The only assets are cash/investment accounts. the two i did were princeton (does not include home equity) and williams (which does but is known to be among the most generous). Try a few others with your actual cash balances in your bank accounts since that may change the numbers.
Did you have to provide detailed financial information last year as part of the Questbridge College Prep Scholar application? Did that application ask about home ownership and other assets? As I understand it, the prep scholar program is also aimed at the same demographic as the program for seniors. So if you were admitted into the prep scholars despite your parentâs home ownership, you will probably also qualify financially for the College Match Program. Do you have any idea if both the prep and the match program use the same form to assess whether a student qualifies financially?
1 Like
My mom canât afford to have vintage cars lol. Itâs only one regular car we use for transportation.
2 Likes
How will you commute to Rutgers ?
I will use my moms car as she used to work as a Nurse but is now working from home in customer service.
1 Like
Hi, thank you for your post. I donât have any siblings. Itâs just my mom and I!
2,627 of the 2024 finalists matched. Additionally, some unmatched finalists were ultimately accepted to QB partner schools in various application rounds. Further, some non-finalists also do gain acceptance to QB partner schools.
Response to hidden thread edited by moderator.
1 Like
Hey yâall, just wanted to update after running the Net Price Calculators and FAFSA estimator (household of two, single mom making about $50,000, no investments, just a paidâoff 1/2 duplex worth around $450k). For Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Cornell, UChicago, and Northwestern, the calculators all showed $0 expected parent contribution and full coverage of tuition, room & board. Iâd also get the full Pell Grant (~$7,400/year) since my FAFSA Student Aid Index comes out pretty much at zero. Even for Rutgers, the NPCs show Pell plus state aid and school grants would leave barely anything to pay. Owning the duplex didnât really change things since itâs our primary home, not cash, so the schools didnât count it heavy
8 Likes
Thatâs good- now you need to figure out is the best way to apply through QB or outside QB.
I think, but donât know, that it will come down to the typical QB profile, which I"m guessing (but donât know) is far less wealthy than you.
Hopefully they will guide you when you reach out to them.
I ran Lafayette for you - itâs a meet need school (need aware, not on QB).
It shows youâd have to conbribute $18,700 of the $87K direct costs plus a small loan and student job.
Thatâs why you need to run each school.
The issue is that all these schools that I ran today that are saying 0 EFC are reaches
Given your record, every school on QB is a reach.
You know this.
But thatâs why you have Rutgers.
QB makes sense because you have a single, albeit hard app - vs. applying to 15 schools.
But if QB says - you have too much in assets - then what.
So the schools that youâd realistically have a chance at on QB - and Iâm just throwing out names but I donât know how many they actually take:
Bates
Holy Cross
Denison
Grinnell
Macalester
Oberlin
Skidmore
Richmond
Thatâs 8 - but some, if not all, are need aware - so if you apply outside of QB, they might turn you down just because you need too much.
Same with others like Lafayette, Franklin & Marshall, Sewanee, Miami, etc.
But some schools - SMU, W&L - have full rides. Thereâs more - like Providence Roddy.
Are you the one who would win? Guessing not - but unless you try, you donât know.
But when you say the issue with these is theyâre all reaches - hmmmmm - yes!!!
But thatâs precisely why you have Rutgers. A few think you should have a second public - I think youâre ok without but I see the point.
If you knew you had a good chance at a match, you likely would have never mentioned Rutgers.
But if you donât apply, then youâre definitely not getting in.
Now, we just need to figure out is - is QB the right place to apply?
That Lafayette wants $18K - $23K for you doesnât bode well overall (to me) - I wouldnât think theyâd be that far off the others.
But itâs clearly the houseâŠso thatâs what I would do - research school by school and find out who excludes. We know Dension excludes the home. We know Chicago excludes the home - because on the NPC it says exclude home you live in.
Thatâs two of 53. You might find out from the remainder - if they include or not.
You might send an email to all 53 - and simply ask:
Is primary home equity included or excluded in your financial aid calculation.
