I am re applying to Deerfield for the THIRD TIME !!! I keep applying there but have got wait listed every time. I am applying for Financial Aid, is there anything you would do to boost my chances of acceptance ???
What are your stats?
Hopefully you asked this question of the admissions officer with whom you must have a relationship by this time. 11th grade spots are far and few between
I second what @LifeLongNYer said. It only gets tougher to get in as you get older, and applying for FA doesn’t help/ I applied to Deerfield for 11th grade a few years ago, and was waitlisted. I had SATs above DA’s average for graduating seniors, excellent grades, an excellent interview, solid letters, and solid extracurriculars. I also applied for FA. Once again I was waitlisted. It’s really damn tough to get into Deerfield as a FA-seeking rising junior.
It’s not the end of the world if you don’t get in. If you distinguish yourself at your current high school, you have just as good a chance of getting into a great college. I go to a top-tier university right now that I probably wouldn’t have even gotten into had I gone to Deerfield, considering the level of competition at DA. Remember that college is what really matters, not boarding school.
Unfortunately, those 11th grade spots are just hard to get. They often fill them with something they “need” to flush out their class: good grades and scores, of course, but something like: " oh-- our best squash player just graduated so we need another one," or “oh, our best violinist is about to graduate, so let’s take another.” Since you can’t tell what they’re looking for in any particular year, it’s just tough to know what will happen. Good luck though.
Hi I’m an international student also applying for DA 11th grade. My AO told me that they usually have between 80-150 kids applying for grade 11 however she said only about 50 of us are “competitive” ! I was also told that like with most schools it is good to have a range of varied extra curricular stuff. Hope that helps, good luck!
50 are competitive for how many spots?
it depends on the year @LifeLongNYer but usually 20 http://deerfield.edu/apply/the-deerfield-experience/11th-grade/
those are pretty good odds. I think thats the point with all of these discussions. the odds, if you are serious candidate, are not as bad as they are made out to be…
Just a cautionary note:usually, the classes get bigger year by year, and they add, on average, 20 kids between sophomore and junior year. However, the class of 2017 (sophomores) at Deerfield was so over enrolled, they are currently EXACTLY the same size as the junior class of 2016 (169 kids in each). The sophomore class was SO big that they admitted a very SMALL class of 2018 (current freshmen)-- only 99. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they admit fewer juniors this year than usual, because that class is already so big-- though, of course, I have no insider knowledge of what the admissions committee is up to.
The small class of 2018 is more a function of DA’s stated goal of reducing enrollment than the size of 2017, which did go to the waitlist freshman year. IMHO the reported net addition for any upper class at every school masks the effect of attrition (voluntary and otherwise). I would not be surprised if the total gross adds are 10+ greater than the net at all of the schools with ~600 students or more.