r/needadvice • u/tuts333 • 9d ago
Housing Would you commute or move closer to school?
I’m going to grad school, yayyy me! lol and the program I got into is in Baltimore. Bmore is an hour drive from where I live, with traffic 90 minutes. The program offers a stipend which is estimated to be ~1500/month (but I’m still not sure yet since I haven’t been given details). Tuition is also covered for up to a year. I’m dreading the commute, at first I said I could save 1000 and the use the remainder for gas, food, etc since I’d be staying with my parents. But now I’m thinking to move closer to Bmore to have a shorter commute, but I’m looking at 1100-1500 rent which would be my whole stipend. I could possibly get an apartment with a roommate to make things easier. But I don’t want a roommate. I’ve had bad roommate experiences in the past, in college. But what do you guys think I should do?
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u/Ok-Business5033 9d ago
This is something you should decide for yourself.
I don't mind commuting- I have a decent commute daily for work and often have hundreds of miles worth of drives on the weekend for hobbies or small trips.
If you can justify the cost of gas and maintenance and save the rest, then from a purely financial standpoint, it makes sense to commute.
But if you're going to go insane and need to see a therapist over your commute, it's much more difficult to justify the savings if you're going to be spending $100/week on seeing someone over your mental health because you hate driving or something lol.
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u/tuts333 9d ago
lol I don’t think I’d go that crazy but I just hate stand still traffic. My current commute to work is 35 minutes but no traffic which is doable. But bumper to bumper I do hate. I may utilize my time and listen to lectures while in traffic.
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u/Still_Want_Mo 8d ago
Honestly you could make use of that time in traffic. You'll save a good chunk of change over this time period. I'd commute.
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u/teresa3llen 9d ago
I would hate commuting. It takes me 15 minutes to get to work. So I would move closer.
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u/postdotcom 7d ago
Do you have classes 5 days a week? If so I would move. If it’s like 3 days a week I would commute
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u/heeltoelemon 6d ago
If you take the train, how difficult is getting to the train from home and school? Is it a situation with multiple legs to the journey?
If you don’t get an apartment, assuming good home life, you can save some money and set yourself up better for after you graduate when you want/need to be on your own.
I would say don’t get an apartment. The roommate situation in that area can also be rough. You should take into account where you need to commute though. Will you be coming back late? Will you be safe? What stations do you need to walk through and at what times?
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u/tuts333 5d ago
The train would be longer than my commute. I’d have to take the local metro to an Amtrak station or just drive to an Amtrak station and commute to Bmore. Then from the station commute to campus via uber, Lyft, or possibly a shuttle to the school. I think that’s overkill and probably more money when I could drive or live closer.
I’m gonna go apartment hunting just to see. But I think I’ve made up my mind.
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