<p>My daughter is deciding between 3 great schools - Choate, Deerfield, and Andover. While she (and we) initially gravitated toward Deerfield, I am now deeply troubled by their communication with us (and with parents in general, based on their very lean website, and corroboration from a few other parents) and wonder if it is indicative of what the school represents overall. (For example, compare Andover’s webpage on newly admitted students with Deerfield’s). Deerfield was the ONLY school (of 8 interviews!) who did not allow a separate interview with parents. The whole interview felt a little chilly, actually. The others were wonderfully welcoming and made us feel as though they were honored to have us there. Upon acceptance, while we were showered with mutiple communications from Andover and Choate, we have heard almost nothing from Deerfield. Also from the first two came warm invitations, reminders, detailed agendas, and follow-up thank you’s for second visits - again, zippo from Deerfield. I could go on - there are several other examples that hint at some dismissiveness, a lack of concern, or WHAT??? I don’t know. Trouble is, we otherwise are in LOVE with the school - the students were warm, the “chemistry” felt perfect for our daughter. But I am very worried - would love some insights!</p>
<p>Were you able to attend revisits? That might really help with your decision. I can’t speak for the other schools, but can tell you that we have felt that the Choate environment is extremely supportive; each student is assigned an advisor who checks in weekly with his student, and also communicates with the parents if there are any issues. The website is amazing, and I often know what is happening on campus before my son does – take a look at daily links section which gives daily details: [Choate</a> Rosemary Hall » Daily Notice](<a href=“http://www.choate.edu/home/dailynotice.asp]Choate”>http://www.choate.edu/home/dailynotice.asp)</p>
<p>But it sounds like you are leaning – or want to go with Deerfield, so hopefully you’ll hear from Deerfield parents about your question. I would just add that Andover/Choate are more similar in size and feel then Deerfield, and that may also influence your decision either way. Good luck with your decision…its a good problem to have but I know can be very difficult until April 10!</p>
<p>This is several years ago but we found the Deerfield folks - admissions, students, a few faculty members - extremely warm and friendly - a great deal of school spirit, too. </p>
<p>Don’t let websites and communique upon acceptance sway your decision. Some schools do a hard sell to insure a higher yield. Andover comes to mind for this. Others don’t bombard you after acceptance - SPS and Deerfield come to mind as schools that struck me this way. It doesn’t mean they don’t want your child, it’s more of a stylistic & marketing difference. Personally, I prefer the soft sell route. I’m not keen on a 14 year old child being swayed by freebies, gloss and Bill Belichick being on campus. </p>
<p>Hopefully, you’re attending revisits, asking questions, observing students, etc. That will give you a better idea.</p>
<p>Andover brought Bill Belichick on campus?! I don’t know how any football player can turn down Andover in front of Bill belichick. </p>
<p>Anyway yea, I agree with creative.</p>
<p>If you’re in love with Deerfield go with it. You won’t have much, if any, contact with the admissions office once school has begun. If the rest of the administration has communication issues, that’s a different problem I’d expect that an adviser or dorm parent would contact you at least twice a term. Other departments will probably contact you, and I can guarantee you will be asked to donate money multiple times. It is also fine for a parent to call a dorm parent to get an update. Don’t judge an entire school off one of it’s communication policies.</p>
<p>^Well said. (And coming from someone at Andover, I think?)… Some schools will do that, and others won’t. When you initially fell in love with Deerfield, it was not due to communication with admitted students. Now, nothing has changed.</p>
<p>On a side note, I have not received much from Deerfield. A few things here and there, but as you said, nothing compared to other schools. I would like to see how these things play out with yield.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your wisdom - so, so helpful. Please keep the thread going. We have already visited Deerfield and Choate, and Choate’s visit was a total class act - absolutely fabulous in every dimension (plus a thank you note afterward). Deerfield’s was very enjoyable also, but not nearly as solicitous or encompassing. (However, our “apres” tour - in the rain - with 2 enthusiastic Deerfield students was amazing, and tipped the scales a bit for our daughter.) </p>
<p>I remain concerned that D’s lack of care and attention to its applicant families not only strikes me as somewhat rude, but speaks to something more fundamental in their philosophy. Don’t the admissions policies and practices represent the leadership of the school? And doesn’t the leadership’s message “trickle down” to the rest of the school? For example, our interviewer was also a teacher, dorm parent, and coach.</p>
<p>I guess I’m trying to decide which parts of our experience are window dressing and which parts really represent the school’s heart. Deerfield afficiondos - please reply!</p>
<p>We are off to Andover tomorrow for our last visit. Very much looking forward to that. Will post again afterwards. I am grateful for this opportunity to express concerns and gather input from other parents/students.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Deerfield, but of the schools that I do know something about, the marketing is a totally reality from the experience. Especially the website. Some schools put effort into that, some don’t. I wouldn’t put any stock into it.</p>
<p>My niece and family visited Choate and Deerfield during their ‘visit back’ days last year. She felt the same way that you do now about both schools. She’s now at Choate.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Deerfield, but as a Choate parent, I can assure you that the “class act” that you saw at revisit day continues once the student is enrolled. The personal attention continued with course selection, a summer dinner to meet fellow students, check-in day where we had a personal helper/fellow student help us navigate the bookstore and dorm move in process, a call from the form dean two weeks after the start of school to report on the new kid’s progress, a call from the dorm advisor to report that everything was going well, amazing personal attention from teachers- we couldn’t be happier with the school. Great kids- friendly, interesting, talented, serious about their work- the experience hhas been everything that we hoped for.</p>
