Athletes, Activists, and Artists: New Students Arrive on Campus A Report from the Dean of Admission and Financial Aid by Patricia L. Gimbel One of the first Deerfield traditions that new students participate in takes place in the Memorial Building Lobby during Opening Weekend, when every new boy and girl rises to his or her feet and introduces him or herself to the faculty and to each other. This fall I was struck by the diversity, in every sense of the word, which these new students bring to our community. The students described in the sidebar represent only a fraction of Deerfield’s talented, and often inspirational, student body, and we are thrilled that it was another remarkable admission year for the Academy; our admission trends for the past two years have been counterintuitive, given the economic uncertainties and subsequent financial constraints on many applicant families. Deerfield is extremely fortunate to be in such high demand, and interest continues to grow, validating the Academy’s fine national and international reputation. For the third consecutive year, our inquiries surpassed the 6000 mark, and we received inquiries from all 50 states and 75 countries, from Hidalgo, Texas to Chennai, India. Other interesting statistics for 2009–2010 admissions include: 2069 applications received (the second time over 2000 applications have been received for one admission year) • 1107 applications received for the 90 available 9th grade positions • 2219 students interviewed • 13.9% admit rate (Deerfield’s most selective on record) • 49.4% of the student body is young women. Our 638 students represent 38 states, Washington, DC, and the US Virgin Islands, including 34 from California, 16 from Illinois, eight from Texas, and seven from both Florida and North Carolina. Twenty-six percent of our applications came from international students. We admitted 44 international students and realized a strong yield of 77.3%. Our 34 new international students come from 16 countries: Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as well as seven each from Canada and China, three each from Korea and Thailand, and two students from Venezuela. We also continue to bring talented students of color to campus. This year, 25% of our students are students of color, and we are particularly pleased that among these students there is a healthy balance of socioeconomic and geographic diversity. It is a testament to Deerfield’s strength that our alumni and current parents continue their enthusiasm in having their sons and daughters embrace a Deerfield education. A remarkable 39.7% of our students are either a legacy or sibling, or both! This year, we admitted 46.4% of our 138 legacy and sibling applicants, a far higher admit rate than for unaffiliated applicants. Among our entire student body, 120 students have either a father or grandfather, or both, who attended Deerfield; 42 pairs of siblings are on campus, and among the entire student body, 184 students have a current sibling or a sibling who graduated previously. Many of our bright and talented students have the opportunity to attend the Academy because of our continuing commitment to a strong financial aid program. This year, our generous financial aid budget of $6.6 million supports 35% of our students, but there is still more demonstrated need than budgeted financial aid funds available. A significant trend is our ever-increasing average financial aid award; with our boarding tuition at $43,800, this year’s average aid award for boarding students jumped to $35,800. The many letters, calls, and emails that I receive remind me daily what makes Deerfield such a unique educational community. A current parent recently wrote: My daughter is able to be herself at Deerfield, whether it is in the classroom, in her dorm or with the new friends she has made. She has commented on how great it is to be with others who want to learn as much as she does. From the moment she arrived on campus she has felt included and comfortable. Deerfield’s environment is inclusive and caring. The community comes together for itself—whether you are an athlete or a musician, the students are there for each other.
Counted among our 187 new students are: a young man who earned a perfect score in the American Mathematics Competition; a member of the elite Young Peoples’ Chorus in New York; the winner in the All Jamaica Junior Squash Championship; a poet whose work has been published by the International Library of Poetry and the American Library of Poetry; a member of the American Ballet who performed in The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center; the two-time captain of the New York state champion lacrosse team; the captain of the Brain Bowl team that finished first in New Jersey; a young woman chosen to represent Connecticut on the Olympic Development Soccer Team; a three-time Junior Olympian in ski racing; a participant in Destination Imagination’s World Wide Global Competition; an Atlantic Coast All-Star in both football and lacrosse; an artist whose profits from designing cards and mouse pads go to the Dana Farber Institute; the winner in the United Nations Association of Thailand essay competition; a young man whose hobby is restoring old cars and whose current project is a 1968 Pontiac Tempest; an activist who led a rally at Connecticut’s state capitol to increase funding for Hartford’s magnet schools; the winner of a Gold Medal in the National Latin Exam; the winner of Wisconsin’s Science Olympiad Invitational Tournament, who is also a pianist who twice won first place in the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music Piano Scholarship Competition; and the Grand Prize winner at the Massachusetts State science fair, who also designed and marketed innovative, handmade DNA-shaped earrings and donated the proceeds to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
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