x3rose

yes EA is allowed. SCEA is not, even if it is stanford and you are ranking stanford only and as your #1 choice. i learned that the hard way

FarrCT

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I was wondering how selective Questbridge is? I'm the top of my class, actually top five percent. I am boystate winner, National Honor Society and numerous other awards. I'm a minority, who has faced great obstactles. So, I was wondering if not taking the SATs yet will hurt my application? And how many recommendations is good enough? One, Two, or Three? Thanks

PomonaBound2007

Ok, I'm an official lurker here at CC but I had to join in order to comment on this thread. Questbridge is an amazing foundation made up of the smartest and most helpful people that really want to see great students at America's greatest colleges.

I'm a Questbridge College Prep Scholarship winner ( I won a laptop and a SAT online prep course), Questbridge College Match Finalist, and Questbridge College Match Scholarship recipient (I obviously matched with Pomona based on my name) so I'm a little biased when I say that QB is the greatest asset for students who lack practical college admissions advice or don't have much financial resources but still seek an excellent college education at a top-rated college or university.

I got an email from QB in late April of my junior year urging me to apply for their College Prep Scholarship. I think they got my name because of my score on the PSAT. They also sent me a nice looking brochure that summarized what they do and the scholarships they offer. At this point in time, I kinda had my college plans laid out. I was going to go to my state university, follow a premed track, and then go to my state medical school. I had once planned on going out of state for college but a teacher told me that it would cost less to stay instate and discouraged me from even applying anywhere else, despite my 4.00 GPA. I was young and impressionable, so I listened to this teacher and didn't even send my first ACT score to any out of state schools. My APUSH teacher wanted me to apply to Stanford or some other Ivy League school but I didn't feel like that was the right choice for me. I wanted a small, residential, and more intimate feeling school but the schools like that nearby held no interest for me.

Back to QB, I created an account on their website in like two minutes, and started looking over the College Prep application. It was pretty simple and only had one essay question (I believe that's the same for this year's). I admittedly didn't give much thought to my essay response but I put a lot of heart into it. On the application, you had a choice of ranking which award you would like to win most. I really wanted a laptop so I put that first, then the SAT prep course, and then QB was also offering full scholarships to summer classes at Harvard and Stanford but I wasn't interested in that.

School ended and it's around June when I receive an email stating I had won a laptop and a SAT prep course. All I had to do was fax my tax documents and transcript and I got my awards a few weeks later. Throughout the summer, QB was also hosting panels with their partner colleges, offering online chats with various admissions officers, applications for completely free visits to their partner colleges, and they had forums for students who'd apply for the College Prep scholarship. I tried to participate in most of those things, but I mostly spent the rest of the summer researching out of state colleges. Through QB, I'd obtained a telementor, a sort of college counselor who communicates through phone and email. She was a student at Amherst and had also applied to QB. She was very good at answering some questions I had about liberal arts and college in general. Winning the College Prep scholarship had boosted my confidence about gaining admission to a top college. I didn't have any interest in Ivy League schools but I looked through QB partner colleges and saw many small liberal arts colleges. I started looking more closely at those types of colleges and fell in love with Pomona. It was everything and more I was looking for in a college and even offered neuroscience as a major, my biggest medical interest. QB was outstanding in preparing me for the whole college admissions rigmarole and vital in me finding what I really wanted in a college.

School starts back again and I'm a high school senior. I'd read all about QB's College Match scholarships which paid for everything (tuition,room, board, books, travel) and it sounded like a dream come true, especially if I could be matched with my new ideal school Pomona. It became especially real for me when I was on Fastweb and saw the QB College Match scholarship listed and that the amount was $180,000-200,000. The application opened in August and it was a long and detailed application. I had glanced at the Common App once but the QB app was so much more. I felt like I could really put more of myself and my personality into my responses, especially the short answer ones. There were also about 3 essay questions (there were some additional ones depending on which colleges you ranked). I spent many hours stressing over and perfecting my essays. I got my two teacher recs and counselor report. I finished my application about a week before the deadline in October. I learned at the end of October that I was a finalist. I submitted my final ranking form, listing Pomona as my first choice of course, the CSS profile, and my tax forms and anxiously awaited the results. I also retook the ACT and took the SAT for the first time in October and November respectively, but those scores didn't make it in time for the final decision process. It didn't matter for me because I learned on December 1st that I was matched with Pomona and going to my dream college for absolutely free. That was the happiest and most rewarding day of my life. I felt like all the work I did was finally worthwhile.

I know this is a super long post but I had to contribute my personal involvement with Questbridge. The people at QB will work for you and with you in making sure you obtain the best education you're possible of receiving. I'm eternally grateful for them and try to show my appreciation by convincing as many people as possible of their merit and significance.

