Blog 2:Just another 🩺NEET Aspirant👨🏽‍⚕️( DAY SCHOLAR VS HOSTELLER)

 This is the 2nd blog in just another NEET aspirant blog series. In this blog, I want to focus on the next step after selecting the school, whether to enroll the child as a day scholar or a hosteller. Parents would have a great dilemma whether to sacrifice two years of their educational year and enroll them in a hostel or have the luxury and comfort of sending their child from their homes. Both choices have their respective pros and cons and neither of the options is the wrong choice, for one being a day scholar is the right choice while for the other being a hosteller is the better choice. It all depends on how to weigh the pros and cons. My insight below will help you decide which is better for your child. 




First, we will discuss the case of a day scholar and the pros and cons of being a day scholar. 



Day-Scholar: Pros 


  1. Home-cooked food 

- The best part is home-cooked food you get to eat your favorite, healthy food that is being prepared by your mother with love. The food that is being cooked in most hostels is quite poor and often unhealthy. Most of the time, the hostel food menu is also only influenced by the management and not under the control of the students themselves. 


  1. Personal Space

-In your own house, you would have your private room, personal bathroom, personal study desk, and cupboard. You can feel the privacy of your life. But such is not the case in the hostel life. Everything is shared among 50 or even 100 students. You will not have a private life, you will have to share your room with 5 students, toilet and showers with 50 students. As a result, hygiene becomes a great issue. 


  1. Mental Support 

-Surrounded by friends and families 24/7, we always have the support of our loved ones. Mental support is a pillar that is crucial for our academic journey. The love, support, and guidance from our parents are unmatched. Then when we are lost, lose hope, and get depressed they are always there to help us out of the darkness. 


Hosteller: Pros 


  1. Free of distractions & maximum concentration

-Living in a hostel is like a jail, well even though jail has a negative connotation, sometimes it is a good thing. Being in this study jail, hostellers are free of the distractions that are happening in the real world outside the huge walls. Thoughts of the latest movie released, using a smartphone, surfing through the web, and scrolling through social media. Free from all these unnecessary distractions, the students can channel all their concentration into focusing on their NEET preparation and exams ahead. 



  1. First step into the real world

-This gives students a sense of responsibility, independence, and self-care. Hostel life teaches you a lot of good things such as teamwork, a helping mindset, a sense of unity and sacrifice, etc. A hosteller, who is not under the support of his/her family, can develop a sense of independence and self-reliance. From getting ready for school, by waking up on their own to their administrative matters to managing their own laundry and daily chores everyone can develop a sense of self-responsibility.


  1. Teacher’s and Management  Involvement

-It is often a rule of thumb that the teachers are more involved with students who are hostellers when they are day scholars because of the flexibility of hostel life. The teachers can shift the study hours, shorten it, and extend it (most of the time). Thus the teachers can mold the hostellers better. Moreover, it is a hidden fact, but in Velammal School, especially Velammal Bodhi Campus, what they do is that nearly all of the important holidays except for Deepavali and Pongal are sacrificed and there is school usually on these days even though it is a public holiday for schools and colleges and day scholars. Hence, hostellers have a tiny advantage of 5 to 7 days which will make a great difference in the final few days of preparation as you soon come to realize that
EVERYDAY COUNTS! 



There is always a flip side to the coin right? Just as there are benefits of being a day scholar and hosteller there are always the cons and the dangers that you need to look out for. 









Day scholar (Cons)

The disadvantages of being a day scholar are far more than the advantages in my point of view. Firstly,​​ Day scholars often have to commute to and from campus, which can consume a significant amount of time and money. Commuting can also be stressful, particularly if there are traffic delays or public transportation issues. Living on campus often provides more opportunities for networking and forming connections with peers, faculty, and staff, which can be advantageous for future career opportunities. Day scholars may have fewer networking opportunities, especially outside of class hours. Finally,  Day scholars may have less flexibility in their schedules compared to students who live on campus, as they need to factor in commuting time and may be constrained by public transportation schedules. 


Hosteller(Cons) 

Hostel life has a huge number of advantages, and unfortunately has some drawbacks too. First-time hostellers find it very difficult to adapt to the circumstances, as it is completely a new environment for them especially when it is their maiden time. The freedom of the hostel life could lead to carelessness at times as their parents are not there to monitor them. This may lead them to bad habits. Living away from their parents gives them the freedom to do what they can’t do in their homes. Failing to choose good companions leads them to develop bad habits. If a person with a bad companion does not get enough money from his parents, he tends to develop evil habits such as stealing and diverting his categories under the influence of bad company. On the other hand, the absence of love, and care from their parents gives them a sense of loneliness.



From my own experience as a hosteller, I believe that these shortcomings can be easily managed by the selection of a hostel that has very strict built-in rules so that the students don’t even stand a chance of getting into the wrong hands. For me, I was lucky to have very kind and understanding roommates and we had great moments and great amounts of fun at the appropriate time. Even though I experienced hell in the first 2 to 3 months of the hostel, once we get the patience to overcome all issues we will be having the best time of our lives.  Remember Pain is Temporary!

 Moreover, I still believe that a hostel is the best way for a student to give in their best effort and full concentration during studying. Just as it benefitted me, it will benefit you too. 





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