Also, if you donât already, you might set up a gmail or email of some sort - thatâs specific for college - so you can get all your college emails in one place. Something like Joecollege@gmail.com
This way, any time you sign up on a schoolâs more info list or when you apply, it can all go there.
Itâs time consuming but you want to max out your âcovers you in fullâ opportunities. It was pointed out earlier, at one school (Williams) the house didnât matterâŠbut thatâs one of the wealthiest in the nation. Even when you get the list in full, youâll need to run NPCs - but itâll give you more an idea who might be worth targeting.
Or you can just run the NPCs - which is very time consuming.
Good luck.
1 Like
Will work on emailing the QB schools and get back to you guys. Thank you. Do you see me being matched to one of these QB schools?
Do I ?
No - but I think QB is going to tell you not to go through QB.
But thatâs why you need to contact QB to ask - I havenât a clue. Iâm just going through a logic sequence.
I âthinkâ youâre going to Rutgers but what I think is irrelevant.
I think itâs great students stretch to apply to schools a bit out of their realm.
I think your math and science grades will hold you back from high level schools and all the QB ones are high level.
But the beauty is - what I think doesnât matter.
No pain, no gain!!
You go for it!! And see what happens.
One poster earlier was very complimentary on your record and chances.
And your SAT is impressive as are some of your awards.
I do know this - if you donât apply to these schools, then you have zero chance of getting in.
Tomorrow (or tonight) - email QB, let them know you have income of $50K and primary home equity of $450K.
Ask them if that excludes you from the program? Or from certain schools within the program.
You got this.
Just know - all the discussion on this board - and I think itâs been very helpful - to you and to us - thatâs what it is - discussion.
The people that will determine your admission status - theyâre not us and theyâll want to get to know you and hopefully theyâll love you and will want you at their school.
But if not, Rutgers is LOADED with smart kids - and youâll fit right in too. Rutgers is definitely NOT settling!! There will be kids there who turned down every school youâre dreaming of.
2 Likes
Thank you so much, gonna email all 53 schools and QB tmmrw.
I think you just need to contact QB to find out if the home equity does or does not disqualify you from the QB program. I donât think you need to contact the individual colleges at this point.
And you can figure out the collegesâ individual use of home equity or not for the non-QB process by seeing if their NPC asks about home equity or not.
Thatâs my take on this.
4 Likes
I agree I wouldnât contact the colleges, I would just encourage OP to run the NPCs.
As for QBâŠI wonder if they will/can even answer the question. Fundamentally, they want OPâs app, and if OP has relatively little chance to make finalist because they have more than âminimalâ assets, I doubt anyone from QB would say. OP is likely to hear something like âthere are no hard cut-offsâ and âdecisions are holistic.â With that said, of course OP can contact QB and ask. Especially if they feel comfortable doing so.
Personally, I do think OPâs explanation of the financial situation they and their mom have faced is going to be key to the application (that question is part of the QB app.) QB may very likely want to know how mom saved $325K to buy a house, for example. I would encourage OP to work with their HS counselor on the QB app. It definitely needs a set of non-parent adult eyes to fully review it.
QuestBridge programs are for high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds. Most of the students who are selected as Finalists come from households earning less than $65,000 per year for a household of four with minimal assets (assets include savings, investments, and homes, properties, or businesses owned). However, there are no absolute cut-offs.
If a student comes from a household earning more than this amount but feels that they have faced economic hardship and fit the QuestBridge criteria of high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds, we would encourage that student to apply. There is room on the application to explain the householdâs situation. QuestBridge will thoroughly review the financial information in each studentâs application. Students who are selected as Finalists will need to submit official documentation verifying their financial situation directly to the colleges to which they apply.
2 Likes
I agree. And as a first filter, OP can simply google âdoes (school name) consider home equity for calculating financial aidâ. No need to run every NPC at this point.
Are you sure this is correct? I just ran the Lafayette NPC, and it showed a net price of $6500. Similarly, your calculation for Oberlin seemed off to me based on families that I know with kids there who have a higher income and home equity.