If what you’re saying is true, take Merc’s statement earlier in the thread:
“QB finalist acceptance rates have ranged from around 36% to 40% in the past several years. The proportion of finalists that match is typically in the low to mid-teens (proportion of those who match to TOTAL QB applicants is in the mid-single digits).”
How do I interpret this, then? He’s kind of saying what you’re saying, but it sounds more difficult to get accepted when you say it. If I’m applying ED to 12 colleges, and I look at their estimated acceptance rate for ED applicants in The Princeton Review book, for some LACs, there’s a pretty good increase in chance. Do those numbers not apply to QB applications?
Your chances of matching are very low, in the range of what Merc said, if not lower. I’m sure last year’s stats are on the QB website. But once you find out if you don’t match, then each school will forward you to the RD round and your chances of being accepted to one of those schools has been around the numbers he provided. You DONT have to use the match round at all, in fact I would encourage you not to UNLESS you are 100% sure you are okay with attending any that you rank. With all your uncertainty, I would advise you in that direction.
^
I think the confusion lies in the particular meaning QB attaches to the words, Finalist and Match. In their universe a “match” is actually someone who has won a scholarship, usually or quite often full-freight for all four years. Only Finalists can proceed to the point where they submit a ranked list of possible college matches. Merc is correct, in that Finalists have an elevated chance of getting into one college on their list, comparable to the best ED rates available at the most popular colleges in the country. Right now, however, you are neither a match winner nor a Finalist. You are at the beginning of the application process. Technically, your chances are pretty slim that you will win a scholarship.
Which makes it look as if you are looking a gift horse in the mouth. Why do you think these colleges are participating in Questbridge? It is because they are pretty liberal institutions, most of them. Tweaking them at this point because you want a place where you can be vocally against gay marriage without paying a penalty socially, is kind of mixing up your priorities.
@circuitrider, my Daughter was matched with her #1 ranked school, but those who were taken in the RD round are awarded the same amount of $. The advantage of the match process is of course being able to apply ED to up to 12 schools, but the biggest bonus is knowing by December 1st that you are done, assuming you are matched. It sure made for an easy Senior year in our house knowing things were completed.
OP, I agree with Circuit that you seem to be awfully picky about things you need as far as social aspects of a school. As I posted to you before, as a low income applicant, you need to be grateful and gracious for the potential opportunities QB can offer you.
Are the chances of being matched with a QuestBridge partner higher in regular decision or lower? I would think lower because ED is critical for some colleges.
I’m not that uncertain. what I do know for sure is that I would really like to rank Vanderbilt, Rice, Tufts, Hamilton, and Haverford in my top five, almost in that order. Of course the list will expand as I go on. The research isn’t too time consuming, plus I really like doing it and it may help me even if I don’t get accepted on figuring out where to apply. I appreciate your input though.
For Grinnell: I really think you ought to go and see for yourself, hence the fly in.
(They know they’re in a rural area and spend a lot of money making sure there’s lots to do).
One BIG downside to a college in the city for a lower income student is that the college doesn’t feel it needs to provide as many options because you have the city, yet they’re all expensive…
…Awfully picky. Really? The fact I’m considering all of the options available to me and was pretty optimistic up until this point? I’m not grateful… Im vocally against gay marriage and will find few allies at any of these institutions… All of which I’ve explicitly disproven and told the EXACT OPPOSITE. I AM grateful, I DO give all colleges ample consideration, and I am NOT VOCALLY AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE. I am undecided on the issue as of right now, actually.
QB has opened my eyes to other colleges I would have never known about had I not been informed of it by MYOS. I can’t believe some of you would discredit me like that, after all the research I did and all the things I try to look for to consider a college… Is it wrong to look for a range of colleges where I would best fit?
I was told that ranking colleges that would be a great fit for me would give me a better chance at being selected, so I’m doing research. I was even told that liberal colleges want people like me for my political diversity I can offer the campus.
