by Megan Briggs, JIF ‘16
For many students, applying to college proves
to be a stressful and challenging experience. Particularly for low-income or
first-gen students, the college application process can seem daunting at best.
This is where QuestBridge comes in!
QuestBridge – What is it?
QuestBridge is a nonprofit that aims to bridge
the gap between low-income, high-achieving students and some of the best
colleges in the nation. Its main pull is the QuestBridge National College
Match: a full ride to one of their 39 partner colleges including elite
universities such as Yale, Columbia, MIT, and more. However, there are also
other opportunities such as the College Prep Scholars program and the Quest for
Excellence Awards.
National
College Match
The National College Match was a mystery to me
when I first began the process – it’s lengthy and can be confusing. But it’s
well worth the reward. It begins in the fall of your senior year. First, you
apply by the end of September to essentially become a National College Match
Finalist. This application is similar to the Common App, but is made to
highlight your struggles as a low-income student in order to give greater
context to your achievements than a regular application would provide. You can
choose up to 12 colleges to “rank” for the match. It goes like this: If you are
chosen as a Finalist by QuestBridge, they send your QuestBridge application to
your ranked colleges and you are responsible for completing any other
components of that college’s application by November 1st, such as official test
scores or the FAFSA. What exactly is the “ranking”? You can think of it like
being allowed to apply Early Decision to multiple schools, and simultaneously
being considered for a full ride at those schools. For example, let’s say you
become a finalist and your ranked colleges were
1. Stanford
2. Princeton
3. Duke
4. Pomona
This means that if your first choice,
Stanford, “matches” with you, you get in on a full ride and it is a binding acceptance. Now let’s say both
Princeton and Duke chose to match with you, but Stanford and Pomona didn’t. You
would be matched bound to Princeton with a full ride and you wouldn’t be told
whether or not you got matched with Duke or Pomona, because Princeton is a
higher ranking on your list. What happens if you’re a finalist but don’t get
matched come December? Don’t worry. The number one thing to remember is that
not being matched does not mean you are rejected from the college. It is a very
competitive scholarship and many students end up getting accepted regular
decision instead. In fact, the majority of QuestBridge students at the partner
colleges were accepted without being matched and received generous financial
aid comparable to the match package. After not being matched, you can choose to
do QuestBridge Regular Decision. You can apply to any of the 39 partner
colleges regular decision using your QuestBridge application and the best part
is that the application fees are waived, allowing you to apply to a lot of
schools while saving a lot of money. Alternatively, you can choose to not rank
any colleges, and only participate in QuestBridge Regular Decision.
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| QuestBridge Students at Pomona College. www.questbridge.org |
College Prep Scholars
The College Prep Scholars program is for high
school juniors. Becoming a College Prep Scholar looks good on an application
and allows you to apply for the Quest for Excellence Awards. There are also
resources provided to you to help you through the college process. One of these
is being connected to other College Prep Scholars through a Facebook group, if
you choose to participate. For inexperienced students or perhaps students that
are the first in their family to go to college, this can be a fantastic support
network and a great help throughout the National College Match applications. A
similar Facebook group is created for the Finalists.
Quest
For Excellence Awards
The Quest for Excellence Awards vary by
criteria and reward. These include the Arts Award, STEM Award, Fein Fellows
Award, NYC Award, USA Award, and New Americans Award. You can choose which ones
to apply to within your College Prep Scholars application. The awards for these
range from residential summer college programs to funding for technology. More
information for each individual award can be found on the QuestBridge website.
If all of this sounds fantastic to you, visit www.questbridge.org
to see if you’re eligible and begin applying! It is truly so much more than a
scholarship, and I highly recommend it.
My
QuestBridge Experience
This organization has certainly built a name for itself since its creation in 1994, but if you’re like me, you might’ve never heard of it. My counselor didn’t know about it and no one in my school had ever participated before. I first learned of QuestBridge through an email. I’d received several from them but had always deleted, thinking it was junk mail. This time, I skimmed over it and it piqued my interest. That was the spring of my junior year, and I was eligible to be a College Prep Scholar. I didn’t know much about it, but I figured it would look good on my college applications. It ended up being so much more than that! Through being a College Prep Scholar, I learned of the QuestBridge National College Match. I applied to that this fall, and am happy to say I was made a Finalist. I ranked three colleges – Brown, Yale, and Princeton – and was sadly not matched to any. While initially disappointed, I am very optimistic for the future. I’m applying to 15 colleges total, with my ranked colleges, schools outside of QuestBridge, and eight more QuestBridge schools. They’re all fantastic institutions and I know wherever I end up I should receive generous financial aid. QuestBridge is truly a blessing; I wouldn’t be able to afford all these applications otherwise, and I’ve been introduced to so many great schools that I wasn’t aware of before. One of the most unexpected perks was how unbelievably helpful it was to be connected to the other applicants. They are a group of resilient, kind, highly intelligent students that are always ready to help each other at the drop of a hat, whether it be peer-editing Common App essays or offering some encouraging words. I am truly grateful to be a part of this community, and I can’t wait to see where I’ll end up this fall.
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