Thank you.

Oh, and I know a lot of people will want to know my stats. Here they are:
African American female, low income
Rank: 1/288
GPA: 4.00 (taking most difficult curriculum)
ACT: 29 (later got a 33 but colleges didn't receive it in time)
SAT: 2030
Activities: President of NHS, president of HOSA, and captain of Scholars Bowl
Honors/Awards: National Achivement Scholar, AMC 10/12 schoolwide winner

collegehopeful78

Wait a second there are 8-10 essays? WOW. If you go to a really good specialized school but you are low income can you still become a Questbridge finalist? Also what do you mean SCEA is not allowed? I was really interested in Yale. Can i PM you with my questions PonomaBound? Also Princeton doesn't have ED OR EA or SCEA so its not really like applying to Princeton early is it?

collegehopeful78

Bump Bump Bump.

PomonaBound2007

There are a 2-3 major essays (500 words and up) and close to 15 short answers. Some of QB's partners schools require additional essays if you plan on ranking them.

Collegehopeful78, QB is looking for low-income students from all different types of schools. A specialized school may even be an advantage.

You cannot apply ED to any other colleges besides QB schools if you decide to do the College Match scholarship. I don't know about SCEA or Princeton's admissions policies.

Anyone with any more questions is free to PM me

collegehopeful78

Could you take a look at my stats thread to give me an idea if I qualify. Also will being a Questbridge applicant to schools like Yale excuse poor grades (about a 92 average).

collegehopeful78

Can you tell me more about the application and what it entails? Also for schools that don't accept the Questbridge application in lieu of their own a.k.a Princeton what is the purpose of the Questbridge application? Does it just become a supplement to the school's own application? Does questbridge help get us in to college?

sw717

I was a finalist that wasn't matched. Later when I reapplied under regular decision, I was either waitlisted or rejected from the QB schools (again)
Even so, I'd still encourage people to do QB. It's FREE. I'm going to Grinnell, my dream school (not a QB school either) but it costs money. Personally, if any of the QB schools offered me the full ride, I'd take it in a heartbeat. All of them are great schools, and while I think having a "perfect match" with a school is good, it's not everything.
Like other people said, it gives you a headstart and good practice, so why not do it? (And do a good job on the app, I didn't perfect my app)

collegehopeful78

Can someone answer the 2 questions above?

murkywater

sw717, what were your stats? I really want to get matched through the program, but I was hoping at least I could get matched to one of the schools through RD. It seems like a lot of people aren't matched either through the match program or RD.. this is sort of frustrating.

PomonaBound2007, can I PM you? Thanks in advance :-)

collegehopeful78

PonomaBound you seem to know a lot so can you answer my last 2 posts in this thread.

PomonaBound2007

Collegehopeful78, the QB College Match application is a very detailed and very thorough process. The essays really try to find out who you are as a person. I especially liked the short answers because it asked questions like what are your favorite books and movies and what makes you happiest. The short answers had a 30 character limit so your answer had to be really succinct and precise. Oh, and I was incorrect before about the larger essays. Three of them had a word limit of 500 words and one had a word limit of 800 words. There were two 800 word essay choices and you only had to do one of them. For the most part, the other sections of the application are similar to the Common App.

Also, collegehopeful78, after looking at your chance thread I say you have a very good chance at becoming a QB finalist. But remember, they're mostly looking for low-income students. Look on their website to find their definition of "low-income". QB finalists are viewed very favorably by colleges, even if you don't end up getting matched with a college, it's still a very rare and beneficial distinction. I don't know if it'll excuse bad grades (Lol, a 92 average is not bad) but it's a good honor to mention on an application. As for colleges that don't accept QB's application, like Princeton, I do believe they use it as a supplement. It does give admission officers a more in-depth view of your personality so I'd say it's more of an advantage than a disadvantage. Sometimes, you can even reuse the same essays.

QB is amazing at providing resources to help students get into college, even if you don't win the College Match scholarship. Many elite school's respect QB's opinion and hold it in high regard. It's not a guarantee into getting into a school but it definitely gives you a boost over others who haven't done anything with QB.

Remember everyone, I'm just an graduating senior in high school who was fortunate enough to have been contacted by Questbridge and decided to apply for their scholarships. I don't have all the answers. If you want more detailed responses, your best bet is to contact QB themselves. They're extremely helpful. Like sw717 said, QB is totally free and applying for their scholarships is totally free and can only help you.

Anyone with ?s is free to PM me and I'll try to answer them as quickly and as best as I can.

collegehopeful78

Would you go as far as saying Questbridge is a hook?

PomonaBound2007

I would definitely say it's a hook to QB's partner schools and those who are familiar with QB. It may not be as major as a low-income or minority status but it says something good about your achievements so far.