<p>The Macs are Original</p>
<p>Oh btw, for anyone interested, that whole drinking situation was just graduated seniors. Basically right after the commencement ceremony, almost the entire class drove up to a farm in Vermont for a âgrad partyâ⊠I have a friend who is a sophomore there. Everyone already graduated, so technically this whole situation didnât involve Deerfield in anyway.</p>
<p>deerbri is correct, the macbook (the white one) is standard issue. You can bring your own PC or Mac to school for personal use (and it must be registered with ITS), but you are expected to use the school issued macbook for school requirements. The advantage of paying a fee is that ITS supports any issues you have (an you will with this piece of junk â ooops) and gives you a loaner when they canât fix it. (My son has a loaner more often during the year than his own macbook. He constantly has issues still covered by the warranty, but it takes months to fix them.)</p>
<p>SirIsacNewton:</p>
<p>Freshman are asked to sign for 5 courses and possibly one pass/fail. You have to have two consecutive terms of certain level of performance/GPA to request the academic dean for permission to take 6th course for credit. This means the earliest you can request for a 6th course for credit is the Spring term of freshman year. It is better to get settled in and understand the course load/expectation when you first get to DA before taking 6th course for credit. It is more important to have a good GPA than to have 6 credits in a term. </p>
<p>All sophomores are required to take health one term and it is not considered for credit. You still need to have 5 courses for credit. And if you decide to take a 6th Pass/Fail course in sophomore year, then you wonât have any free in the term you will be taking Health. Your schedule that term will be 5 courses for credit, 6th Pass/Fail and Health.
Good Luck!</p>
<p>I 100% second what jasmineRose recommends: better to get settled in and understand load/expectation when you first get to DA.
Also, while many kids are industrious enough to take 6 or even 7 credit courses [ie. no free periods], the question to ask is Why? There are SO many great offerings and acitivities @ Deerfield. To fully relish the boarding school experience, go do a few things outside of the academic realm: community service, clubs, work part time in school, committees, etc.
As a capable student, he/she will get some nudges to take extra courses or be in varsity athletics in every semester. But, take advantage of the wide variety DA offers.</p>
<p>[Letter</a> to the Editor](<a href=âhttp://scroll.deerfield.edu/?p=6029]Letterâ>http://scroll.deerfield.edu/?p=6029)</p>
<p>Any one know what happened?</p>
<p>Well I was actually there the day that they found the graffitiâŠit was the day of my revisit day. I didnât hear about it much, though. I know as much as the article says.</p>
<p>@Deerbri: DA is very open, literally and figuratively. Its rare to find a locked door, and lots of things openly discussed in healthy, vigorous discussion and debate. You can ask any of the returning kids for more details of the unfortunate graffiti.
To get a feel of what these kids may feel someday, read the article âI Musta Got Lostâ in the current issue of Deerfield Magazine, page 86 [its readable online].</p>
<p>Hi 
Just wondering, whatâs the nearest town to Deerfield that I can grab some dorm supplies (i.e. bedding, pillows) and coldwear from? Thanks!</p>
<p>There is limited shopping in Greenfield, 5 miles north of Deerfield. If youâre driving from the south, there are malls in Northhampton and Holyoke. Hadley has a Whole Foods. Personally, youâre best bet is to purchase items online and get it shipped to DA. Or, buy at home, and ship boxes to DA.</p>
<p>You donât have to take everything home for the summer vacation. There are moving companies that can store your things and have it back to you in the Fall.
If youâre a Fall athlete, youâll be on campus a day or two ahead of the rest of the students, and have opportunity to see what you really need.</p>
<p>Hadley also has a Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, Walmart, Trader Joeâs, Home Depot, Dickâs Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble, Lowes etc. About 20 minutes south of DA. With 5 colleges (including UMass) in the Amherst - Northampton area there are lots of places to get supplies including fun local places like Faces in Northampton.</p>
<p>Thanks for the prompt replies alextwoofour and 1012mom
Another question: whatâs the weather like in fall and winter? Coming from a tropical country, what would you recommend me to purchase? Thanks!</p>
<p>As the parent of a rising junior, she just completed her new sophomore year, the course load issue is student dependent. My d took 5 classes for credit and one pass/fail the fall term. She did well and i pressed 7 classes in the winter term, this included the 1 pass/fail and sophomore health (required). I pressed the winter term as heavy due the length of the term and cold weather. The spring term she had just 5 classes, thus 2 free periods. My take on the spring term was the students get tired and everybody wants to go home for the summer and the weather gets better. </p>
<p>My d has elected to take 7 classes in the fall term. Do I think this is a great ideaâNOPE, but she wants to and her grades give her right to try. I believe that she has the right to try and discover her limits. I will watch carefully and be supportive.</p>
<p>As a parent I have come to embrace the line from the Batman movie,</p>
<p>Why do we fall, we fall so we learn to get up. </p>
<p>Sometimes we need to allow kids to explore and make decisions. </p>
<p>Just my 2 cents!</p>
<p>@geek: the Fall & Winter weather is typical New England. The key is to layer. Donât buy ultra heavy jacket or pants. Instead, wear several thin layers. Patagonia seems to be the popular choice for cold weather wear (get some midweight capilene and some softshell jackets). To a lesser extent North Face, LL Bean, etc. Browse those stores online.
All the exterior walkways are heated (spoiled kids!). Many kids wear regular shoes right through the winter since there is no ice or snow on the walkways. I really donât think youâll need much, even as a âtropicalâ person.</p>
<p>Perhaps worth mentioning something several DA kids from âtropicalâ climes told us about the winter. They thought it was very dark. Dark in that sundown comes early. They mentioned they wish theyâd done an extracurricular or activity that got them outside instead of staying inside for the semester. The Fall and Spring semesters can be beautiful [Look to the Hills!]. But winter can be loooong when it doesnât have to be. SoâŠfor the winter consider something that will get you outside. It would also give you a better appreciation for New England instead of thinking the winter season as a negative.</p>
<p>Does Deerfield rank students?</p>
<p>DA does not rank itsâ students. </p>
<p>I believe that students that are in the top 20% at graduation are considered âcum laudeâ.</p>
<p>Students are told at the end of each term if they have achieved honors or high honors.</p>
<p>Cum Laude is top 10% of the senior class or students with GPA 92 and higher in each trimester, soph + junior years. There are no published rankings (thankfully). DA does indicate to each student the course median and quintiles.</p>
<p>I stand corrected, thank you.</p>
<p>Is there a Facebook group for the Deerfield class of 2015?</p>