commute

[tennis]

I have found a very good rent deal, however, the apartment is 40 minutes away from school. Is is unreasonable to think I can spend over a hour driving everyday and still have time to study?

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[Popoy]

You can begin by asking yourself what type of weather you'll be up against, route and typical traffic conditions, how are you studying-wise,....

Personally, I think you can better spend that hour doing other things rather than commuting.... You can never really know what you're up against when you're commuting.... Just my two cents....

 

[whynotme?]

I had a long commute in graduate school and a lot of the time I would listen to lectures that I had taped. It really helped pass the time and I felt like I was getting a double dose of lecture (however, I learn best auditorily)
If it was me, I would weight the pro's and con's to see how it would actually work.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[ckent]

Hello, I live 16 miles from school but due to traffic it usually takes me 45 minutes or more to get to school in the morning. If I try driving in rush hour, that commute can take me over an hour. I didn't have a problem with the commute, I plan to do the same next year. There are a lot of advantages of not living too close to your medical school, one is that most medical schools are not in good locations to live in with the noise of ambulances and helicopters waking people up and the amount of crime close to most schools. You also get a nice separation between home and school which can be nice for sanity purposes, the commute home after studying at school is a good time to unwind before going to bed. However, there are a lot of advantages with living close to school too. I always had to worry about snow storms occuring the day before exams, because the area that I live in is the last one that they plow. Sometimes you forget things at home and it's too much of a hassle to run home and get anything. You also get to sleep in a bit more, which isn't too bad 1st 2 years but by 3rd year you will probably want to move closer so that you can get more sleep. So if it's a really great, cheap place compared to places closer to campus, then I would go for it. If you can get about the same thing closer to campus and your school isn't as loud or as in a dangerous area as most schools, then I would suggest moving closer.

 

[kris]

Ckent makes a good point--just how far away from school do you need to be to 'get away'?

I'll be living on campus in their apartments, so I walk a block, and there it is!

I have talked to other med students, and they said they didn't want to live in those apartments because, "when I want to get away from school, I want to get away!"

So perhaps the commute will be good for you. I also hope that living close will encourage friends to be able to pop in from time to time.

 

[tennis]

Thanks for the good points everyone. I was just thinking of living away from school the first year and then moving closer. This is b/c this VERY cheap place is only available the first year.