I want to keep going and try my best to get this scholarship, but my will is decreasing each day to continue with comments like these. There are people willing to help me, but then there are implications that I shouldn’t even bother. Which is it? Do I call it quits because I’m apparently too nit picky and ungrateful, or do I continue because I genuinely want and appreciate the opportunity to get this aid? People have advised both of these and I don’t know what’s worth it anymore.
What some people think is nitpicky is because you try to gauge vast amounts of information from books without the benefit (yet!) of visiting. As a result, you have trouble discerning what matters and what doesn’t.
It’s great that you’re willing to dig and look for information then ask us for help to go further.
Some adults may think you’re trying to find upsides and downsides in order to criticize. Perhaps you’ll like the book the signal and the noise by Nate Silver (a statistician).
For what it’s worth, your list so far is good.
Another approach: you give us names you’re considering, we tell you everything we know about these colleges, and depending on that you read through the Fiske guide
BTW I understood the opposite of your being against gay people having a right to marry since you said you want things to be “normal” for gay people (so, I presume, a gay or straight committed couple could marry, or not, as worked best for their couple)?
The QB ranking system has been designed so that as many students as possible get matched according to their individual preferences. With respect to your understanding of this, I support you, Kelsey.
Yes! I want gay people to be accepted. I want them to be a part of our community. I want them to understand themselves fully and find a profitable relationship. What I DONT want is to be forced to EMBRACE it. Accepting it is one thing, embracing it is another.
I understand the advantages of fly ins, and that’s why I’m applying to a lot of colleges for that so I can get an immersive experience. Im just going off of everything I have right now - Fiske guide, Princeton guide, advice from CC members, opinions, articles. I’m not looking to dislike a college. I’m looking for things to like, looking for reasons it should be on my list. Of course I’m not going to like every single one, but I’m appealed to a lot and I’m not even a fourth of the way done with research.
I’ll apply to the grinnell fly in, though I’m still pretty unsure about it’s atmosphere. I did quote a Grinnell alumni who said that almost the entire premise of the campus revolving around fun involved “party hard” mechanics and drinking was a huge part of it. Substance free activities were noted as weak and monotonous. That’s really negative, I know, but it does concern me. When I get home I’ll post what I have for Grinnell, minus some quotes (to which I’ll refer you to an article). You can tell me what you think about it, and I’ll keep the fly in on my list. I appreciate your understanding.
@KelseyM I don’t know nearly as much as some of the posters who have responded with specific advice, but I am definitely sensing a level of stress of even panic in your posts. I imagine that it feels very hard to navigate this process and figure out what you want using online sources and without much input from people whom you know in real life. While I am not sure that I read every single post in this thread, it seems that you don’t have many local resources for support in this process.
In any case, it is great that you are reaching out and doing research. I am also someone who likes to research as much as possible. I know such research can be kind of exciting but also daunting. All of that said, the sheer number of variables that you are trying to examine seems overwhelming to me. And I get the sense that you are beginning to get “lost in the weeds” of your research and perhaps you are “no longer seeing the forest for the trees” to use two tired cliches. My guess is that is what other posters mean when they say that you may be getting too nitpicky or taking your research wayyy too far.
You seem like a very bright and motivated young woman. Again, I don’t know as much about the Questbridge process to be super-helpful, but I suspect that you would likely be happy at any school that is filled with lots of bright and motivated young people. And you will find your niche/community anywhere. If I have any advice, it is to BREATHE. Have some faith that you can be happy any of these places. They are all great schools. Honestly, I am tempted to suggest that you just take write down the names of all the schools that are strong in your preferred major, match your academic stats, and are in cities that you might like to live. Throw them all into a hat. And draw the names out one by one. There! Boom! THAT is your ranking order (at least temporarily). I’m kidding of course. You probably want to give it a little more thought before submitting it. But you have already given it a LOT of thought. Sometimes, such exercises are useful because you can gauge your gut reaction when you let a random draw decide. See how you feel looking at the randomly ordered list. It might seem fine to you or immediately become obvious which schools to move up or down in the ranking.
