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I live 40 min away and would graduate with 0k debt if I did so. That being said, I live 40 min away. Curious as to what everyone else's preferences for commutes are! (I know this may vary depending on age/family/location)

Really depends on the city. If I go to NU, I will stay in my neighborhood because I love it here. It'll be ~45 minutes (15 min walking, 30 min train) and I'm okay with that. If I went to WUSTL or Michigan, I wouldn't even consider a 20 minute door-to-door commute.

I don't think 40 mins is that bad.

Mine's 30-45 min depending on traffic. My wife's commute is about the same in the opposite direction, so it's a nice compromise and lets us live in an awesome neighborhood. Really not bad at all, but I wouldn't go much longer.

My 1L is going to be a stupid long commute. 25 minutes driving, 45 minutes on the train, 10 minute walk. Personally, the additional time is worth the money saved for not having to live closer. Also, if part of your commute is on the train than it's a wash because I plan on factoring that into my studying time. That's the potential of 90 productive studying minutes a day.

That being said, I know that the commute will kill me a little inside so I am hoping we can move closer after 1L. 40 minutes is completely fine, though. That's about what I currently have for work and it doesn't really phase me much.

I had a 30+ minute bus ride everyday for UG and didn't mind it too much because I liked where I lived and saved money

I'm lazy...30 mins. I used to do a 2 hour commute every day for a consulting project. Never again. If you're from Long Island fuck the 495.

currently have a 2 hour commute each way for work so I will accept nothing more than 15 minutes for law school. so done with commuting

currently commute 45 mins- 1 hour each way for work and it is routinely the worst part of my day.

My hour commute to work is slowly killing me. My goal for law school is to live as close to the school as possible for 1L. Rent prices be damned, I'm going to need some me time. After 1L, I'll probably move further away to save money.

The only good thing about my long commute was that I discovered how amazing podcasts are and I got to listen to Serial.

dietcoke1 wrote:currently have a 2 hour commute each way for work so I will accept nothing more than 15 minutes for law school. so done with commuting

This is so me it hurts. Have legitimately had mental breakdowns re: Seattle's public transportation.

dietcoke1 already knows this, but I sign my perfect close-to-campus lease this week

For school 40 minutes isn't that bad, especially if it's passive so you can do other things.

chandhi wrote:

dietcoke1 wrote:currently have a 2 hour commute each way for work so I will accept nothing more than 15 minutes for law school. so done with commuting

This is so me it hurts. Have legitimately had mental breakdowns re: Seattle's public transportation.

dietcoke1 already knows this, but I sign my perfect close-to-campus lease this week

Omg Chandhi! I didn't know you had decided! Where will you be attending?

chandhi wrote:

dietcoke1 wrote:currently have a 2 hour commute each way for work so I will accept nothing more than 15 minutes for law school. so done with commuting

This is so me it hurts. Have legitimately had mental breakdowns re: Seattle's public transportation.

dietcoke1 already knows this, but I sign my perfect close-to-campus lease this week

seriously. not sure whether or I'm more excited to start the next part of my life or not to ever have to ride the damn train for so long again

that is exciting, congrats!

sublime wrote:For school 40 minutes isn't that bad, especially if it's passive so you can do other things.

I will be driving 40 min on the freeway, rush hour in the mornings so I'm assuming it will be closer to 1 hour as I'm headed into the city area.

Stylnator wrote:

sublime wrote:For school 40 minutes isn't that bad, especially if it's passive so you can do other things.

I will be driving 40 min on the freeway, rush hour in the mornings so I'm assuming it will be closer to 1 hour as I'm headed into the city area.

That's annoying but still doable, and worth it for no debt I think. Honestly, I had more free time in law school than just about any other time in my life.

Stylnator wrote:

chandhi wrote:

dietcoke1 wrote:currently have a 2 hour commute each way for work so I will accept nothing more than 15 minutes for law school. so done with commuting

This is so me it hurts. Have legitimately had mental breakdowns re: Seattle's public transportation.

dietcoke1 already knows this, but I sign my perfect close-to-campus lease this week

Omg Chandhi! I didn't know you had decided! Where will you be attending?

Michigan! Too damn excited. And 112% sure it's the right choice. Thanks, Stylnator

Stylnator wrote:

sublime wrote:For school 40 minutes isn't that bad, especially if it's passive so you can do other things.

I will be driving 40 min on the freeway, rush hour in the mornings so I'm assuming it will be closer to 1 hour as I'm headed into the city area.

Honestly, my driving commute would be very similar to this. I'm choosing the longer commute that includes a train because I think it's
1. a better use of my time
2. Better for my overall mental health. Starting and ending my day with Rush hour traffic will take a bigger toll on me than a longer commute would

Obviously that doesn't hold true for everyone but it might be worth it to see what all your options are, try them all out for a week, and see what works best for you. That's kind of how I decided on the commute I decided on.

chandhi wrote:

Stylnator wrote:

chandhi wrote:

dietcoke1 wrote:currently have a 2 hour commute each way for work so I will accept nothing more than 15 minutes for law school. so done with commuting

This is so me it hurts. Have legitimately had mental breakdowns re: Seattle's public transportation.

dietcoke1 already knows this, but I sign my perfect close-to-campus lease this week

Omg Chandhi! I didn't know you had decided! Where will you be attending?