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<p>It may. It certainly sets a tone (which some may appreciate ) .</p>
<p>“something more fundamental in their philosophy”</p>
<p>D/son was troubled by the philosophy/culture of Deerfield as well, and checked with some students with this in mind. It is a great school - the best. It’s just she found that the faculty has this kind of “we’re the best, we’ll be the best after you leave, what was your name again.” A bit of resting on laurels with teachers who seemed tired, and not making effort with individual students, because they were the best. Dare I say gentile arrogance - but not that overt. She kept heard too many stories about students being invisible or teachers mixing up today’s student with someone that they taught 10 years ago. (But taught brilliantly. now and then.)</p>
<p>It is a great school; but there are other great schools too, who may be trying a bit harder.</p>
<p>my son attends NMH and did not apply to deerfield, so I have no direct knowledge of D. However, I will say that the communication that started with admissions (personal note on acceptance letter, phone calls, quick answers to questions, etc) at NMH has continued. NMH continues to have excellent communication with us – we talk to his advisor on a regular basis, get emails, quick answers to our questions ,etc.</p>
<p>If communications with the school is important to you (it isn’t to everyone) then I would definitely find out if this lack of communication extends to teachers/advisors/dorm parents/etc. There are many things that make a school a good fit for a student and his/her family – for your family, communication is one piece of that “fit”.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone - I am deeply appreciative of the time you are taking and your input. (Any pm messages are most appreciated also.) We visited Andover today - an amazing revisit. Once again, a “class act” through and through - what an incredible school and a top flight admissions team. Wow. However, my daughter feels the school is too big for her, and didn’t see many students very energized or having fun in the 4 classes she visited. (Too bad so many of these decisions are about a “snapshot” or two on visit days.) She is torn between C and D. I know, as her mom, that her heart remains at Deerfield, but her brain is battling the information she has about the issues we are blogging about here. Two days and counting and we remain perplexed.</p>
<p>Curious how student population may play out here in a counterintuitive way here:</p>
<p>Andover 1150 students
Choate 850
Deerfield 600</p>
<p>Yet is seems the “warm fuzzies” are coming from the larger (2 of the 3 largest of top tier) schools.</p>
<p>It sounds like daughter feels Andover is too big and perhaps feels the students there have been driven too hard; can you offer compare/contrast of your and her impressions of Choate?</p>
<p>Hi Student Pop - </p>
<p>Interesting observation - the bigger the school, the “warmer and fuzzier” the administration, and (maybe) the “cooler” the students. Hhhmm. DA (the smallest) seemed to have a split personality - kids and faculty were extremely “warm and fuzzy” - with a very strong sense of community and school loyalty. It’s the Admissions office and their interactions with us, including the interview and second visit, that wasn’t - at all, at all, at all. Extreme differences from the other 2 bigger schools, which gave the message, “We are so fortunate to have your child consider our school. And we know this is a dificult process for you, we care, and are here to help in any way.” Choate was wonderful in this regard, as was Andover. Very reassurring, but as you mention, very interesting. Maybe DA just doesn’t feel it needs to do that??</p>
<p>As far as Choate vs. Deerfield, C has more diversity, D emphasizes tradition, which kind of puts them in 2 opposite camps (liberal vs. conservative maybe??) - but in reality, I think those differences are somewhat superficial and that both schools have great, free-thinking minds attending. My daughter found D students warmer and less critical of their rival school, and C students less friendly and more critical of D. BUT - C is a bigger, more urban school, and there is that “snapshot” experience of seeing a few kids on a brief visit. I think, like everyone says, eventually, you go with your gut. Phew - I could write a book. Many thanks, E.</p>
<p>Choate is definitely diverse! It also is situated in a good size town, walking distance to shopping and an Amtrak station. Deerfield (from what I have seen from visiting teams) seems much whiter and preppier, and is located in a more isolated historic village. That might be more appealing, or not. They are both great choices, you can’t go wrong with either school. Personally I value warm contact with administrators, advisors etc but that’s probably not critical to the student’s education.</p>
<p>I think you probably should respect your d’s judgment on this. She is the one who will be living there for several years and, while she may not be able to articulate just why she prefers Deerfield, she apparently senses something about it. For the record, I have known many people who have sent their children there and all have raved about it. None were unhappy. The 3 schools are so different in so many ways beyond just size, that I would hope by now you would have a pretty clear idea of what the factors you and your d think are important in a bschool. I personally think Deefrield has some of the best common sense attitudes I have seen in the administration at any school. Furthermore, if they accepted her, they want her and I would not over-analyze someone’s behaviour who may have been tired at the end of a long season, etc. Good luck!</p>
<p>Son sent an email about an two hours ago to his interviewer that he will attend Deerfield and he responded right away. We had a wonderful experience at Deerfield and loved the process. It seemed admissions, administrators, faculty, coaches, and students were all looking for my son at some point during the revisit. He was impressed during lunch when many students came to his table to introduce themselves. Everyone was extremely friendly.</p>
<p>We preferred the low key approach of both Deerfield & SPS. NMH was more aggressive, but we understand why.</p>
<p>CK is he 6’5" or something?</p>