would you commute?

[frangeo27]

Would you commute 26 miles each way to med school and live at home to save $20,000? Or just put on the astronomical loan amount you have anyway to have the convenience of being closer to school? thoughts?

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[Vvandenn]

I would live closer to the school.

 

[apnea]

in a heartbeat.
if it takes you a half hour to get to school and a half hour to get back...yes it's going to suck up time and gas, but otherwise would you ever really take a couple of minutes to breathe?
i wouldn't. my time in the car is dedicated to loud music and singing like there's no one listening and not thinking about anything related to science.
then i get home...and out come the books. but i'm still singing.

 

[NN11]

Question 1: is this during undergrad or med school?

Question 2: how much traffic is there in the area?

 

[etf]

hell, take some of that $20k and lease a sportscar so you can get home quicker. plus living at home you probably won't have to worry about stuff like food, laundry, roomates etc; although personally my family would be WAY too distracting for this to be feasible for me...

 

[SupergreenMnM]

Money would make it worth it...though, it depends on how well you get along with your family. And if they don't mind you having women over at night. Both of those will be essential for you doing well in medical school.

 

[TMP-SMX]

I will be 33 miles away from school next year. I'm doing it to save money too. Hands down a better idea.

 

[maestro1625]

I will be 33 miles away from school next year. I'm doing it to save money too. Hands down a better idea.

It's not the drive. I drove 30 minutes a day to HS every day, and have had some hellish commutes from home/school to work in Ann Arbor. I dont think any amount of money would make me live at home. My family could live half a block away from the school and I'd still take up the chance to live farther away. Being in the same house as my parents would detrimentally affect my studies.

 

[TMP-SMX]

It's not the drive. I drove 30 minutes a day to HS every day, and have had some hellish commutes from home/school to work in Ann Arbor. I dont think any amount of money would make me live at home. My family could live half a block away from the school and I'd still take up the chance to live farther away. Being in the same house as my parents would detrimentally affect my studies.

That is a problem. I live at home for undergrad right now and it's fine except that now my grandma is living with us and therefore the TV makes the walls shake. It's my last semester so it doesn't really matter as I don't do a lot of studying. In addition, I do most of my work when everyone is asleep anyway. What makes it better is I go to the cheapest school in the state and live 3 miles away.

 

[Cirrus83]

in a heartbeat.
if it takes you a half hour to get to school and a half hour to get back...yes it's going to suck up time and gas, but otherwise would you ever really take a couple of minutes to breathe?
i wouldn't. my time in the car is dedicated to loud music and singing like there's no one listening and not thinking about anything related to science.
then i get home...and out come the books. but i'm still singing.

lol it might well take a lot more than half and hour...big city traffic would mean it'd take over an hour...

 

[MirrorTodd]

I don't think I would. I'd rather be as close as I can to minimize my time wasting to other things, like SDN. 26 miles is pretty far, especially for an islander like me.

 

[Cirrus83]

BTW, I'd probably choose not to live at home either way but that's just because I know I wouldn't be able to study at home with my parents here nagging me nonstop.

 

[cdarnay]

I'm sort of in the same situation. I'm considering living at home and saving around $13,000/year or living near campus. I even included the extra transportation costs and it would be a difference of 13,000. I think I'm going to do it for the first two years and then move out after that. 26,000 is alot of money I won't have to ever pay back.

 

[momtwo]

Would you commute 26 miles each way to med school and live at home to save $20,000?

Maybe the first year you could live nearer to the school and then see what each year involves in terms of how often you'd have to go back and forth. Isn't the end of medical school where you don't go to classes all the time? Maybe those years would be better to live home and save the money but maybe the first (2?) years you'd be better off being closer. My thought is save $$ where you can but if you've gotta go back and forth sometimes maybe even more than once a day - I'd not do that. How would it affect you socially being further away from the med school and further away from what might go on socially esp first year?
My daughters lived home for undergrads so of course that involved classes, life on campus, school activities, the gym on campus, study groups on campus, visiting friends but we were just 6 miles from campus so it didn't matter how often they'd have to drive back and forth. Saved them a bundle!!!

 

[Depakote]

How is not living at home adding up to $20,000?!?

But seriously, if we're talking medical school... I would not commute 40-60 minutes to school, 40-60 minutes back to then start studying. That's time you can be doing other things with so when it's time to study, you're ready.

and I don't know about you, but as sweet as they are... my parents are a distraction. I can do little bits of studying around them, but I couldn't put the massive hours required for medical school in with them there.

Even if the total difference in cost actually could wind up being $20k, I think it might just be worth it. (doesn't mean they can't still do your laundry for you)

 

[Soggun]

Yep, think Depa really hit the nail on the head. Aside from the annoyance of driving that kinda distance each day, I know my parents would be a little annoying to deal with. Much harder for me to do work while home compared to when I'm on my own at school. But if you're going to have your own private area (like live in the garage or basement and make it your apartment within their house) then maybe its workable. Ultimately though, I would just take out the slightly bigger loan for the convenience of living close to school.

 

[apnea]

lol it might well take a lot more than half and hour...big city traffic would mean it'd take over an hour...

Mmm, possibly...i drive a durango though, people tend to clear the way a little.

Take the bus maybe? Depending on public transportation and whether or not you can read while you're moving, might give you more study time if that's what you're really worried about.

 

[Lulu8]

I wouldn't want to live with my parents, but that's most likely because I'm older and have been living away from them for 7 years.

But I really think you all are over-reacting about the commuting time. 30-45 minutes one way seems like nothing to me. Maybe it's from living in a big city for so many years where it's impossible to get anywhere in less than 30 min, but seriously, 30 minutes is the time of, say, one episode of Scrubs or one computer game or something. And having to wake up at 7am instead of 7:30am doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice. (it's still freakishly early for me!!) Plus, if you school has podcasts of lectures you can be productive while your driving. Or like someone said before, listen to music and get some relaxing time in.

