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Peer Advice: Commuting in Graduate School

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Tips and tricks on managing a commuter’s lifestyle!

As someone who commuted to both undergraduate and now graduate school, I have finally figured out how to make the most of my school experience as a commuter. Here are some tips I’ve learned:

Get to campus early (especially on exam and proficiency days).

I commute from Irvine (~20-25 minutes depending on traffic), and on test days, I would leave ~45 minutes to an hour earlier than the test time. On some days, the parking lot fills up quickly, especially during earlier months of the school year, but the overflow parking lot is not too bad! The overflow parking lot is located on 2001 N State College Blvd, Fullerton, CA 92831, and there is a shuttle that comes every 15 minutes to take you from the overflow lot to the main campus. I would highly recommend signing up for parking alerts (i.e. when the parking structure is at capacity) so you know ahead of time if you need to head to the overflow lot. To subscribe, you can text "MBKUtextalerts" (all one word) to the number 33222.

Pick a schedule that favors your commuting preferences.

During the fall and winter quarters (i.e. when the course load is not as heavy), it might be possible to pick a schedule where you only have to come to school a few days out of the week. Or, if you want to avoid morning traffic, you could opt for an afternoon lab instead of morning. Another option for avoiding rush hour at the end of the day is signing up for after hours practice! On lecture days that end around 5PM, you could sign up for after hours at 6PM to get in a bit more clinical practice and also wait out rush hour!

Build a support system with other commuters.

Becoming friends with other commuters means that you will have friends to wait out traffic with, eat lunch with in the student lounge (while others may go home for lunch), study/practice with in between classes, etc. Having a support system, whether that be friends or family, is so important for success in graduate school.

Carpool if you can!

You may find that a lot of classmates commute from the same area, and if your schedules align, carpooling is always a possibility! (You can also request to have the same schedule as a friend if the two of you opt to carpool.) Having a friend to sit through traffic with and split the driving with makes the commute much more fun.

Commuting has its pros and cons, but I hope you find these recommendations helpful in making the most of your graduate school experience as a commuter. Welcome to MBKU!