is the financial tradeoff of living in a nice place during med worth it?
Hey everyone! I’m an incoming U of T med student and have started looking into housing options for the fall.
From what I’ve seen so far, a really nice place with roommates (good location, newer building, more space, better amenities) tends to be around $1,700–1,900/month, whereas places that are a bit farther away, smaller/older, or have some drawbacks (e.g., lots of Airbnb units, poorer management, maintenance issues) are more in the $1,400–1,700/month range.
I’m trying to figure out whether paying an extra $200–300/month is actually worth it. Over four years, that works out to roughly $9,600–14,400 in additional housing costs, which is obviously a significant amount once interest and opportunity cost are considered. Furthermore, if I really wanted to, I could spend that money travelling.
For those who have gone through med school, do you feel that spending more for a nicer living situation was worth it in terms of quality of life, convenience, and mental health? Or do you think it’s better to minimize housing costs and keep debt as low as possible?
Would love to hear how others approached this decision and whether, in hindsight, you would make the same choice.