Walk or Drive, a Housing Question.

[hernandez5]

Looking for med studs advice on housing.

Recently accepted to a school that offers on-campus apartments. That option is very enticing to me as I was a commuter all through undergrad and post-bac. However, I also received an offer to rent a very nice home with all the bells and whistles, ~$250 cheaper per month, but a 20 min drive to campus.

Thoughts?

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[s5260205]

Take the cheaper option. You will need a car anyway for grocery, etc.

 

[kenjixshadow]

Are you planning of going to class AND is your school located in a heavy snow state? If yes to both, live on campus. If no to 1 either, take the cheaper option.
$250 x 12 = $3,000 - $1000 (gas) annually = $2,000 saved x 2 preclinical yrs = $4,000.

Edit: @hernandez5 Just saw that you have daily mandatory lectures. Live on campus. No money is worth for you to commute everyday.

 

[OverlyRomantic]

I'm in a similar situation, and I chose the on-campus apartments. My main reason was that the on-campus apartments would have medical students as well, and that made the decision easy for me. To know that I'll have people around me that are going through the same things as me was too good to pass up.

 

[GUH]

In any case, be aware of what kind of neighborhood you'd be living in. This is an important factor to consider at some schools.

 

[samac]

It really depends. Are you going to go to lectures? You couldn't pay me to commute 40 minutes everyday. I would live on campus hands down.

 

[22031 Alum]

I took the cheaper commuting option as an MS1, then quickly became miserable. Despite not going to lecture very often, things like lab and other mandatory sessions made it more practical for me to be on campus most days. Also, I was terrible at time management. Those two factors combined to make a commute of any significance unworkable for me. I moved to a more expensive place a couple blocks away from school and was much happier. But I didn't have to move around for rotations, so after moving the one time I was done. If you are going to have to move around for clinical rotations, the commute becomes a moot point after second year. Also, the money you'll save may help with moving expenses during your rotations.

 

[hernandez5]

Thanks for all the replies!

Well, to answer some questions:

1. Attendance is mandatory.
2. I will be in the south, not a heavy snow state.
3. The neighborhood is very nice, almost too-good-to-be-true kind of nice.
4. I may or may not be moving for my aways as my school has a hospital right down the street.

My concerns is that I will go for the cheaper option and be miserable driving to and from campus everyday, or go for the more expensive option and it will bite me in the butt later when I'm paying back all these loans.

 

[Rekt]

Thanks for all the replies!

Well, to answer some questions:

1. Attendance is mandatory.
2. I will be in the south, not a heavy snow state.
3. The neighborhood is very nice, almost too-good-to-be-true kind of nice.
4. I may or may not be moving for my aways as my school has a hospital right down the street.

My concerns is that I will go for the cheaper option and be miserable driving to and from campus everyday, or go for the more expensive option and it will bite me in the butt later when I'm paying back all these loans.

If you think "20 minutes" is a miserable commute then you're going to have a rough time during rotations/residency in a city.

On-campus housing is usually terrible. Take the house. It's cheaper and I'm guessing much more roomy.

Being able to set up your own study space / room > cramming all your crap in a tiny on-campus apartment.

Edit: Also the frills of having med students close by quickly wears off and becomes more of a distraction. Save it for the post-exam parties.

 

[Bones 2020]

Thanks for posting this OP, I was trying to decide the same thing

 

[samac]

I have loved living in walking distance of the med school.
I know people say 40 minutes isn't a lot, but 49 minutes 5 days a week, it's over 3 hours of commute.
When I do rotations I'll deal with it, but lectures at 8 am that are required I've very greatful that it's a 5 minute walk.

 

[Ipper91]

It's a no brainer..live walking distance. I have friends who commute 20 minutes while I walk 5 minutes. Some days we have class at 8 am and then nothing until the afternoon, so he's wasting 40 mins 2x and once even 3x a day. When you're in the swing of things and all your friends are walking home, you won't really feel like staying the whole day just for your afternoon mandatory class. Like someone calculated.. minimum 3 hours of the week in your car that you could have spent studying to set you up for a larger return on your investment.

 

[hernandez5]

Well thanks for all the replies, everyone. I will start my application with the on-campus apartments on Monday. If anyone has anymore advice feel free to post. I am honestly super stoked that I even get to make this decision: to study medicine here, or to study medicine there? It's really a good dilemma to be in.

 

[Mad Jack]

Looking for med studs advice on housing.

Recently accepted to a school that offers on-campus apartments. That option is very enticing to me as I was a commuter all through undergrad and post-bac. However, I also received an offer to rent a very nice home with all the bells and whistles, ~$250 cheaper per month, but a 20 min drive to campus.

Thoughts?

Mandatory attendance or optional? This really depends.

 

[Mad Jack]

I have loved living in walking distance of the med school.
I know people say 40 minutes isn't a lot, but 49 minutes 5 days a week, it's over 3 hours of commute.
When I do rotations I'll deal with it, but lectures at 8 am that are required I've very greatful that it's a 5 minute walk.

My car has Goljan on loop 24/7, so that just means 3 extra hours of Goljan to me.

 

[hernandez5]

Mandatory attendance or optional? This really depends.

80% mandatory.

 

[burritowithgreensauce]

80% mandatory.

i'm sorry about the mandatory lectures. one thing administration needs to realize is how much time is wasted listening to sh1t-t13r lectures (regardless of md/do). "lecture" is sitting and listening to some disconnected PhD drone on while a powerpoint slide runs in the background.

 

[MrChance2]

Didn't see the mandatory lectures part. At our school 80% more or less stopped attending lectures after semester 1. If mandatory then walking.

 

[sunealoneal]

On-campus housing is usually terrible. Take the house. It's cheaper and I'm guessing much more roomy.

80% mandatory.

Quite sure I know which school you're going to based on your answers. Welcome. The on-campus housing is great (or at least not terrible). I moved here my 2nd year after living roughly 20 minutes away.

The commute before was not bad, and in some ways a positive. Nice way to decompress before an exam or after class. Many opportunities to listen to Goljan once you hits systems, like an above poster referenced. But it is nice to be able to live close by when you have to deal with awkward gaps between classes and other frequent mandatory activities. The bulk of your class will probably live by the school and it will be nice not to be geographically isolated. Whether or not being around many people who could be your friends is a help or a distraction depends on your personality I suppose.

 

[jtm0021]

ACOM? Sounds like it.

 

[hernandez5]

ACOM indeed. Thanks again for all the advice guys.

 

[jtm0021]

ACOM indeed. Thanks again for all the advice guys.

I am from Dothan originally so I was just going to say there really isn't anything such as a commute. Even at peak hours you are looking at 15-20 mins max and thats a stretch. I would rent the house. I wasn't too impressed with the on campus apartments at ACOM.