Hello Everyone!

I am new to this site but grateful that I stumbled upon it as I am seeking advice. :)

Last week, I received a call informing me that I have been accepted into LSU to begin studying for my PhD in Social Work. While I am overwhelmed with joy and excitement, this great news has brought upon a lot of thoughts about what this will mean for me in the next few years. My biggest issue is whether to relocate or not, which is what I could use some input about. I currently stay in New Orleans. I relocated here last July for a teaching position, with no friends or family in the city. I've grown accustomed to the city. Now I am trying to decide if it will be necessary to move to Baton Rouge (1 hour 30 mins away). My courses start in July, which is when I will be taking a class Monday through Thursday, 8:30-4:30. I will have no choice whether or not to commute because my lease won't be up. However, I am considering what to do upon ending my lease and deciding whether to make the move to Baton Rouge or stick it out in New Orleans. My argument for staying: I am knocking my Stats out the way this year, which mean I will only be attending part-time. I will take 4 hours each semester (not including the summer course), which will be Stats and a Lab. It will only require me to be at LSU one day a week for about 4-5 hours. The schedule will be similar for the Spring. After my first year, I will be taking 2-3 courses per semester. These classes will be on one or two days during the week, depending on scheduling. I feel like even with those few days of classes a week, the 90 minute commute may be doable. However, I consider the other side of this. It is doctoral-level work, which I feel that I will need to spend as much time as possible on campus, in my department, around my cohort, in the library, etc. I think a part of my indecisiveness is knowing that this will truly be a lot of work, but not really grasping the magnitude of the work (if that makes sense). This is new to me, yet like any other PhD student, I want to do my best work (which is an understatement!). So from your experience as a PhD student, is it worth the 90-minute commute to class or should I bite the bullet and move? Anyone with knowledge of the N.O. to Baton Rouge commute, your advice is appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

Are there any other commuting PhD students out there who can advise Deesbees09?

Hi Deesbees09, I'm a PhD commuter albeit in Europe (never been to America unfortunately. But maybe someday :-)) so I cannot comment on your specific route but I can comment on some of the issues raised in your post. My commute is shorter than yours at about 35-40 minutes and I generally have to go in maybe 2 days per week for teaching or attending an educative class for the PhD itself. I try to pack in a bit of socialising while I'm there on those two days so that might just entail having lunch with one or more of my fellow PhD students or simply having a chat with them and maybe hang out in the computer room for a while to mix with some of them. I generally find that this is enough to keep me in touch with everyone. I sometimes also go into the library while I'm on campus and empty the shelves and photocopy everything I need! I use the internet a lot though for sourcing relevant texts. I didn't relocate because my commute isn't too long and I didn't have the money to relocate but also I have found that I get way more work done at home. So I don't know if any of this helps but it might give you some food for though. Simply, you can create and maintain some connections with fellow PhD students as a commuter and if you're the kind of person who works better in isolation you'll also get more work done at home. But ultimately it depends on you and what way you prefer to work I guess. Either way I wish you the very best and try to *enjoy* the experience (Oh by the way I always attend any social events like the Christmas party and so on and the odd seminar - keeps you connected too). Good luck and congrats on obtaining the position :-)

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Edit: Oops. Double post.

Hi DeesBees09! First, congratulations on your acceptance! As far as my own experience as a PhD student in the U.S., when I began my program, I lived half an hour from campus, but also worked on campus. So, I was there all day, every day. I got to know a lot of students and professors, including those outside of my own department. I didn't realize it at the time, but in retrospect, these relationships became invaluable, especially toward the end of my program when some challenges came up in my personal life that threatened to derail my ability to finish the degree.

To keep a long story short, my spouse became very ill, and we ended up moving 90 minutes away from the uni. At this point, I had already completed all of my course work, and was solely doing the research for my dissertation project. My supervisor was very supportive, and we conferenced by phone whenever I couldn't make it to campus. I also changed jobs, but still had a long commute to work. Although it was possible to get reading and writing done on the trains while commuting, it was not ideal. For example, if the train happened to be noisy or crowded, I felt frustrated, and it put me in a foul mood. (If you're planning to drive, it will be impossible to use the time constructively. Just something to think about.)

Everyone's different, but based on my own experience, I would move to Baton Rouge in order to be close to the academic community on campus. Time becomes so very precious when you're a PhD student, and you don't want to waste it running back and forth. It also helps to be near people who understand what you're going through. Needless to say, it's also valuable to meet people who can share information about opportunities in your field. Although it sounds like you'll miss the city, now that you have friends in New Orleans, it could actually be nice to have New Orleans as a place to get away when you need a break from everything.

On the other hand, an important factor is whether or not it's more cost effective for you to stay in New Orleans and commute. Have you worked this out on paper yet? Is there a significant difference in rent?

I'm writing this in a bit of a rush, but hope it makes sense. Good luck with everything!

Thank you JStanley and Dalmation for your advice...it is very appreciated!

I've received mixed feedback from friends and co-workers about what to do. Some say the commute won't be bad since it's only a few days a week (with exception to July) and others are saying just move and get it over with. However, none of these people have been in a PhD program, so I wanted to seek advice from those who can give me some insight as to what to expect. JStanley you made a good point about getting a lot of work done at home. So I considered where I would be more focused. New Orleans is a busier city than Baton Rouge (obviously :-)), yet Baton Rouge is the ultimate college town. Granted, I do not get out much, but I should consider which would be less of a distraction. Dalmation you make a great point about being close to the academic community, and that is something that I need to think about. Doctoral work is a whole different league. I know it will require tons more work than what I did for my master's degrees. It will take about 4 years to complete my coursework and my advisor says that in my 4th year I can begin working on plans for dissertation research. I assume that the closer that I get to my dissertation plans, the more crucial it is to be on campus regularly and near my professors, correct? How drastic does the workload change from the beginning of studies to approaching dissertation plans? I am sure every program is different, but in your experience, how was it?

Thanks again for your input!

Just based on my own experience, given a choice, I would rather be near my support network going into the proposal writing stage. I struggled with mine, mainly because I had never written a PhD research proposal before! (In comparison, just taking courses is easy.)

I worked full-time throughout my program, which was fine at the beginning of the program, but extremely challenging toward the end, because it felt like the equivalent of taking on another full-time job.

Certainly, it's possible to earn a PhD from a distance, whether you're living in a different city, or living abroad. Having experienced both (living close to campus, and commuting a significant distance), if I had to do it over again, I would make my life as simple as possible and move close to campus. But that's just me - others may have a different view.

(Just as an aside, I don't know whether you'll get an unbiased opinion from your friends. It's natural that they'll want to persuade you to live closer to them!)