I went home every weekend during ground school. I'd fly home Friday night and return Sunday midday. The silver bullet was, if I had gotten stranded with lousy loads, I could theoretically have driven 12 hours back to SLC. But with 3 major airports within an hour's drive of my house, there was always a way I could get back.

One cannot study for 25 days straight (indoc + systems). You'd go nuts.

During sims I couldn't possibly go home as sims were in ATL, on the other side of the country. And I never had more than 1 day off between sim blocks. Your mileage may vary, of course.