I’ll be starting a 2-year accelerated nursing degree program and it’s a one hour drive (90 km or 56 miles) from my parent’s house where I plan on driving from. I have classes twice a week. Do you think this is doable?
Doable, sure. Lots of people I work with commute an hour or so.
But here’s the big question: How’s the weather in your part of the country?? On Long Island, we had two VERY SNOWY winters in a row-- and Superstorm Sandy the year before that. Commutes this winter were MUCH, MUCH longer than they were this morning. (And don’t even ask the residents of Buffalo, or far worse, Boston about their winters.)
Also, what’s plan B for car trouble??
If it is only twice a week, I don’t think you need to consider other alternatives. I do agree weather condition should be considered. I hour commute each way is typical for large city even within the city limit.
The winters can be harsh where I live, but there is a bus that I could take which would take about 1 hour and 45 minutes to get to campus. It seems a lot cheaper for me to drive as opposed to renting a place near campus.
For only 2 days per week, it probably makes sense to commute. Your commute time might extend to 2-3 hours in bad weather. Make sure you have a reliable vehicle and snow tires for the winter, and try to arrange a place to crash if the weather is bad. Can you study on the bus?
I have a 2006 Mazda 3, so hopefully it should get me through this program. Studying on the bus seems like a good idea too, since it’s a coach and therefore fairly comfortable.
It seems do-able especially just two days a week. If you could find someone who lives closer to the campus where you might stay in case of inclement weather that would be a big plus.
Are the two days a week close together, like Tuesday and Thursday, so that you could sublet a room or pay for a cheap motel for 2 nights a week, spending your Wednesdays in labs/the library? This would reduce the commute and would probably make studying (especially the labs you’re likely to have) more doable.
I’ll definitely try finding someone who I can stay with during inclement weather. My classes are back-to-back, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
One hour certainly seems doable. It seems like you’re using the bus as Plan B but will you always have sufficient funds to use the bus if something happens to the car? Is there anyone else in your town attending the same school with same day classes?
Yes the bus is Plan B. There are some people attending the same school from my area but they’ll be living on campus. They don’t have vehicles either, so that’s probably one reason why. The average rent for a room near campus is about $500 per month, and requires an 8-12 months lease. I’m looking at about $300 for the cost of gas and insurance if I drive there instead. Also, I won’t have to buy groceries if I live with my parents. This is actually a second degree for me, that’s why I’m really trying to minimize my expenses…but still trying to figure out whether it’s worth it.
Since you are in an accelerated nursing program, you will quickly transition into doing clinicals a few days per week. Are the clinical site(s) closer to where you live or do you have options to select a site closer to your home? Nursing clinicals tend to start very early in the morning and from my understanding coming arriving late is a big no-no.
Most of the placement sites are in the city in which the campus is located, but it’s possible for me to do them in surrounding towns, which are about a 45 minute drive from my place of residence (67.5 km or 42 miles). The placements will start in second semester.
So if you have a very bad winter, you could find yourself traveling 4 hours per day by bus? That doesn’t seem very feasible.
Locate a cheap (but not sketchy) hotel/motel, or friends you can stay with overnight. It’ll make things much easier for you.