Chance Me/Match Me Questbridge College Match Applicant

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US citizen
  • State/Location of residency: WA
  • Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public
  • Other special factors: First gen, low-income, free-lunch kid, single parent household, no siblings just two people in the household

Cost Constraints / Budget
FAFSA Estimated Student Aid Index (SAI) = 0

Most probably will go to state public university UW if don’t get full ride to out of state school.

Intended Major(s)

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.97
  • Weighted HS GPA: none, Washington state law
  • Class Rank: none
  • ACT/SAT Scores: 1540 superscore, 1530 single test

List your HS coursework

IB Diploma (AP but harder)

  • English: Honors first two years, IB HL 1&2 last two years of high school, all As first three years, last year in progress
  • Math: Algebra 2→IB Pre-HL math→IB HL1 math→IB HL2 math, except for one semester of A- in pre-hl math, A in everything else except for last year, last year in progress
  • Science: Gen Biology, Gen Chemistry, Gen Physics, IB SL Chemistry, IB HL1&2 Biology, everything A except for IB HL2 Biology, last year in progress
  • History and social studies: Honors first two years, A- in one semester of history second year, IB HL1 history for Junior year one semester B+, everything else As, IB SL history for senior year in progress
  • Language other than English: Mandarin Chinese 2, 3, IB SL, IB HL in order, everything As, except last year in progress
  • Visual or performing arts: Studio Arts 1 and 2 first year, As
  • Other academic courses: IB SL Psychology in progress senior year, IB Theory of Knowledge 1&2 junior and senior year, As in TOK1, TOK2 in progress

Awards

President’s Volunteer Gold Award, College Board National Recognition school recognition and first gen award, national merit scholarship commended student

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)

Volunteered as summer camp tutor/caretaker for 120 hours, volunteered as online tutor for 14 hours in 11th grade summer, volunteering to do chores for community elders, volunteered to translate and transcribe for TED talk

Part time job at tutor place nearby for a year, working for mom as social media manager for her real estate job

Artistry club 4 year commitment, three year board position as secretary/treasurer, Guzheng instrument played for 11 years, passed highest level 10 skill exam for the instrument, National Honor Society club member

Essays/LORs/Other
Interested in Biology and Psychology track, want to become psychiatrist

LORs from my IB HL math teacher, IB HL1 english teacher, and my club advisor for artistry club

Schools
(List of colleges by your initial chance estimate; designate if applying ED/EA/RD; if unsure, leave them unclassified)

Applied to questbridge general application 5 days ago, need help with deciding colleges list and seeing chances, currently my list is just every top college on quesbridge from best to 15th best on the list

  • Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): Bellevue College
  • Extremely Likely: University of Washington
  • Likely:
  • Toss-up:
  • Lower Probability:
  • Low Probability: the top 15 schools on quesbridge: harvard, stanford, princeton, mit, hopkins, yale, brown, columbia, cornell, upenn, northwestern, emory, duke, uchicago, usc in order
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Correct me if I’m wrong - you applied to 15.

You’re a great candidate so I hope great things for you.

But it’s hard to chance you. QB gives you a leg up though.

It does look like you picked the 15 biggest names vs. adding some in that are less competitive and where you might have stood out more - but that’s ok.

Do you receive food stamps/SNAP benefits? If so, it looks like the Washington College Grants program covering tuition and fees but not housing so hopefully you have a public school within driving distance of home.

Best of luck - you’re a great student - hopefully you’ll match.

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yep i receive food stamps, i did put all 15 on the questbridge list since thats like the limit, i was just thinking it’d be nice if literally any of them accept me since it means automtic 4 year scholarship but idk if i should change the order if it matters or include less big name schools to maximize chance of actually getting in one

and yes uw is within driving distance of my home currently, so i’ll be set if i get into uw anyways but i’m just testing my chances

Thank you for replying!!

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Well it’s already done. You’ve applied.

Best of luck.

Worst case, you can go to the public at home - hopefully one is close for you to commute.

You have a FANTASTIC record so hoping you earn a QB offer.

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no like the list is not submitted yet, i have till october 16 to submit the list so i can still change it and idk should i change it to include less big name schools or maybe do less schools in general? since i need to send supplementals if i get chosen as finalist which comes out on the 21 if i remember correctly

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Oh. That’s up to you.

What we don’t know is how many each gives. But let’s say Duke gives 2x as many as Denison but maybe has 5 times the apps. I’m just making #s up but I think you picked the 15 biggest names.

Was that smart ? No one knows.

I’d swap out 5 for easier entries. Doesn’t mean I’m right.

You do you.

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Well, it depends.

