Our son is considering applying to DA as a repeat grade 10, we loved our visit but wanted to know the feedback from kids attending the school. How welcoming is it with new students, how is campus life, how is the course workload. Anything you think would be important to share with a potential student. If a thread already exist our sincere apology as we were unable to find it.
Did not attend DA, but Deerfield has a great reputation–especially so for athletes.
Which other schools are you considering ? Applying as a repeat for athletics or due to academics ?
I think your son @ReluctantDad would like DA very much. Basically, the town is the campus. You have to decide before you spend the time and effort on applying IF this will be a good fit…if the environment is where you want to be in school. Our family thought it was one of the most beautiful campuses and towns we saw…but, someone else may think its too rural or isolated. It’s campus helps make the close knit culture IMO.
Does your son play sports? The new $60 million (approximately) athletic center is beyond belief! This is attached to the other outstanding athletic center. Hey - the indoor golf simulator is sweet! Indoor crew tank and crew work-out center is better than most Ivy training facilities I have seen. Super new hockey training center with shooting room. Great indoor lax training center and huge indoor field. Think DA has the best athletic facilities of any boarding school now with this new center. Volleyball training center is awesome. Huge tennis center - heated for winter training. You have to see it to believe it.
Campus life for boys I think is welcoming. Several boys entered @10th grade year. All the first year 9th grade students live in the same dorm. Your son, if he goes into 10th grade, will get a single in a nicer dorm. One of the traditions at DA includes having sit-down meals 6 or 7 times a week. There is a teacher at the table. This gives students a chance to have meals with students from different grades - less clique atmosphere in the dining hall because of this. Your son will switch tables or rotate tables after several weeks - students take turns being wait staff also. Lots of clubs and activities. No classes on Saturday.
My impression of DA is that it is more than a boarding school. It is like a “brand”. Hey, it’s Deerfield- lots of lore about this school. Excellent education and your son will be challenged. Workload depends on what classes you take and how well you manage your time! The science courses are very strong and diverse in content. They have engineering and architecture courses. Feedback on humanities courses has been excellent. If you visit, meet with the science faculty and see the facilities. The art, dance, and theatre programs are very good - you can try new arts platforms and not be stuck in one area.
There is a lot of history and a lot of tradition. Be worthy of your heritage is taken seriously. My sense is that its a good fit for a boy who is athletic, strong in academics, outgoing, well rounded (has interests beyond sports), and is mentally confident. This is a selective and competitive school. The kids there are strong in many areas. An older friend of ours, whose husband went to DA back in the 1950’s, gave us advice. She said “You adjust to DA, you don’t expect them to adjust or accommodate to you”. We have the feeling that this is true for several schools.
That being said…the parents we met through DA have been incredibly kind, supportive, friendly, and wise. There are some of those great folks on CC who could tell you more about the school. There will be a new Head of School next year - he is coming from the King’s school in Jordan ( King of Jordan is DA alum).
@Publisher We are considering also Choate, St-Paul’s, Milton, Middlesex and Lawrenceville. He is applying as a repeat as we are international applicants and he will be playing one sport in particular for the school that selects him.
@Golfgr8 thank you so much, we greatly appreciate your details response. We actually visited the new facilities, they are breathtaking. Our biggest challenge is which school will make accept him, our son definitely has his favourite. We really like this dinner rotation process they have at Deerfield, this should help him meet new people. The few kids we met seemed very grounded and we’re extremely nice to us as we walked around the campus.
The small town feel of Deerfield is actually was one of the key selling points, its focus on Math and Sciences was also a huge plus for us.
We realize his list is pretty selective and the odds of him not getting any acceptance is high.
How would Deerfield be for a student who is a poor athlete? Do you need to be a good athlete to fit in there?
For students who don’t have a serious commitment to a sport there’s several options. That being sad, the school has a co-curricular commitment for students to get involved in some after school activity…I would say that most boys play at least one sport anywhere from Varsity level to Rec level…you can also try a new sport. There are students who may choose to participate in dance (also there is a dance company), theatre, etc. The OP’s question was about his son. I do know there are extremely talented boys involved in the performing arts. If your son is passionate about music, for example, there are many opportunities for involvement .
@Dogmatix - you can find your peeps anywhere with a big smile, positive attitude, open heart, and willingness to participate. When FDR was at Groton, he wasn’t the strongest athlete but liked baseball so much he became the manager of the team. There is a sweet photo of him with his Groton baseball team in the FDR Library and letters from him to his mother about his experience.
Our son would also like to know what do the kids do on the weekends? We remember his LAX tryouts when he was younger and the stress we felt for him then, doesn’t even compare to the stress we feel for him now as he goes through the application process.
@ReluctantDad - on the weekends there could be parties,dances, school trips. Some kids go to a nearby town for dinner. There are also several musical performances or plays during the year, so students attend those on the weekend. Saturday afternoons are for sporting events, so many kids are busy either participating in sports or cheering the teams on. Looking forward to ski season coming up because there are some places nearby. I think its a good idea to ask about weekend life at each school you visit. It’s my impression that at DA most students are on campus during the weekends because of sports, dance rehearsal, play practice, or some other commitment - Sundays are a big study day and Sunday evenings are busy with sit-down dinner, then study hall.
There are all sorts of students with varying interests at DA. I would say that most students coming in either 9th or 10th grade will play a sport at some level during their first year. Students interested in performing arts will gravitate toward their passion and may play a thirds or reserve sport one season per year. Student social circles do not revolve around athletics, or at least that has been my student’s experience. My DD is definitely a varsity level athlete, yet her closest friends are not involved heavily in athletics.
@Golfgr8’s description of the weekends is spot on.
@Golfgr8 and @MAandMEmom describe Deerfield very accurately. Let me only add the experience of our DS which might be particularly relevant to OP, since our son enrolled at DA as a repeat international 10th grader. Our son found the environment at DA very welcoming and supportive. He quickly intergrated himself to his new and foreign milieu, despite the fact that English was not the language of instruction in his previous school. DA’s supportive culture, its extraordinarily dedicated faculty members, its genuinely nice kids and DA’s unifying traditions all helped make his life at DA a positive and stimulating experience. Participating in varsity sports also enabled him to quickly create a nucleus support group that was invaluable in overcoming the inevitable issues that kids face in boarding school. Academics at Deerfield are outstanding and very rigorous, particularly if your son decides to pursue a challenging schedule of AP and honor classes. In short, our DS has never regretted his decision to leave family and friends behind and travel thousands of miles away in order to attend Deerfield.
In response to @Dogmatix’s question regarding whether you can fit in at DA without being an athlete, the answer is categorically yes. Our son’s closest friend is involved in recreational sports, which do not require the skill or commitment of the Varsity or JV variety. It is also important to note that our son’s friend happens to be one of the most popular kids in her class. Other students chose to focus on the Arts, which have impressive facilities at DA. Still, DA emphasizes Athletics and actively supports its teams. A unique Deerfield tradition is “Captain Deerfield”, a senior who attends many games and helps maintain the Academy’s strong school spirit.
@happarent6 Thank you very much this is exactly the type of feedback we were seeking. Very appreciated.