Author: Shruti Sahoo (medical student) , Editor: Dr. Rohini R

You work really hard and finally get admission into your dream college and course , now comes the next big question that will probably affect almost all the memories and experiences of your college life 

So, to be a day scholar or a hostellite?

To be honest there is no good answer to this and it is an extremely subjective topic because of both has its own pros and cons and it varies from person to person what are the pros and cons they want to have in their college life.

PROS :

DAY SCHOLAR 

• you are always with your family and never home sick, you can attend all the festivities with your family and spend endless time with them.

• You always get the best home cooked meal, you mom feeds you with the most delicious and healthy food and you will never have to memorise mess timings or the menu.

• You get to live in your own city , you know where to find cheap stationary to the best golgappe wala in the city, you know it all!

• you get to live in your own room , no adjustments with new roommates or hostel rules. You can decorate your room the way you like, put the lights on and off anytime without thinking if someone’s getting disturbed.

• Hygienic toilets and no UTIs 

This is very very important ; nothing is better than having a clean restroom of your own.

You don’t have to wait outside the long queue in front of the bathroom each morning, you don’t have to worry about the water running out.

• No ragging or following the hostel rules.

 HOSTELLITE

• You will have the privilege of waking up 5 minutes before the class but still reaching on time ( although you will probably end of being late always )

• you have full freedom of what to wear (however, this can vary with each college and their rules), where to go, when to study, what to eat etc etc…. No mom rules here!

• You will meet so many juniors and seniors who will end up being your best friends in life.

• You don’t have to worry about how to study or what to study – your seniors will be  always there to  help you out.

• You get more  participation in college events and endless late night memories with your hostel friends – you will learn how to pull an event within a single night.

• No worries of carrying heavy books or forgetting files in home . 

• Hostel birthdays are the best- it is 12 am and everyone’s awake and celebrating for you is probably the best gift you can get on your birthday.

CONS:

The cons are more or less the same – what a hostellite can do and a day scholar can’t counts as a con for him.

DAY SCHOLAR:

• You won’t  get to have full freedom and air of your own.

• You won’t  make such close connections with your seniors and juniors.

• You will always have to worry about transportation and a lot of your time will be wasted in travelling between college and home.

• You will probably have to figure out how to study those thick never ending books on your own.

• You will probably have to always be worried about the attendance and getting late to college.

HOSTELLITE:

• you will never like your mess food

• no matter how much you love your hostel homies you will miss home, you  will  miss celebrating festivals with them and spending time with them. 

• you will probably face ragging, follow rules told by your seniors. The ragging can get really bad.

• you will never get a empty end clean rest room to use.

But in the end what matters is what you prioritise and want you want your college life to be like.

There’s no bad decision, and if think you have made the wrong choice, you can switch at any point in your medical education journey – after all, you would be a be a student for 10 to 15+ years. Hopefully, you love whatever decision you make for yourself.