Recommendation: Commute to Campus or Live Close?

[taite.kalena]

I am from Ottawa and I have the option of staying at home for free and taking the bus/train to campus which would be an hour drive, or I could move somewhere close to campus but I would obviously have to pay rent. Is it possible to do that commute with law school, or not? Thanks for any advice!

[scooter]

A fair number of people do this. As far as I can tell, they all hate it. 

[taite.kalena]

Thanks for being honest.

[Chewy]

2 hours ago, taite.kalena said:

I am from Ottawa and I have the option of staying at home for free and taking the bus/train to campus which would be an hour drive, or I could move somewhere close to campus but I would obviously have to pay rent. Is it possible to do that commute with law school, or not? Thanks for any advice!

You have a lot of faith in OC transpo to trust what google might say is an hour long commute. It’ll probably be closer to 1.5 hours or longer depending on the season/weather.

[LMP]

I left Ottawa before the O-Train got going so I'm not sure how it has changed the commute. But, as I'm sure you know the prospect of a long commute on OC Transpo has always been a painful one. 

For your first year at least I'd live close to school. After that you can fiddle with your schedule and better budget your time such that a commute won't be such a big deal. 

[capitalttruth]

I am a 2L student at uOttawa who commutes from Nepean. Most days, the commute takes me about 35-45 minutes. There are days I wish I lived closer to campus, especially when I have morning classes. Overall though, it's not the worst situation. I save a lot of money by living at home, which is great.

Edited January 23, 2023 by capitalttruth

[RuleOfBlah]

Living close to campus is the best option for most people I would say. You don't want to be wasting 2 hours (potentially more than this) commuting to and from school every day when you have seven courses. It'll eat into time you could be studying. I won't lie and say that places close to campus are cheap, generally you're looking at $1,000+ in rent if you want to live alone or with only one other person. From experience though, I live three minutes away from the Faculty of Law and it has saved me so much time and it has made attending/participating in faculty events a lot easier. 

[blueberry99]

I used to live within walking distance to campus, and just moved further away for much cheaper. It is absolute hell to rely on the O-Train (it has been down 4/5 days that I needed it to get to school last week alone). If you can bus instead, it's not so bad. If I had the money to keep living near campus, I would have. But I am saving around $1,500/month which is huge. It's really up to you and whether you value ease of transportation or saving money more.

[Byron Harrison]

If you decide to move closer to campus, you will need to consider the cost of rent and other costs associated with independent living. Make sure you can afford to live on your own without putting too much strain on your finances, and check the prices on rental websites for comparison. I have found a few budget options on Rentola that may work for you. 
Ultimately, the decision of whether to stay at home or move closer to campus will depend on your individual circumstances and priorities. It may be worth trying to commute to law school every day for a few weeks or months to see what it's like before making a final decision. Good luck!

Edited April 10, 2023 by Byron Harrison

[Drusilla Benson]

2 minutes ago, Byron Harrison said:

If you decide to move closer to campus, you will need to consider the cost of rent and other costs associated with independent living. Make sure you can afford to live on your own without putting too much strain on your finances, and check the prices on rental websites for comparison. I have found a few budget options on Rentola that may work for you. 
Ultimately, the decision of whether to stay at home or move closer to campus will depend on your individual circumstances and priorities. It may be worth trying to commute to law school every day for a few weeks or months to see what it's like before making a final decision. Good luck!

It is still cheaper to live on campus, but if you plan to take the bus or train to campus, you need to make sure the public transportation system is reliable and on time. You do not want to miss classes or exams because of transport delays.