I am applying as a junior to Deerfield for fall 2015, I completed the application and had a good interview and good SSAT score however my tour guide was unenthusiastic and didn’t really show the school in a great way, she was a new student and my parents and I were a little put off but I was really interested in it. does anyone have thoughts or experience with Deerfield they could share? thanks! 
Sorry to hear that. Deerfield is a beautiful campus with amazing facilities. My DS (a sophomore, in his second year)has been incredibly happy there. If you have any specific questions, I’m happy to try to answer them (or ask my son). For some reason, I know they were short on tour guides this trimester. Every Deerfield student has to do some service project for one trimester each year, and, this trimester, they “assigned” several students as tour guides who hadn’t signed up to be guides, just because they were so swamped-- so they weren’t very trained and maybe they weren’t necessarily the most outgoing people. It sounds like maybe you got one of those. I guess they just got too swamped with applicants. Anyway, I’m sorry that was your experience. It’s hard not to have that color your view of the school. If there’s anything I can tell you about, I’ll try. As I said, it’s been a great fit for my son.
thank you @Daykidmom I did feel that the experience was affected by the guide however I thought the campus was beautiful. I thought the school was a bit isolated, does your son leave campus much? I was also curious about the amount of new students in junior year and how easy it is to settle in when most kids have formed friendships after freshman year? don’t worry if you can’t answer
@Daykidmom I have a Deerfield question if you don’t mind my jumping in on the thread. I wonder if you could speak about the drug issues last semester. There are many rumors floating around about drug sniffing dogs having been brought in following an amnesty period with boxes available to get rid of whatever you have and then several expulsions right before vacation. I totally get that drugs are an issue at all prep schools and not at all looking to flame Deerfield, I’m more just curious about what actually happened. The rumors have begun to sound more apocraphul than factual…many thanks
So, first the drug issue: so there was a girl who was expelled at the beginning of the year for selling marijuana (I think there weren’t other drugs). They got the names of her “customers” off her cell phone and did a room search, including using sniffing dogs. They didn’t find much. I think 3 students were suspended for the rest of that trimester, but are back. They put out boxes for kids to turn stuff in (no questions asked-- this the “amnesty”) and got some e-cig things, some alcohol, chewing tobacco and I heard mixed stories of whether they got some marijuana or not. They brought in a bunch of people to talk about drugs and set up,a new policy, saying you could go to the health center to get help with any addiction issues (sort of more amnesty), but they would occasionally do spot checks with dogs borrowed from the police dept. The reason to use dogs was actually so they WOULDN’T be going into everyone’s rooms (even randomly) and invading privacy. The promise was made that only the school personal would be doing the searches-- including with dogs-- and not the police. My son’s opinion is that there’s not a lot of drug use that he sees on campus, but that you hear of more at off campus parties during vacation times, especially among the NY/ CT wealthy kids.
Second, the off campus question: I think it depends a little on the kid. There are buses every Friday and Saturday night that go somewhere: very often to Greenfield, a reasonable size town 10 minutes away with lots of stores, restaurants, some coffee places. Sometimes they go to Northampton or Hadley. Northampton is about 20 minutes away and is a GREAT college town (part of the 5college area of western Mass.). It’s got tons of restaurants, music, ice cream, shops, theaters, etc. Hadley has a couple malls (Target, etc.), and a multiplex movie theater. They also show movies every weekend on campus, have lots of dances, and bring in some entertainers (a comedian, a hypnotist, etc). My son’s particular group of friends goes out to dinner in Greenfield every Friday (to a Thai place where everyone knows them) and often on Saturdays. Lots of kids do that-- there are 2 buses going up there each night and 2 coming back. Some kids also take taxis at times the buses aren’t running. There are also occasional trips somewhere special (skiing, an amusement park, etc.). In the town of Deerfield itself, there’s an inn, a really good candy store, a convenience store, and (seasonally) a maple sugar shack that serves pancake breakfasts, all of which are walking distance and all of which count as “on campus” so you don’t have to sign out. Kids also walk up “the hill” to “the rock,” which is like a mile long hike (or so) up the mountain owned by Eaglebrook School to a look put spot from which you can see the whole valley. So that’s about it. Some kids don’t really go into town much, but some do so almost every weekend, at least for a couple hours.
@daykidmom thanks for your candid reply. I knew what I was hearing sounded like a gross exaggeration. How much do you feel like the culture there is impacted by the NY/Greenwich crowd?
They are a set, hang out together, etc.-- but they’re a much smaller set than they used to be, and I don’t think they dominate the culture. My son has a good group of friends, mostly boarders, some domestic, some international-- including a couple from that area of the country, one of whom I think you side to be part of that set (I think from Greenwich). His friends just don’t seem to pay much attention to that set of kids. And I don’t think my DS thinks they’re mean to others or anything-- they just kind of hang out as something of a clique. I have heard of one or two kids who AREN’T in that group but REALLY want to be-- and try to fit in, get all the right clothes, etc., but just aren’t the same (I know of one middle class, FA, day student who was like this). THOSE kids end up unhappy, I think-- but mostly because they’re wanna- bes. It seems like most kids fine friends, are fine, don’t particularly pay much attention. That group is known for big off campus parties during vacations, so maybe then you’d notice it more-- if your kid either did go or wanted to go,
Thanks @daykidmom all makes very good sense. I suspect it might be more noticeable to kids from NY etc. and totally agree that it is always an issue with the kids who are trying to be part of something and aren’t. Very much appreciate your replies
Sorry for all the typos/autocorrect problems. I should read these things over more carefully.