If you Match through Questbridge, you get better-than-full-ride financial aid. You’ll be able to attend without financial strain, and graduate debt-free.

UW is a fantastic flagship university. But I doubt there’s any way for you to get through without debt. Have you priced out what the financial picture is going to look like if you go to UDub?

Once you’re clear on the cost difference, then I would ask you to do a thought exercise: put the 15-school limitation aside for a few minutes, and look at the whole Questbridge list. Given the cost difference between a Match offer and the financial reality of attending UDub, which schools on the QB Partner list would you choose over UDub, if you could attend for free? Which ones would you not choose over UDub, even with a full ride? You could undoubtedly get an excellent premed bio/psych education at virtually every school on the list, so that’s not a limitation.

All of the schools you listed are universities rather than liberal arts colleges. Is that because you genuinely dislike the idea of a LAC, or is it only because you referred to the USNWR “National Universities” list to identify the “top 15” schools, and thus ruled out the LAC’s which are ranked separately? Even if you don’t like small schools, you might like LAC’s like Pomona, Claremont McKenna, and Scripps, which are part of the 5-college Claremont Consortium with seamless cross-registration and 7000 total undergraduates on the combined campus.

What I would suggest, once you’ve compiled your master list of all the schools at which you’d choose a full ride over UW, is that you divide that list into three sub-groups. (I’d do this by acceptance rate, since there’s no obvious way to dovetail the USNWR rankings between lists, and the rankings are hardly gospel anyway.) Then, pick five schools from each sub-list… and don’t just pick based on rank; look at the campus environment/culture, the surrounding area, the academic programs, the extracurricular opportunities - whatever is important to you.

There is not a single unworthy school on the Questbridge list, but some will fit your personality and interests better than others. Is MIT really a fit for you, for example? Just because it’s highly-ranked doesn’t mean it’s better for you than Pomona or Rice or Tufts. It’s a vastly different student experience; and if you’re not truly well-suited to MIT, they’ll see that and it’ll be a waste of one of your 15 spots.

Are you female? If so, and if you like Columbia enough to put it on your match list, then why not Barnard, which is part of the same university? Even if you don’t want a fully single-gender college environment, there are lots of guys around at schools like Barnard and Scripps.

Anyway, the strategy I’m suggesting will still allow you to pick your favorites from among the most competitive schools, but it will also increase your odds of matching, for several reasons: 1) because you won’t be confining your options to the most over-requested schools on the list, and 2) because you’ll be filtering for fit, and hopefully AO’s, who are also looking for fit, will see what you see and perceive that you are indeed “right” for their school.

But first, see how many schools make the “I’d pass up UDub to go here for free” list, and then we can discuss how to pare down, seeking the best fit while balancing your list in terms of competitiveness and maximizing your chances of matching.

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The QB school list has so many fabulous schools on it that it can be hard to pick.

For your interests, MIT seems like a wasted spot. Tufts or Rice might be better. I had the same question about LACs - so many are strong in your area of interest. Colby, Bates, Amherst, Haverford, Vassar….

If you can match, it’s a great deal with QB, so it pays to use it for schools that are a fit and to be strategic. Perhaps the top 8 of your list can be from your list above and the other 7 can be ones you like – maybe even more than UW – where there is real fit and better odds. There’s nothing to say you can’t apply to other schools in the RD round if this doesn’t work out, but it feels like a missed opportunity to not explore a bit more and find a fit.

You look like a strong applicant. I’d add your SL scores to your profile as support of your grades in those classes if the scores were decent.

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@aquapt and @gardenstategal have given some spot-on suggestions, as has @tsbna44. If followed, you will increase your odds for your best outcome. Really wish you the best of luck.

What lab is it that’s producing these amazing kids? I need to buy stock.

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Seconding the advice you’ve received above about trying to find the Questbridge schools that seem like the best fit for you.

As you try and determine what could be a fit, these are some questions you may want to reflect on:

  • What size school do you prefer?
  • What size classes do you do best in?
  • How do you feel about Greek life (i.e. fraternities/sororities)?
  • How do you feel about significant enthusiasm for intercollegiate sports?
  • Do you have any climate preferences/needs?
  • How do you feel about urban/suburban/college town/remote campuses?
  • Are there regions of the country that you prefer or prefer to avoid?
  • What kind of vibe/people are you hoping to find on campus?
  • Are there any other factors, like religion or politics, that impact your preferences?
  • Are there any interests (outside of your currently intended major) that you hope to pursue in college?

In thinking about these questions, you may find that you have preferences about some items but not really strong feelings, and that other items may be super, super important to you.

If you let the board know some of your preferences and which ones are really important to you, then folks may also be able to help suggest which Questbridge schools might be a better fit for you.

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