How far do you travel?

Backwardo · Mar 1, 2014

I live half an hour away from my school. I'm so jealous of the people that can just roll out of bed and be at the school/clinicals in 5 minutes!

Really, the only pro is I live in a house that I love. I would never leave it to be half an hour closer. Well, that and I get to rock out in my car a little longer than any of my fellow students. :headphone: The cons are the cost of gas, more miles on your car, weather affects you more than someone who lives 5 minutes away, etc. It's really not fun, but you make it work.

BusiestBSN · Mar 1, 2014

I walk an intense 100 yards to class every day. On bad days it takes a full 5 minutes. Let me tell you, it is exhausting

I live on campus but will not next year & have not in the past. While taking prerequisites, I attended a community college that could take up to an hour to drive to. I recommend recording your lectures or yourself reading your notes and playing it in the car instead of listening to the radio. This can count as study time, so you are killing two birds with one stone.

My other recommendation is ALWAYS leave early. You never know what may happen along the way, especially traffic wise.

ellaballet · Mar 1, 2014

My commute is like 1 hr/1 and a half hours. It is awful.

Exhaustipated, ADN, BSN · Mar 1, 2014

My commute is about 45 minutes. While I do sometimes wish I lived closer, I like to use that commute time as additional study time -- I have often relistened to lectures or other school-related recordings while I'm driving. I also make sure to leave my house extra early; I time my commute so on a regular day I get to school and hour before class starts. It gives me time to wind down from the drive, get myself situated, and if I do run into bad traffic, I'm not panicked.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 1, 2014

LPN/LVN program in 2005 - I lived 95 miles away from the school and made the commute five days per week.

LPN-to-RN bridge program in 2009 - I lived 225 miles away from the school and had to cross state lines to get there. I would drive to school on Tuesday mornings, spend the night in town on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and return home Thursday night after attending the last class of the week.

NKS82 · Mar 2, 2014

I live 2hrs away from the uni, totally worth it. You can use those hours for studying.

RunBabyRN · Mar 2, 2014

I'm only about 20 minutes away, but I leave an hour prior, because of parking and unknowns. I've commuted about 90 minutes each way for clinicals, and I just listened to music I liked, caught up on phone calls (Bluetooth!), and listened to books on my iPhone. During my commute in general, I've listened to my own recordings of stuff I have to study. You could listen to your lectures, too.

One of my classmates commutes at least an hour each way for everything, since her clinicals and our lectures are up near me. It's been worth it for her.

kcataldo31 · Mar 2, 2014

I commute and hour each way (when it's not a snowy mess out, then it could take up to an hour and a half). I thought I'd hate it but it honestly helps me. It's the very scare ME time I get. I listen to music, talk to my best friend who lives across the country. It's the only time I don't feel I should be studying (because I can't).

There was one occasion I did very poorly on a practical I had to do. I had a night class about 2 hours after. I was so upset I decided I wasn't going to my night class and started driving home crying. Just driving for half an hour had cleared my head and I turned right back around and went to school.

Also two days a week I have a 6+ hour break between classes. I don't drive home because it'd be a waste of gas so I get some intense studying time in without the temptation of Netflix.

The only negative I see is scheduling time in the practice lab. We have to sign up for 1 hour blocks with a limit of 6 students per lab time. This is obviously MUCH easier for students who live on campus who can just pop over practically any time. It takes a little more scheduling on my part.

Good luck in school!

JayCimone · Mar 3, 2014

:lol2: :sarcastic: Oh I feel soooo bad for you.

Thank you for your recommendations! Bleh...driving wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't my least favorite thing to do!

Yamamama · Mar 3, 2014

I am not in school yet but am applying to two schools for the fall. Both schools are 45 min -> 1 hour drive each way, and that is with no traffic which is a possibility with one of the schools. I am honestly dreading this part the most not because I don't like to drive but because I will wake up so darn early in order to get ready, drive, and be at school prior to the 7:45 am start. blech...

kp1987 · Mar 3, 2014

15-20 minutes

Clinical exactly 4 minutes away