Would you desire to have a roommate or live by yourself during Nursing school?

[TJ_vladin]

This fall, I will be housed in the dorms on-campus. But, there is a difficult decision that I have to make. My school is offering me a room with a roommate (much cheaper) or a single room all to myself. The rooms are quite spacious and only for upper division transfers. As a nursing student who is about to take 24 units (including pre-med courses) and joining clubs, would it even be advisable to have a room mate? This is an issue that has been lingering in my mind for the past couple of days.

Some have stated to live in a single room by myself so I could have much more privacy and convenience to study. if I wanted to socialize, people will be right down the hall. Yet, some have stated to live with a room mate to actually have that type of experience (I never really lived college life). If I have a room mate, I don't think I'll ever study in my dorm. However, I will instead study in the library. I'm the type of individual who retains information quickly and absorbs material at a fast pace, so I'm not really sweating on my condensed schedule. Also, my school is offering gender neutral housing (where they can place a male/female as room mates). Is that even advisable or would it just be highly distracting? The roommate could end up being a member of the opposite sex. I think that its just begging for trouble cause what about the sexual urges?

Anyways, appreciate your time for reading this and have a good day!

[showbizrn]

[color=slategray]no way

you need your space and time

alone

just to crash and sleep!

[bhanson]

I would choose a roommate for the reduced cost. My freshman roommate and I had some incompatibilities but it was still a worthwhile experience in the end. You can always wear earplugs if you need but there were always ample study facilities.

By the way, nursing courses are nothing at all like your pre-reqs. I've taken up to 22 credits a semester (with A performance) and I can say I personally couldn't do the same amount including nursing credits. The material is not at all more difficult, but there is a disproportionate amount of content compared to the number of credits you receive. For example 10 credits at my nursing school represents 20-25 hours of required attendance plus whatever preparation time you need.

Why are you taking pre-med courses in addition to nursing school? If you want to be a doctor then skip the nursing courses because they'll only be a time-sink and effectively be very low yield.

Also, I guarantee your peers will not be studying as much as you will be with that many credits. I'd have to see your schedule but if you're taking two labs in addition to nursing school you will definitely have minimal social time and might as well live off campus and save money.

[Survivor 1957]

I did not immediately find your gender or age when I looked, but I can tell you roommates cause problems. I have a very nice 3-bedroom apartment and funds are tight for me during school. So I thought I would share my apartment with another to share expenses. It did not last anytime at all, and I was left paying their expenses. I study all hours, and I like to listen to quite music while studying. They wanted everything totally quite unless it was what they wanted. I liked the curtains and windows open, they wanted them closed all the time. I wanted to keep things clean, they were pigs. I wound up being the housekeeper, no thank you. As far as sexual urges, "double A battery's" are cheap. Live by yourself if you have a choice. Just sign me old man nursing student.

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

If your roommate is also a nursing major and has similar goals as you it will probably work out better.

As far as mixed gender rooms - I can see where it could get very awkward very quickly. And that's not conducive to a healthy learning environment.

[CNABESS]

If you can swing it at all, go for the private room. Having a roommate will be a major distraction and probably cause drama, something you do not need when studying nursing. I would rather live in a shoebox alone, than a palace with a roommate. If only I had not had to learn that the hard way so long ago.

[GilaRRT]

I rented an apartment with a roomate. He loved to party and had people in and out at all hours. We had some fun for sure, but I lost a bunch of sleep during those years. I pulled it off back then, but there is no way I could do that now. Guess I'm getting old...

[rikkitikki]

Roommate. Save yourself the money. There are a lot of other study spaces and a private room doesn't guarantee an A. And there's always the distinct possibility that your roommate won't be attracted to you, helping you to keep your rampant sexual urges to yourself.

[mariposabella]

Take the private room and roommates suck.

[anzean_rn]

I had another nursing student as my roommate though out the program (not during prereqs). We were in the same class and also very good friends which is why my advice will not directly apply to your situation...but I really liked having a roommate. There was always someone there to study the exact same material for the exact same test with - SO nice! Having said that, I don't know that I would go in blind. Too risky on multiple levels in my opinion.

[ms_miyagi]

If at all possible, take the private room. The amount of time you will spend reading and note taking is unbelievable; whether or not you read and retain material quickly. Nursing School is unlike anything you have experienced to date. You have to learn a new way of thinking and ingesting material and this can be both frustrating and time consuming. Also, you will become the paper work queen, because it seems as if you learn nothing else, you will learn how to kill a few thousand trees with all the papers, care plans, major care plans and teaching projects that you will have to do for nursing school.

Also, with a room mate, either same sex or opposite, if they like to party, how well are you going to handle having people coming in at all hours of the night when you have to be up at 4 am in order to get to clinicals on time and prepared?

Nursing school isn't for the faint of heart nor the party animal. When you read about people not seeing much of their family and friends during nursing school, believe it and prepare yourself, your friends and family now and stick to your guns! Because no matter how much they say they understand, someone will invariably get ticked off when you can't or won't drop everything to spend time with them.

[noahsmama]

If you can afford it, I say go for the private room!