Deep in the basement of Hill House is the third form lounge, also known as the day student lounge. At the end of the school day, its occupants are members of a tightly knit community, all chewing bubble gum. When afternoon commitments are over, this 25% of the student population can travel home for the evening, eat a home cooked meal, and use the Wi-Fi as late into the night as they want, before going to sleep in their own warm beds. The other 75% is stuck at school, eating whatever is served in the dining hall that evening, and cramming in homework before the Wi-Fi turns off for the night.
Going home at night makes Choate life even better than it already is. This school is full of amazing new experiences, but sometimes you just want a familiar environment to return to, a familiar smell to breathe in, and a familiar bed to sleep in. Being a day student also allows you to “recharge” away from school with friend groups outside of Choate. Day students often talk about having the best of both worlds.
While the commute may not be ideal, in a hectic, busy environment, it’s nice to have some time with no obligations other than getting to or from school. For many day students, going home means being able to do whatever they want, whenever they want: eating when they’re hungry, using Wi-Fi when they want, and being in (or not in) their room whenever they want. As an added bonus, day students also never suffer from the issue of homesickness.
Day students have overall much more freedom than boarders, and have less structured days. As a day student, one doesn’t have to sign out to leave the campus, and can leave the campus without the permission of their dean. While boarders have a limited scope of non-Choate activities they can take part in, day students, while free to go to any events at Choate, can go to a number of events unavailable to Choate boarders as well. While boarders have the opportunity to go to New York every once in a while through SAC-sponsored daytrips, day students can go to the city with their parents or by themselves much more often.
Being a day student also affects life at school. Day students form a very close community at Choate. Many day students spend their free periods in the day student lounge, allowing for a very close group of people, all united by day student life. Usually day students can spot someone they know from the day student lounge wherever they go.
There are so many reasons that being a day students at Choate is better than being a boarder. After all, who would want to trade in the comfort and freedom of home for a prep school experience when they can have both?
