<p>Invent - shouldn’t you be doing homework?</p>
<p>I do most of my work during frees.</p>
<p>@Invent, what’s the best thing about DA in your experience? What do you value the most as unique to DA?</p>
<p>I can only speak for college applications but it CAN help at private colleges - especially if a student isn’t an A plus type - I know a B- student this helped tremendously. He still might have got into his first choice alone but it wasn’t a lock by any means… his parents made it very well known they would pay full price…I think it really helped.</p>
<p>^^True. For a “boarderline” strong applicant - someone who is qualified but does not stand out particularly, full pay sometimes is a big hook, which can open doors otherwise closed to them.</p>
<p>Do you mean borderline?</p>
<p>@rbgg, We have brilliant teachers who actually love to teach and they are very accessible and encourage student learning through dialogue and discussion. The teachers expect the best from the students whether it is in the classroom, in the theater, on the dance floor or on the athletic fields. We have a lot of freedom in choosing our courses, ie design your own curriculum. The facilities are first rate including the brand new Koch Science Center. The student body is awesome and very engaged in classroom discussions. We have many winners of math competitions, international debate competitions in the student body. All these are done in a non-competitive environment where students help each other out like a family. I like the many study abroad programs that are available such as the Cambridge Seminar. [Study</a> Abroad Programs.](<a href=“http://deerfield.edu/academics/off-campus-studies/international-programs/][color=green]Study”>http://deerfield.edu/academics/off-campus-studies/international-programs/) They are also starting Science Research Programs with Universities and Research Labs. The unique thing about DA imo is across-the-board brilliant teachers and the very engaged student body. I also like the fact that we get single rooms and the dining hall food can only be matched by the moms at home. Lucky for me, I discovered Deerfield during revisits and I highly recommend them to find your own fit.</p>
<p>@popcorn - the schools do look at assets but also at current cash flow and ability to pay the tuition bill. </p>
<p>A few schools are need blind, but honestly - a lot of College Confidential kids were waitlisted for FA in last year’s admissions’s cycle so you have to decide if it’s worth the risk. Being a full-pay may give you more leverage in admissions.</p>
<p>If you don’t need FA, but are worried about loans, consider that most schools offer a plan that allows you to pay tuition in 10 installments.</p>
<p>@popcorn,</p>
<p>Top schools guard their admissions & yield rates jealously. There is a lot of cache for a school to boast a low admit rate. If the school thinks child will not matriculate due to financial constraints, then it is in their interest not to admit, in order to maintain as low as possible admit rate.</p>
<p>It is the earnings on the endowments that fund the FA, and endowments are not bottemless. Keep in mind that a lot of endowments have taken a hit, due to the global economic crisis. At the same time (due to global economic crisis) I would guess that more families are seeking FA. </p>
<p>Net result is: more demand for FA, but lower supply to fund it.</p>
<p>A lot of you are saying that schools will decide not to invest in student who contribute/offer less to the school… how do you measure the contribution of a student to a school? The only thing that I can think of is sports, but what if you don’t play sports? Are there other ways you can contribute to the school?</p>
<p>@urban,</p>
<p>A candidate who clearly walks on water will always be admitted, period. </p>
<p>If you were an AO, how would you decide between 2 not-so-clearly spectacular candidates who don’t have a hook (i.e. academic star, talent, legacy), 1 of whom needs FA and 1 of whom doesn’t? As said earlier, the FA pot is not bottomless.</p>
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<p>I dislike the idea of figuring out what a student will contribute to a school. Everyone uses that term, but I think it’s an inartful way to express the concept of how schools look for “values” and “bargains” from their respective applicant pools.</p>
<p>I think a better way to look at this is to think of it in terms of “exploiting available resources” instead of “contribute to the school.”</p>
<p>The schools have made significant investments in terms of faculty that they have recruited and are paying, facilities that they’ve built and programs that they have started and hope to maintain. The “contribution” of students comes in the form of those who help the school get the most out of these important investments. For example, by taking a seat in the Latin class and sticking with it through the AP Vergil curriculum…particularly where a prized teacher’s classes are currently underfilled, an applicant can “contribute.” By having a proficiency in some activity or art that also happens to be the centerpiece of the school’s $25M capital campaign…a student can contribute.</p>
<p>A school’s investments and spending reflect its priorities and its mission, so if you’re an applicant that will get a lot out of those investments and exploit them at the highest levels, that would be a form of “contributing.” I just think of it more in terms of what (and how much) students TAKE from the experience; as opposed to the term “contribute” which focuses more on a quasi-burden placed on the student to DELIVER something to the school.</p>
<p>By taking in as much as you can, you will be contributing – so these are not mutually exclusive concepts. I’m simply suggesting a different perspective to get a better handle on what makes an applicant an attractive “investment.” If you try to package yourself as someone who will shake the foundations of the school and leave a mark for the ages with the talents and gifts you have and the honors you will amass during your brief stay, the focus on “contributing” can be daunting. If you package yourself as someone who will take full advantage of the things that the school has placed at the students’ disposal, then the focus on “exploiting school resources” may be more helpful – and attainable and realistic.</p>