way: you might be able to give up those two hours and still do fine in school, but you COULD use those two hours for relaxation. I know people doing the commute at school and it is ROUGH according to them. Not to mention other factors- the amount you'll end up spending on gas, the wear and tear on your vehicle (plus the stress it'll present if your car breaks down), plus, the inability to just run home really quickly if you need to for some reason. If you get roommates, you really can make it financially feasible. I don't know where you are looking at for school, so maybe the real estate is bad, but I pay very little for rent in a pretty sweet house, so it's doable!

 

[Quester]

I would NOT make that drive every day if you can avoid it. I live literally 2 minutes from school right now and it is SO nice, especially since classes start at 7:30am most days. Those two hours are valuable time. Think of it this way: you might be able to give up those two hours and still do fine in school, but you COULD use those two hours for relaxation. I know people doing the commute at school and it is ROUGH according to them. Not to mention other factors- the amount you'll end up spending on gas, the wear and tear on your vehicle (plus the stress it'll present if your car breaks down), plus, the inability to just run home really quickly if you need to for some reason. If you get roommates, you really can make it financially feasible. I don't know where you are looking at for school, so maybe the real estate is bad, but I pay very little for rent in a pretty sweet house, so it's doable!

Holy ****. Are you serious? 😱

Is this only your school, or do other med school classes start this early too?

 

[nlax30]

IMHO, 2hrs a day on commute is not going to make or break your grades in regards to study time. If you get to a point where your time is THAT crammed then you may want to reevaluate your study habits and/or other areas in your life where you're spending time. I studied a lot like every other med student those first two years but was never at a point where an hr commute each way would have hurt in any way.

If you can afford it then yeah, definitely nothing wrong with the convenience. But if you have to use loans to finance it just may not be worth it though. Also depends on what sort of deal you can find.... finding someone who will rent you an extra room for a few hundred a month may be more doable.

Plus, there are plenty of audio lectures available that you could still make decent use of the commute.

 

[emno]

I would take a small apartment near the campus.

 

[ShyRem]

Live in the house you own. You'll be glad to be away on your "off" time, and you can listen to lectures or review material for boards on the drive.

 

[FuturaDocta]

IMHO, 2hrs a day on commute is not going to make or break your grades in regards to study time. If you get to a point where your time is THAT crammed then you may want to reevaluate your study habits and/or other areas in your life where you're spending time. I studied a lot like every other med student those first two years but was never at a point where an hr commute each way would have hurt in any way.

If you can afford it then yeah, definitely nothing wrong with the convenience. But if you have to use loans to finance it just may not be worth it though. Also depends on what sort of deal you can find.... finding someone who will rent you an extra room for a few hundred a month may be more doable.

Plus, there are plenty of audio lectures available that you could still make decent use of the commute.

On the other hand, if he takes a bus, he can use that extra two hours he used studying (instead of driving) to be with his family, watch tv, relax, blog on sdn, etc.

 

[PeachyPhd]

How are your time management and organization skills?

The problem isn't just the commute. What if you want to study in the anatomy lab or with a study group in the evenings? You'll either have to stay at school much longer than a normal day or make the commute twice.

I would say commute if you are a good planner and can organize and utilize your time at school well. It can certainly be done.

You can always crash on your buddies couch, etc. during test time when you want to be closer to school.

 

[Helen Wheels]

Not sure how it will work out but I am planning to commute to med school every day starting next fall. It is going to be an hour each way. I don't have a spouse or kids but I do own a house and it seems to be the most reasonable decision for me to stay in my house and commute. It isn't ideal but (I think) it's doable.

 

[xtina0]

I'll be commuting an hour to med school. Besides saving on rent your also saving on all other expenses. I live at home with my family. If I had my own place I would have to cook, clean, go grocery shopping, etc. That would also take time. For me it's makes sense to commute, but it depends on the individual situation.