<p>My impression is that day students are treated no differently than boarders. I like the way @skieurope put it, that the only difference is where day students put their heads at night. At Choate, parents pick up and drop off, so when students leave at night is entirely dependent on them and their parents, not the school. There is no “day students must be off campus by X:00” policy, and they do spend the night when they need to or just for fun. I suppose it depends on the size of the school whether or not 20-30% of the student body living off-campus affects the BS experience. At Choate, it doesn’t seem to be noticeable as the day students are on campus more than not, even on weekends. Our son’s best friend is a day student, and CK says he doesn’t see any distinction. His friend sleeping at home is no different from his other friends sleeping in other dorms that he is not part of; he sees his BF the same amount of time.</p>