Michigan! Too damn excited. And 112% sure it's the right choice. Thanks, Stylnator

Congrats!!

ashrice13 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:

sublime wrote:For school 40 minutes isn't that bad, especially if it's passive so you can do other things.

I will be driving 40 min on the freeway, rush hour in the mornings so I'm assuming it will be closer to 1 hour as I'm headed into the city area.

Honestly, my driving commute would be very similar to this. I'm choosing the longer commute that includes a train because I think it's
1. a better use of my time
2. Better for my overall mental health. Starting and ending my day with Rush hour traffic will take a bigger toll on me than a longer commute would

Obviously that doesn't hold true for everyone but it might be worth it to see what all your options are, try them all out for a week, and see what works best for you. That's kind of how I decided on the commute I decided on.

I've never even thought about how different commutes might carry different time values. Sitting on a train sounds way more pleasant than rush hour even if it does extend commute time. Sadly there is also no public transportation where I'll be (gotta love suburbia).

chandhi wrote:

Stylnator wrote:

chandhi wrote:

dietcoke1 wrote:currently have a 2 hour commute each way for work so I will accept nothing more than 15 minutes for law school. so done with commuting

This is so me it hurts. Have legitimately had mental breakdowns re: Seattle's public transportation.

dietcoke1 already knows this, but I sign my perfect close-to-campus lease this week

Omg Chandhi! I didn't know you had decided! Where will you be attending?

Michigan! Too damn excited. And 112% sure it's the right choice. Thanks, Stylnator

Awesome! Feel free to PM me for fun things to do in MI!

Stylnator wrote:

ashrice13 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:

sublime wrote:For school 40 minutes isn't that bad, especially if it's passive so you can do other things.

I will be driving 40 min on the freeway, rush hour in the mornings so I'm assuming it will be closer to 1 hour as I'm headed into the city area.

Honestly, my driving commute would be very similar to this. I'm choosing the longer commute that includes a train because I think it's
1. a better use of my time
2. Better for my overall mental health. Starting and ending my day with Rush hour traffic will take a bigger toll on me than a longer commute would

Obviously that doesn't hold true for everyone but it might be worth it to see what all your options are, try them all out for a week, and see what works best for you. That's kind of how I decided on the commute I decided on.

I've never even thought about how different commutes might carry different time values. Sitting on a train sounds way more pleasant than rush hour even if it does extend commute time. Sadly there is also no public transportation where I'll be (gotta love suburbia).

Ugh. That sucks. That makes it a harder decision honestly. I kind of get why you're not sure. At the end of the day, though...my debt averse ass would probably be finding some calming music to listen to and navigating rush hour.

On the bright side - one big negative with train commuting is missing late night bar reviews or other nights out because I have to catch the last train home. If you drive, that won't be an issue. You can just leave at whatever time you're ready. So, there's one plus to keep in mind!

ashrice13 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:

ashrice13 wrote:

Stylnator wrote:

sublime wrote:For school 40 minutes isn't that bad, especially if it's passive so you can do other things.

I will be driving 40 min on the freeway, rush hour in the mornings so I'm assuming it will be closer to 1 hour as I'm headed into the city area.

Honestly, my driving commute would be very similar to this. I'm choosing the longer commute that includes a train because I think it's
1. a better use of my time
2. Better for my overall mental health. Starting and ending my day with Rush hour traffic will take a bigger toll on me than a longer commute would

Obviously that doesn't hold true for everyone but it might be worth it to see what all your options are, try them all out for a week, and see what works best for you. That's kind of how I decided on the commute I decided on.

I've never even thought about how different commutes might carry different time values. Sitting on a train sounds way more pleasant than rush hour even if it does extend commute time. Sadly there is also no public transportation where I'll be (gotta love suburbia).

Ugh. That sucks. That makes it a harder decision honestly. I kind of get why you're not sure. At the end of the day, though...my debt averse ass would probably be finding some calming music to listen to and navigating rush hour.

On the bright side - one big negative with train commuting is missing late night bar reviews or other nights out because I have to catch the last train home. If you drive, that won't be an issue. You can just leave at whatever time you're ready. So, there's one plus to keep in mind!

Yeah, it looks like it's just going to be something I'll have to suck up but I have heard positive comments from commuters at my school so it's not like it will be miserable. And you're definitely right that it'll be a positive to be on my own time table. Hopefully you can catch rides from someone who lives near you once you make friends!

I have enough COL saved up to fund 1 year of living on my own but I'm not sure if it should be 1L, 2L, or 3L. There is a semester in D.C. program at my school that I really would like to try out and that takes place 2nd year so I was planning on using funds for that, and then commuting 1L and 3L. I will learn to love driving!

Stylnator wrote: I will learn to love driving!

Maybe you can teach ferris!