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Deerfield admissions timeline for fall 2027 entry

Every published Deerfield date for fall 2027 entry: the January 15 priority deadline, March 10 decisions and April 10 enrollment.

Published

Deerfield Academy is a boarding and day school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, for grades 9 through 12 plus a postgraduate year. Families applying this fall are applying for September 2027 entry. Deerfield enrolls students for September only, so there is no mid-year start. This guide puts the published dates in the order you will meet them.

Before January

  • July 1 (passed): Gateway to Prep Schools opened. You start with the Candidate Profile, and the remaining items are on Deerfield's own Admission Portal checklist.
  • June 29 to August 20 (passed): Deerfield offered summer campus tours. Academic year appointments are for application eligible students only.
  • September 1, 2026 (passed): the Clarity Financial Aid application opened for families who want aid.
  • September 15, 2026 (passed): SlideRoom opened for students who want to upload a dance, music or theater portfolio.
  • October to December: Deerfield suggests testing in these months. January tests are accepted, but Deerfield considers the application only after the scores arrive.

The Candidate Profile has to be finished before an interview can be scheduled, and Deerfield says space gets tight in December and January. If you want an interview slot you like, finish the profile first and book early.

The dates that decide the file

| Date | What happens | | --- | --- | | January 15, 2027 | Priority application deadline. All three parts of the Gateway application should be in. Financial aid applications are also due in Clarity. | | February 15, 2027 | U.S. tax filers with W-2 income upload those documents to Clarity. | | March 10, 2027 | Admission and financial aid decisions are available. | | April 10, 2027 | Enrollment contracts are due, and so is the deadline to accept a financial aid offer. |

Deerfield says it will try to consider applications finished after January 15, but it cannot guarantee a March 10 notification. Late candidates are limited by the spaces left after April 10.

Working backward

Start from the test. Applicants to grade 9 or 10 submit the SSAT or the ISEE. Applicants to grade 11 can submit the ACT, PLAN, PSAT, SAT or SSAT. Applicants to grade 12 or a postgraduate year submit the ACT, PSAT or SAT. Each has a date window, so check the window against your test date before you register. Our admissions overview lists the windows by grade.

Then plan the essays for October and November, which is the same stretch Deerfield suggests. Part II asks for a short-answer essay, a personal essay and a graded essay from a current academic course. Our preparation guide covers how to pick the graded paper.

Last, send the teacher recommendation links through Gateway in the fall. Deerfield requires a current math teacher, a current English teacher and a third academic teacher, plus a school counselor, placement director or principal.

What Deerfield has not published

  • The 2027-28 tuition amount. Deerfield says it will move to a single tuition rate when its West Campus Dorm opens in fall 2027, but the pages we read did not give the new figure.

Check key dates and the school's own admission pages again before you submit, since dates can change.

Sources

DeerfieldPrep by EduAvenues is an independent service, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Deerfield Academy.