International Applicants

Deerfield is proud of its diverse student population and of its international students, who comprise 14% of the student body, and this year represent 31 countries.

Application Requirements and Deadlines

Deerfield accepts students for September enrollment only. Our application deadline for enrollment beginning in September 2012 is January 13, 2012. The student’s application, teacher recommendations and results of standardized testing should be submitted on or before January 13, 2013. Although the application deadline is January 13, the Admission Committee will make every effort to give full consideration to completed applications (including testing) received between January 13 and February 10. Candidates who do not meet the application deadline are considered late applicants, and their chances for admission are limited by the number of spaces available after April 10, 2012.

It is expected that any student entering the 9th, 10th, or 11th grade will remain through their senior (12th-grade) year; i.e., an entering 11th grade student must stay at the Academy for two years, to complete our secondary school program and receive a diploma from Deerfield.

For further information about our application requirements and process for international applicants, please contact our International Application Coordinator, Jose J. Briones at jbriones@deerfield.edu.

Interviews

We encourage all international candidates and their families to visit Deerfield, if possible. If you are not able to visit Deerfield, we require that you either arrange an interview in your country with one of our Regional Representatives or arrange for a telephone or Skype interview with one of our Admission Officers. To arrange an interview with a Regional Representative, please contact them directly. You will find our Regional Representatives listed in the back of our Viewbook. To arrange a telephone or Skype interview with an Admission Officer, please call, fax or e-mail the Admission Office.

Testing

• Applicants for grades 9 and 10 should take the Secondary School Admission Test (SSAT) or TOEFL. Deerfield’s SSAT School Code, 2770, should be indicated when registering for the SSAT test. Our TOEFL School Code is 9577.
• Applicants for grade 11 should take the SSAT or TOEFL.
• Applicants for grade 12 or the postgraduate year should take the SAT Reasoning Test or TOEFL.

Although the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) may be taken in place of the SSAT or SAT by students for whom English is not their first language, we suggest that, if possible, students submitting TOEFL scores also submit scores from the SSAT or SAT Reasoning Test.

For the international student who is comfortable with English, the SSAT is offered at international locations in November, January and April. The SSAT must be completed during the academic year in which an application is submitted. To meet our application deadline, a candidate should take the SSAT in November or January. For further information, you may contact the testing organization directly by fax at 609-683-4507 (Princeton, NJ, USA), online at www.ssat.org, or by email at info@ssat.org.

The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) may be taken in place of the SSAT or SAT by students for whom English is not their first language. In most cases, Deerfield requires a minimum paper-based TOEFL score of 600, a minimum computer-based TOEFL score of 250, or a minimum Internet-based TOEFL score of 100. The TOEFL must be taken within one year of the application deadline. To meet our application deadline, a candidate should take the TOEFL in November or December. Information regarding the TOEFL will be sent upon request, or you may contact the TOEFL testing organization directly by phone at 609-771-7100 (Princeton, NJ, USA), by fax at 610-290-8975, or online at www.ets.org/toefl.

Please note that the TOEFL is designed for college-bound students. Younger students may therefore be better served by taking the SSAT rather than the TOEFL. Students are welcome to take both the SSAT and the TOEFL if they so desire.

Financial Aid

Admission to Deerfield is competitive and is especially difficult for non-U.S. citizens who need financial aid; however, despite our limited financial aid budget for non-U.S. citizens, Deerfield does award financial aid to foreign students each year.

Please refer to the Admission section of our Viewbook for further details concerning applying for financial aid or visit our website at www.deerfield.edu.

Academic Program/ESL

Most students who come from American or international schools do not experience any academic adjustment problems; however, those who are not accustomed to taking all their courses in English generally spend a year taking ESL (English as a Second Language) as a sixth course. The ESL program, which is described in detail in our Course of Study booklet, is small enough that it can be tailored to meet the needs of individual students.

Orientation & Student Life

New international students are invited to a special orientation program in early September to get to know the school, and each other, and to recover from jet lag. During the school year, the International Club offers any Deerfield student the opportunity to share his or her culture through informal socializing, dances and ethnic meals; the Club also organizes day trips around New England.

Our International Student Advisor, Lynne Robbins, oversees the International Student Orientation Program and serves as a resource for our international students throughout the school year. If you need further information concerning international student admission, please contact our Admission Office at admission@deerfield.edu. Thank you for your interest in Deerfield.