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Is it realistic to drive 100 miles a day in PA school? (California)


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Hello all,

 

I am wondering if anyone has experience or advice on whether to drive 100 miles a day in California for the didactic year.

 

My school is in Orange county, but my husband works in Westwood Village. His job requires him to stay within 15 minutes walking distance. We have two options.

 

One is to live together in Westwood Village and for me to commute 100 miles a day, 50 miles each way. I plan to leave the apartment at 6am for school, and drive home after 7pm. According to Google map, each way typically takes 50 min to 1.5 hours depending on traffic. I can study from 5-7pm and then 9-11pm. I don't know if it is realistic to spend nearly 2-3 hours driving every day. I am thinking I can listen to lecture recordings or podcasts for fun during the commute.

 

Another option is to rent a second apartment close to school. In this case, I will commute to Westwood on weekends. The downside is we won't see each other much and will spend a lot on rent for two apartments. I will solely rely on financial aid, and our budget is tight in this scenario. (I have a cat, so finding a roommate or a tiny room in someone's house will be difficult.)

 

Any advice? I really appreciate it.

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I had a similar commute (about 45 min to 1 hour average, but could go up to 1.5+ hours with traffic, accidents). It was rough, but I tried to get to school early/late and do my studying then. It was an exhausting year and many times I wished I had lived closer, but I owned my house and didn't have much of a choice. It was only a year and I forced myself to deal with it.

If you do it, use your car time to wind down, relax. Join a gym near school to get some physical activity in. Anything can be done, but it won't be easy in either scenario

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I lived two hours from campus. Rented an apartment and thought it was great. If I had a Monday test, my wife would come down and we would “vacation” together.

 

There is a ton of studying to be done; I wouldn’t want to waste free time, sleep time, or study time to be stuck in a car.

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Hello all,

 

I am wondering if anyone has experience or advice on whether to drive 100 miles a day in California for the didactic year.

 

My school is in Orange county, but my husband works in Westwood Village. His job requires him to stay within 15 minutes walking distance. We have two options.

 

One is to live together in Westwood Village and for me to commute 100 miles a day, 50 miles each way. I plan to leave the apartment at 6am for school, and drive home after 7pm. According to Google map, each way typically takes 50 min to 1.5 hours depending on traffic. I can study from 5-7pm and then 9-11pm. I don't know if it is realistic to spend nearly 2-3 hours driving every day. I am thinking I can listen to lecture recordings or podcasts for fun during the commute.

 

Another option is to rent a second apartment close to school. In this case, I will commute to Westwood on weekends. The downside is we won't see each other much and will spend a lot on rent for two apartments. I will solely rely on financial aid, and our budget is tight in this scenario. (I have a cat, so finding a roommate or a tiny room in someone's house will be difficult.)

 

Any advice? I really appreciate it.

Sounds like you will be attending MBKU? Congrats. Great school.

To answer your question, I believe its possible but like other said, its going to be very difficult. If you are willing to deal with the stress 5 days a week driving in LA traffic you can surely do it. I myself will have to live no more than 30 min but hopefully less in order to not deal with the driving stress. Personally I dont take driving in traffic too well, it really kills me. You know yourself but my opinion is screw the cat and get a roommate. youll reunite again dont worry.

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I think you are wise to be aware of keeping your costs down and to try and save money on rent. I lived very close to my campus during didactic but during my clinical year I have had some hour plus commutes. Fortunately traffic as never been an issue and I have found some great podcasts that at least made me feel like I was being productive.

 

One thing to consider is that during didactic our schedule was far more varied than I thought it would be. We had changes to our class calendar frequently, sometimes multiple times in one week. We were required to come in on some weekends for special events, our start times could be very early on exam days etc. I was grateful to live close so these changes were not as much of a stress for me.  Also dont forget the cost of adding 500miles per week to your car, expect some extra wear and tear on your vehicle.

 

With that said I had classmates who had long commutes and they survived, they were thoroughly sick of the drive by the end of the year, but they survived

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I would do some apartment shopping and see what type of expenses you'd be looking at to have a second apartment. Maybe it'll be reasonable or not at all, which could help you decide. If you have the means to have an apartment near your school, you'd save yourself a lot of time and energy, which are two very coveted things while you're in PA school. Otherwise, you'll make it work.

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My current commute is 135 miles round trip Monday through Friday. If you're considering the drive, try to get the contact list of your classmates. I currently carpool with 2 of my classmates and we use our 2-3 hours of car time for quizzing and studying. The 2 co-pilots read through notes and quiz the driver. We switch drivers every day. Driving isn't fun, but I already have a mortgage and can't afford to pay another $500-$700 a month for an apartment. Most of my classmates live near campus and all have offered me their spare bedrooms if I don't feel like driving home. Moral of the story: classmates can be really great friends/allies/resources!

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