You’re right, I do get stressed and panicky a lot when I think of how selective the process is and when people are second guessing my reasoning. I am uninformed on a lot of these colleges and am doing my best to get educated, which means I take every opinion someone has about a campus into account. Thank you very much for the ideas and support. no matter what, I will keep going, even if I say I might not. This is too gratuitous to ignore and I think I might have a chance. Even if I don’t get selected, I’ll apply to a lot of the colleges on this list.
That’s why I think the research is valuable. After I get the rest of the school’s discussed in this thread mapped socially, I will look at their programs. All of the ones I’ve looked at have fantastic science opportunities, and I can’t say I would be disappointed with any of them. I was advised first to determine differences in social environment as that would be a little easier. It is kind of easy, until contrasting opinions come into play. I appreciate the compliments and will try to improve my research methods. I want to give all colleges as much consideration as possible, but sometimes, when some people who are very experienced tell me about their feeling that a college may not be right for me, I listen to them, even if I still do research.
Thank you, again.
Kelsey, you need to listen to the helpful advice you are being given, particularly by @CottonTales and others. Try to disengage your feelings and see this for what it is: very sound advice.
I mean, I get it. Disregard ED round if matched if I’m still unsure. If I’m sure, I guess I’ll apply ED. I am not being picky, though, and I will not accept that; my resources are very limited and I can only go so far when making my judgements until I get fly in programs. If I only have books, articles, the actusl website, and people until I see if I get accepted, is there really anything else to do? What can I do at this point?
I won’t post my research anymore. I won’t post anything unless asked. I don’t know what I can and can’t post anymore or what is good for me to tell you. My research isn’t good, nor are my opinions, as I’ve been told. Knowing this, the only thing I can post are quotes I find and questions about fly ins or the process. if you want anything else, ask. I’m not allowed to share it without permission anymore.
What permission do you need to post here!
My research and evidence is not allowed because it contains copyrighted material, and mentions of my beliefs are not recommended because of the potential for it to turn into a debate, even though my only reason to post them is for others to get an understanding of my fit or to clear up misconceptions. I don’t want to debate, but this was personally advised by another friend.
I don’t want people thinking that I’m over the top nitpicky, seemingly ungrateful, , politically polarized, or not willing to listen to opposition. I’m not any of that and this is how I’ll try to prove it. This was recommended. It’s not what I want to do, but I was told to. I’ll take as much advice as possible. If it means applying to colleges that are safer rather than a good fit, then so be it. I’ll apply for fly ins. I’ll apply for interviews at those fly ins. I’ll apply to safeties. I’ll edit my essays. I’ll apply to QB RD rather than ED if necessary and if selected of course. I’ll consider all recommended safeties outside of QB. I’ll do whatever is needed and I won’t object to any of it. Everyone is here to help, I’m guessing, so I’m not going to reject it or hiss at it.
She’s been posting large blocks of content from another website (which is probably against the TOS) and then asking what we think about that article or that assertion. We can sit here all day, batting down bad articles or third party opinions we don’t agree with. That just makes for a very contentious and ultimately confusing thread. What would probably be far more helpful and in keeping with the spirit of College Confidential would be to post specific questions about specific colleges or simply leave the gate open for additional suggestions. And wait for some replies. Make it a conversation.
The OP has 44 colleges and universities to choose from; they probably have far more in common than they have differences. She seems to have six pretty good choices already. Now, start from there.
Ok.
Questions…
A student at Grinnell on this website notes the social environment at the college to be lacking, especially if a student prefers substance-free activities. They state that the social environment of Grinnell is heavily revolved around drinking. This has been restated in both guides I have. There aren’t many volunteer options for the community due to it being so rural, and clubs are kept secret so they can be related only to one friend group. The alumni of Grinnell are noted as having some arbitrary negative emotion towards “townies”, or people who come from/like the city. This is reaffirmed by a senior quoted in the Fiske Guide, who says he would prefer if you didn’t come if you “want a big name”.
I’d quote the whole thing for you to read, as it is entertaining to me, but my research doesn’t seem to interest, so I won’t unless prompted otherwise.
To what extent is the student critiquing the campus accurate about Grinnell?
Is this even an appropriate question when considering Grinnell and its fly-in, or is it STILL too nit-picky?