 

[scrubsaresexy]

I think if I told my parents that I wanted to move back in with them after undergrad and ruin their blissful retirement, they would probably kill me

 

[flabergaber]

like people have been saying it really depends on your relationship with your family.

i lived on campus my first year of undergrad and then moved back home and commutted the last 3 years mainly because of money. The drive is on average 30-40 minutes one way. I don't mind commuting and it hasn't stopped me from being active in school, but it def really tires you out. I have noticed that I could stay up and study alot longer when on campus then after I drove home and tried to study at home. Also, the most annoying thing was having to leave like 1.5 hours early on exam days anticpating traffic and not wanting to be late.

Family wise....Having mom at home to clean and cook for you is a major plus. But it's very distracting when they are entertaining and there are all these people you have to say hi to or all the noise you have to put up with. Also, recently, I am getting fed up with having to be home at 12am regardless of whether I am out studying or partying. And my parents don't like me going out to party more than once in two weeks Yea my situation is diff because I am Asian Indian girl, but all of those circumstances have made me decide I am living close to the school and far from my parents even though the only school I have an acceptance to so far is 15 minutes away from my house.

Def a personal choice, but if your family is anything like mine: GET AWAY!

 

[flabergaber]

O and also, you miss out on interacting with your fellow classmates because of commuting. I either wait around on campus all day if I have to go out that evening or if I go back home and come back (which takes more gas) soemtimes you just don't feel liek going back. It helped to have friends who lived close by that i could bum off of to nap and eat. But again it does depend on how much freedom youd still have being at home.

 

[lina123321]

Would you commute 26 miles each way to med school and live at home to save $20,000? Or just put on the astronomical loan amount you have anyway to have the convenience of being closer to school? thoughts?

dont do it..if anything, try living on campus or near the campus for the first year to see if the pros of being near school outweighs the cost;

as for reasons to not live at home: first, gas prices are insane; second, i commute only about 14miles to/from school a day, and its about 50mins b/c of traffic and lights; assuming you dont live in a rural area, there will be some traffic, and 26mi. would be like 2hrs of commuting; third, the parents and siblings are a distraction for sure, and they might get used to the fact that ur at home, thus "asking" you to run errands or babysit..u get the picture;

 

[PepperMD]

Money would make it worth it...though, it depends on how well you get along with your family. And if they don't mind you having women over at night. Both of those will be essential for you doing well in medical school.

Living with your parents precludes this even being a possibility...

 

[indo]

I predict that you will stop going to class in less than 1 month.

I live so close to the school that I can feel the helicopter land on the hospital. The school is about 1/3 of mile away if i walk and it is still too far. Plus, what if gas is 3.25 again? 50 miles per day? In stop and go traffic cars get like 8 mpg and on the freeway you get the milage that was written on the sticker if you drive 45 mph with the cruise control on.

 

[psipsina]

Soo many reasons not to

1) the time wasted driving. when you get close to a test you really have little free time, and I can think of endless ways to spend that little bit of free time that are better than being in city traffic, I'm sure you can too. Also when your rotations start, you won't have the luxury of not needing to be to class untill 8am (or the luxury of not going to class at all), you have to get to the hospital to preround before official rounds before the 7am surgery, so an hour commute may indeed become a big big deal. Also when you get off of a call shift the last thing you're going to want to do is drive your butt home for an hour before you can collapse into a bed.

2) It will alienate you from your classmates a bit. No one will come over your house to hang out (especially dates ) and you will have to take your hour ride home into account when you are hanging out. No druken postest mahem cause are you really going to pay for a cab back to your parents house and stumble in at 4am??

3) Studying will be difficult. No one who hasn't done this really gets what you have to do. You will be distracted when nonmedschool people are around (in the same house) and you are trying to study. They will want to watch the TV the day before the test when you still have biochem lectures you've never looked at and would really like some quiet. They will distract you because they love you and like being around you, and they can't really get what you are doing. It happens with my husband all the time, I can't imagine with multiple people in the house trying to get anything done there. Most of my friends who live with non med people end up unable to study at home and live in coffee shops and libraries.

Medschool is stressful. It pushes you and forces you to grow in so many ways, and in order to do this it has to be stressful. Why add any extra stress to your life. Yeah 20K is alot, but sanity is worth way more than that, way more.

 

[Tired Pigeon]

A number of my classmates (including myself) commute up to ~30 minutes. Some use this time to study (those taking the bus or train) or to listen to podcasts of key lectures (those driving). Also, the travel time makes you strongly consider which classes are worthwhile in terms of attendance and which material you can learn as easily at home. Overall, I'm happy with the arrangement because I get to live in an area that I like a lot better than the kind of crappy area around school. However, when I start clinical rotations in 3rd year, I will likely get something closer to school.

 

[pillowhead]

Would you commute 26 miles each way to med school and live at home to save $20,000? Or just put on the astronomical loan amount you have anyway to have the convenience of being closer to school? thoughts?

The issues of living with your parents aside (only you can decide that), I think it can work for the first two years of medical school if you're dedicated to making it work. However, 3rd year might be tough. For rotations like surgery and ob/gyn, it is common to have to be at the hospital at 5AM and trust me, you will not want to leave your home at 4:15 am to make it in by 5am. Plus, driving home post call, i think it could be very dangerous to go on a highway and drive that far when you haven't slept in 30+ hours. That is a very long way to drive when you feel that you're going to fall asleep every 30 seconds.

 

[Auraraptor]

26 miles Highway? You bet.