Commuting in Vet School

[Nannarnaluk]

Has anyone commuted for vet school? If you did what was it like? My spouse has been offered an extremely nice job that is 2 1/2 hours from a potential school. Would living 1 hour away from campus be feasible for me to attend school?

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[PetVet23]

I did my first year, though not as far. I still lived at home to save a little money and had on average about a 30 minute drive, sometimes closer to 45 depending on traffic/time of day. Realistically I probably could've still stayed at home up until starting clinical rotations, we're expected to be at the school within 20 minutes if we're on call. It was definitely doable for me, but like I said not as long as what you're looking at. You really just have to weigh out how willing you are to spend the time driving when you could be studying or resting. Also look into time requirements for you to be at the school if you have an on call shift, while it may not be something that will affect you immediately it's still worth taking into consideration. I hope this helps!

 

[flotus]

I’m not in vet school yet, but I commuted 45 mins in undergrad for a year. It was hell. There was traffic in the morning and it caused me to miss my Chem labs and literally had to withdraw from a course. Sometimes I’d leave 2 hours early and still be late.
I commuted in high school an hour, it was hard but I managed, never ran into the traffic problem. So, I think it depends on location/where you’re commuting too.

Also, if it’s up north think about icy conditions in the winter and what that would look like.
From what I understand, most vet students would advise against a commute especially in first year (long hours, some breaks but no where to go, adapting to workload). You don’t get much time to yourself, you probably don’t want to lose an extra two hours a day to driving. However, I know some students DO commute, so it’s possible, but I’d bet it’s uncomfortable.

With that being said, I would imagine that it’s still feasible (although I have no personal experience). Weighing the pros and cons, with your s/o getting a great job, and perhaps lower coa far from the school…it might be worth it! I’d consider it..definitely

 

[Nannarnaluk]

I’m not in vet school yet, but I commuted 45 mins in undergrad for a year. It was hell. There was traffic in the morning and it caused me to miss my Chem labs and literally had to withdraw from a course. Sometimes I’d leave 2 hours early and still be late.
I commuted in high school an hour, it was hard but I managed, never ran into the traffic problem. So, I think it depends on location/where you’re commuting too.

Also, if it’s up north think about icy conditions in the winter and what that would look like.
From what I understand, most vet students would advise against a commute especially in first year (long hours, some breaks but no where to go, adapting to workload). You don’t get much time to yourself, you probably don’t want to lose an extra two hours a day to driving. However, I know some students DO commute, so it’s possible, but I’d bet it’s uncomfortable.

With that being said, I would imagine that it’s still feasible (although I have no personal experience). Weighing the pros and cons, with your s/o getting a great job, and perhaps lower coa far from the school…it might be worth it! I’d consider it..definitely

Thanks! This is what I'm thinking as well. It is such a fantastic job offer that turning it down would be idiotic. I'm just wondering if the potential issues with commuting would be worth her significant ability to contribute with COA.

 

[flotus]

Thanks! This is what I'm thinking as well. It is such a fantastic job offer that turning it down would be idiotic. I'm just wondering if the potential issues with commuting would be worth her significant ability to contribute with COA.

I said coa, meant col, but same difference lol.

If I were in the situation, I would try commuting. You can always do a 6 month lease somewhere

 

[JaynaAli]

Can you find a place with roommates near school and live separately from your spouse during the weekdays and then travel to be together on weekends? A 2.5hr drive each way for one of you on Friday afternoon and Monday mornings seems more doable to me than an hour commute every single day. I lived 2.5 hours from my parents and it was easy enough to go home for a visit. Not saying that’s an option for everyone Just trying to point out that, while living with a spouse is obviously more ideal, there may be a middle ground and even if it’s not a typical arrangement, you commute or your spouse not take the job might not be the only options that work.

I don’t think an hour commute is sustainable for most people. I’m sure a few have done it but it will cut into both your study time and time with your spouse. I always say you can make anything work if you want it to (the exception being when on clinics and we were required to be at the school within 20 mins when on call) but I would not advise planning on such a long commute. Maybe if it was on public transport so you could study but even then I’d say try to avoid that option.

 

[that redhead]

Can you find a place with roommates near school and live separately from your spouse during the weeks and then travel to be together on weekends? A 2.5hr drive each way Friday nights and Monday mornings seems more doable to me than an hour commute every single day. Not saying that’s an option for everyone Just trying to point out that, while living with a spouse is obviously more ideal, there may be a middle ground and even if it’s not a typical arrangement, you commute or your spouse not take the job might not be the only options that work.

I don’t think an hour commute is sustainable for most people. I’m sure a few have done it but it will cut into both your study time and time with your spouse. I always say you can make anything work if you want it to (the exception being when on clinics and we were required to be at the school within 20 mins when on call) but I would not advise planning on such a long commute. Maybe if it was on public transport so you could study but even then I’d say try to avoid that option.

Agreed. It will also cut into your ability to bond with classmates, in addition to study time, wet labs/extra curricular stuff. It’s technically do-able but I would advise against it. See if you can find another way.

 

[max_wildlife]

Has anyone commuted for vet school? If you did what was it like? My spouse has been offered an extremely nice job that is 2 1/2 hours from a potential school. Would living 1 hour away from campus be feasible for me to attend school?

I commuted about an hour for school last year. I have a handful of friends and acquaintances that still do it. Some of it is your personality. My biggest problems were waking up early enough to get to school on time, and the price of the commute (gas). I now live five minutes away and my quality of life has improved a lot. Cons were that I lost some anatomy lab time but I kind of used my car time as relaxing time, listen to music and decompress. I found personally it didn't impact my studying much bc there was a cap to how much I could feasibly study in a day. But as a rule I typically don't get As so it's all about what you value there, too.

I'd do it again if I had to, but it's nice to be close to school.

 

[supershorty]

Can you find a place with roommates near school and live separately from your spouse during the weekdays and then travel to be together on weekends? A 2.5hr drive each way for one of you on Friday afternoon and Monday mornings seems more doable to me than an hour commute every single day. I lived 2.5 hours from my parents and it was easy enough to go home for a visit. Not saying that’s an option for everyone Just trying to point out that, while living with a spouse is obviously more ideal, there may be a middle ground and even if it’s not a typical arrangement, you commute or your spouse not take the job might not be the only options that work.

I don’t think an hour commute is sustainable for most people. I’m sure a few have done it but it will cut into both your study time and time with your spouse. I always say you can make anything work if you want it to (the exception being when on clinics and we were required to be at the school within 20 mins when on call) but I would not advise planning on such a long commute. Maybe if it was on public transport so you could study but even then I’d say try to avoid that option.

I'll second this. I don't think being that far is really feasible for an every-day commute, particularly not as you get into the later years of the program and need to be closer to the hospital for rotations/on call duties/live surgery lab rounds/etc.

There are ways you can make it work so your spouse isn't throwing away what sounds like a great job opportunity, but commuting that distance every day is probably not going to be the approach that sets you up for the most success academically and mentally. Jayna's suggestion here is great.