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Just wondering about commuting to Law School. How far would you say is too far?

I live 35-40 minutes(parking included) from a school I am considering. Would you stay and drive or would you move to that schools town?

I live 41 miles away. It sucks, but it's not terrible.

45 minutes is probably the most I would do but it really depends on the person/area and your budget.

It depends on a few things. I live in LA, so without traffic I can make it to school in about 23 minutes. On the way home, I often have to sit in traffic for about an hour. If your commute would always be 35-45 minutes, that doesn't sound too bad. I will say that it does get frustrating at some points throughout the semester because you begin to value every minute and start to realize how much time you could save if you lived closer. It depends on your circumstances, though. If you would be saving a lot of money by living that far away then it could be worth it.

I live 3 miles and it takes me 25-30 minutes until I wait for the bus, etc. (Although I can make it in 5 minutes when I need to drive in to grab a book or something.) I wouldn't live much further away time wise.

It depends on the person. I commuted over an hour for work. It sucked, but it was doable.

bk187 wrote:It depends on the person. I commuted over an hour for work. It sucked, but it was doable.

I think the doable amount of time goes up if it's for work. Just from your perspective, would you have done over an hour to commute to school?

In undergrad I commuted 40 minutes without traffic, 1 hour and 20 minutes in rush hour. It sucked in the beginning but I got used to it. A nice 30 minutes drive or so can actually be relaxing at times. However, now in law school I live 5-7 minutes from school and love it. It's enough to be away from the crazy, but I don't waste too much time driving each day.

Keep it under 45 minutes..in the worst of conditions, not the best.

I commute about an hour and 15 minutes and it has seemed to work ok for the first half of my 1L year. It makes for some long days and I am not really able to be part of the social scene but I've made it work. Of course it takes some planning - no running back to the school if you forget a book and you have to plan library time carefully (although with Westlaw access from home, its not such a big deal).

I commute 35 mins too. Sometimes it is nice and other times it kinda sucks. It can be a pain to drive down to the area for office hours or bar review, but generally it is pretty nice to be away from the area and get somewhat of a break from law school when I'm driving.

A caveat though, I do all my studying at home which may contribute to me being fine with the commute. I could see how I would feel differently if I was driving 35 minutes to the library on the weekends, or whenever I needed something from home.

I commuted an hour and a half one way in undergrad. It worked out. I would tape my notes and play it back on the drive. I have friends in law school who do this also. That kind of commute would completely suck in LS, though. For one thing, you're missing out on that much study time. Listening to recorded lectures or taped notes can only get you so far. Plus, in LS many of us are older and have families or serious partners. That's just another 2 or so hours per day you'll be away from them.

I think 45 minutes is the most I would take on before deciding to move closer to school. Right now my drive is 10 minutes and the walk to the building is another 9 and that seems like a lot!

I guess I am pretty spoiled than. you guys are road warriors. I can walk out my back door, get in the car, drive to school, and be in my chair within 13 minutes, at a CASUAL pace. I love it. We have Washburn Law, a TTT, but really I don't think I want to do the law that is in Topeka. 3-5 attorney firms, no real support for younger attorneys, just not the way I want to practice. KU is a TT and 25 miles away, and would get me into the Kansas City/Wichita market which is better than Topeka for sure.

tyro wrote:

bk187 wrote:It depends on the person. I commuted over an hour for work. It sucked, but it was doable.

I think the doable amount of time goes up if it's for work. Just from your perspective, would you have done over an hour to commute to school?

I definitely see your point.

If I was driving (and I wasn't for work) definitely not. If I was taking a train it would be doable. If I didn't get motion sick reading while on a train I would definitely do it if there were advantages to living so far away. If there weren't advantages to living far away I'd choose to live closer of course.

That being said I do get motion sick if I read on the train and thus I wouldn't do it for school (or work if I had to take work home with me).

I cannot bear spending more than 30 minutes on transportation when I need to get to school. Wasting a lot of time on transportation really drags down your energy level, and if you really need to save that money - just rent an apartment that's closer to campus, and use the time to work.

jared6180 wrote:I guess I am pretty spoiled than. you guys are road warriors. I can walk out my back door, get in the car, drive to school, and be in my chair within 13 minutes, at a CASUAL pace. I love it. We have Washburn Law, a TTT, but really I don't think I want to do the law that is in Topeka. 3-5 attorney firms, no real support for younger attorneys, just not the way I want to practice. KU is a TT and 25 miles away, and would get me into the Kansas City/Wichita market which is better than Topeka for sure.

What's the traffic like on this drive? And what kind of driving is it? I think 25 miles of highway drive would be manageable if you don't plan to have a social life around school or work in the library. If you're the kind of person who can work effectively from home, it's doable. I only live about 9 miles now from my job, but it's all stop and go rural roads, so it takes over half an hour sometimes. Drives me insane. I know when I go back next year, I need to live as close as possible so I can hole up in the library.