Moving out or staying home with family - what's the smart choice? Forum

[l18]

There are a lot of considerations for this, but my main question is about time. I can live with my parents but I would have to commute 45min-1hr each way. I am concerned I am losing a big part of my day sitting in LA's fun freeways & putting me at a disadvantage vs other student. How big of a consideration should this be in my decision making? Hoping some of you that have attended school can give me advice.

The other issue is finding a place close to school for what I can afford, rental prices are not student friendly around here. Maybe I should live in my car during the week

[Clemenceau]

No train option?

[rnoodles]

There are a lot of considerations for this, but my main question is about time. I can live with my parents but I would have to commute 45min-1hr each way. I am concerned I am losing a big part of my day sitting in LA's fun freeways & putting me at a disadvantage vs other student. How big of a consideration should this be in my decision making? Hoping some of you that have attended school can give me advice.

The other issue is finding a place close to school for what I can afford, rental prices are not student friendly around here. Maybe I should live in my car during the week

I would say drive, because I had the same commute myself for a couple years and was hesitant to pull the trigger on a place due to prices. But you live in LA and the 405 is unlike anything I've ever been on so I think it's just a much better option finding a place as affordable and close to campus as possible. Nothing can make up for the amount of lost time spent in traffic.

[Good Guy Gaud]

I commuted 30-45 minutes each way during law school and it didn't have an adverse impact on my studies/grades. If you're managing your time wisely, it really won't make that much of a difference.

That being said, it wasn't in LA traffic, which from my experience can be unpredictable. If your route is steady I'd say don't stress over it. If you really wanna gun it, order some CDs that review your courses (I did this at one point).

[l18]

No train option?

Not from my home, driving is my only option.

I would say drive, because I had the same commit myself for a couple years and was hesitant to pull the trigger on a place due to prices. But you live in LA and the 405 is unlike anything I've ever been on so I think it's just a much better option finding a place as affordable and close to campus as possible. Nothing can make up for the amount of lost time spent in traffic.

I am with you on the time issue. Sitting in traffic is also a energy drain, at least for me. Thanks for your insight. Hopefully I can find something soon, atm most furnished studios run 2k a month and they are less than 700 sqft!

[rnoodles]

Hope it all works out for you too! I don't even want to think of how draining and stressful it'd be during finals.

I'm not sure where in LA you live, where you're going to school, or really all that much about it but I know someone who got a studio in Studio City for only $1500 (~20 mins each way to UCLA/USC for example). Personally, from the little I know about the area's realty I think that's quite a steal for LA.

[twenty]

LA

Unless you have other reasons to not live at home (i.e, you share a room with three siblings and you can't study), live at home. 45~ minutes for a commute is pretty minimal for LA, and saving 25k a year is TCR.

edit> my commute was about 40 minutes to maybe an hour in rush hour, and I had no problems.