2009 QuestBridge National College Match Discussion & Help - Page 15

jennieblue22 · 08-01-2009, 08:51 PM

Great info here, thanks everyone! I have a question about "low-income" status. My family had been low income for a number of years (for most of my grade school career, one or both of my parents has been unemployed) BUT just last month my dad finally got a better paying job (above $60,000) so will I no longer be considered low-income because of my dad's new job, or will I still be low-income because we haven't earned that much money all these years?

4th house · 08-02-2009, 01:15 AM

The question is not how much your dad made last week or last month; it's how much did your family earn last year -- 2008.

GA2012MOM · 08-02-2009, 01:26 AM

^^^^^^^^^^

That is the information you will need to provide for the application, but you will need to provide the schools with Fasfa and or Profile for 2009 before you matriculate. If your dad just got this job, would his income still be "low" since it would be for less than 1/2 of this year? I'm not sure how schools would treat this, considering you were well within the guidelines when you applied, but may not be after. It has been said that some schools require a certain $0 EFC or to at least be Pell Grant eligible. You might want to e-mail QB with your question.

alexandrafitzmor · 08-02-2009, 04:31 AM

@tokenadult: "MIT, Notre Dame, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale...are not binding"

alexandrafitzmor · 08-02-2009, 04:38 AM

Questbridge will, itself, recognize applicants even if they are above the income range. However, in regards to being matched, you need an EFC of zero as stated above. Check your EFC with the calculator linked below. If you estimate some of the numbers, you'll get a bit of a different result than with exact numbers, but if you are at the zero level you'll probably know.

I, for one, am one in a ten person family (eight kids) and my dad is the breadmaker. He's a teacher and makes a little over 60K gross per year. (It's terrible: he's been teaching for 11 or so years, too) With the amount of people in my family, we're really eligible for the full package. Circumstances such as this are recognized by QB, and that makes sense, as their ethic is to remove the dis from disadvantaged and the umbrella from financial aid policy. Because sometimes people get wet when they all try to fit under one umbrella.

alexandrafitzmor · 08-02-2009, 05:25 AM

EFC Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?

lsjny09 · 08-02-2009, 12:23 PM

So, if your family definitely has $0 EFC, which would make you a good candidate for the Match, but you really need more time to pull up your gpa, test scores, and secure good teacher recs, do you think it is best to skip the Match and just do RD through QB? In other words, should the same philosophy be applied as is used with ED, where if you're not competitive enough you should just wait?

And on Scripps's website, they say that the 2009 QB app. will be available Aug.1, but it's not

alexandrafitzmor · 08-02-2009, 01:25 PM

Well, the app should be available on the Questbridge website as well. If not, I wouldn't worry: they're probably having technical difficulties.

To be honest, I would say you should apply ED through Questbridge. I know a girl who was matched to UPenn and a guy to MIT, and neither were amazing in test scores. If you're facing a 2000-2200 SAT score and a 3.6-3.9 UW, then I would NOT worry about it. You can always send in new information for the RD, and you get the added chances of ED.

tomjonesistheman · 08-02-2009, 02:35 PM

So I was going to Match Princeton, Stanford, Yale. My first choice is Stanford. But if I get rejected in Match, wouldn't I also get rejected in RD, most likely? Since the process is the same, and my application is also the same...
Should I Match PY, then only apply to Stanford RD? Would this be a better choice? Or should I just QB Match all the schools.

Does this idea make sense?:
Match: Princeton, Yale, Stanford?
EA: MIT, CalTech
RD: forward all Match schools if not matched, plus harvard, columbia, UC Berkeley, UCLA, dartmouth, williams

Should I just Match MIT and Caltech instead of EA? Thanks!!

tokenadult · 08-02-2009, 03:02 PM

There are examples of persons who ranked Stanford in the National College Match process, were not matched by any college, but were admitted to Stanford in the regular round.

tomjonesistheman · 08-02-2009, 03:27 PM

Thanks! That's great news. Now about MIT and Caltech, would applying through Match be a more logical/feasible option than applying to EA?

GA2012MOM · 08-02-2009, 03:27 PM

^^^^^^^^^

I would go even farther as to say that MANY people got into their choices RD that had not matched them. As alexandrafitzmor said you can always send in new test scores or a significant EC or award. I would personally apply to all 3 to QB.

flyingllama · 08-02-2009, 03:33 PM

I heard you can't "add" things to the QB app for the RD round... is that true? ECs/awards etc. Though I know it's OK to send Nov/Dec SAT scores directly to the schools.

GA2012MOM · 08-02-2009, 03:36 PM

I do believe that is correct because you cannot access your application after the deadline. But schools do add things to your file as they receive them.

flyingllama · 08-02-2009, 03:39 PM

So how would that work? (Sending in extra ECs/awards etc for RD)

Just mail them an envelope with a polite letter and the new info? How do I verify they've put everything together? (Including new SAT scores that I send directly)

Sorry I don't know how it works or what is possible... and I'm paranoid lol ^_^