National College Match - 2009-2010

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
3241

<p>I really hate to be one of THOSE people who reposts their questions until they get an answer, but I’m really concerned. If I can’t get this scholarship (or any other massive one) there is no possible way I can attend Northwestern (my top school). My parents are divorced, and my mom makes under $45000, but my dad (noncustodial parent) makes $100000+. When Northwestern and Princeton (the only two schools I ranked) see that on my CSS Profile, will I be immediately out of the running for a full ride match because of my dad’s huge income? If it helps, my mom and I don’t get the amount of child support that we should be getting according to his income (as required by the state of TX, where I live). Here are my stats, if that helps.</p>

<p>GPA: 3.9 unweighted, 4.3 weighted
Rank: 22 out of 441
SAT: 2110
PSAT: 221- National Merit Scholar Semifinalist
ACT: 33
APs: World History-4 APUSH-5 APLang-5 (currently in AP Euro, AP Calc AB, APLit, and AP US GoV)
EC’s: -4 years in audition only theatre productions class, President of this class
-3 years National Honor Society
-3 years Mu Alpha Theta
-founded school’s online newspaper
-Senior Editor-in-Chief of newspaper
-President of International Thespian Society (theatre club) and founding member
-3 years church volunteer in the children’s ministry
-2 years Vacation Bible School volunteer
-3 years volunteering at my school’s drama camp for young children
-4 years volunteering at my local community theatre
-volunteered with Back to School community fair
-4 years performing charity shows for the Boys and Girls Club</p>

<p>Awards:
-National Merit Semifinalist
-National Hispanic Recognition Scholar
-AP Scholar
-6 year Lantern of Knowledge recipient (an award given for GPA=4.0+ weighted)
-International Honor Thespian (given for 180+ hours theatre work)</p>

<p>I’m also a first generation college student and I’m Hispanic.</p>

3242

<p>You should check for the individual schools. Some schools will only accept Oct as the latest testing date</p>

3243

<p>aside from being able to apply to the college match, what is so significant about being a QuestBridge Finalist? Is it a decent award/recognition or is its sole purpose allowing you to apply for match scholarships with QB partner colleges?</p>

3244

<p>Stats</p>

<p>SAT I: 2200 730-CR 800-M 670-W
SAT II: 700 Physics, 740 US History and 770 Math level 2
GPA: 3.92/4.0; 4.58 weighted, 1/479
EC: President of National Honor Society, Calc captain for mu alpha theta/math honor society, treasurer for senior class and vp freshman and sophomore year, jv cross country and track for 3 years.
Honors: 2nd place in technical writing competition for two straight years, school’s award for community service, national ap scholar.
Recs: I think they’re pretty good.
500 word Essays: 1 was great, other not so much…
Autobiography: alright, hopefully not too much of a sob story.
Income: 40k
Hooks?: my international competitions? i’m not sure.</p>

<p>I ranked: MIT, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford.</p>

3245

<p>Yeah i think rank matters A LOT for schools looking at QB kids, so that puts be at a serious disadvantage here…I don’t think i’m even in the top 25% which suckss. I my school is insane, but our class is out of this world competitive… such a bummer.</p>

3246

<p>@thewrittenword
Princeton will send you a paper form in the mail, so I don;t know what they ask or if it like the non-custodial CSS for NorthWestern. I did the regular CSS and just put that my dad only gives child support, they didn’t ask for his income or anything, but the non-custodial CSS for Yale did. If you do have to tell them I would suggest writing them a letter fully explaining the situation. They should put it into your file and ready it with your financial aid documents. And who knows, maybe Princeton has a place to include special circumstances like that on their financial aid forms?
Point blank, relax. You’re qualified for those schools and if you try to explain the situation they will listen.</p>

3247

<p>I’m international and I ranked schools that don’t offer the match to internationals. Should I even submit the college-specific requirements to those schools? Should I just wait for regular decision to come by and send stuff then?</p>

3248

<p>Guys we send SAT score reports electronically right?</p>

3249

<p>@cinhype29 Thanks! I actually have a friend at Princeton who says that they take both parents into consideration, and when her dad refused to pay his EFC, she was forced to take out loans (I guess she slipped under the no-loan policy @p-ton).</p>

3250

<p>^Um yea, you order and send on collegeboard. I’m doing it on the 29th when I receive my SAT II scores for October. For which schools are you guys using Score Choice for SAT Subject Tests? Cus I hear most schools just want 2-3 SAT II’s, while some want ALL SAT scores, both SAT I and SAT II. Yale for sure wants all tests for both I and II. Any other colleges like that?</p>

<p>And my income is low (below 60K requirement) but we have a LOT of assets…would this hurt my chances for Match? Is it true you need an EFC of 0? Is there a GOOD online EFC calculator someone can link me to? Thanks!</p>

3251

<p>god. i just realized that i could’ve put babysitting in additional info. and added in another EC instead.</p>

<p>i’m so stupid. gh.</p>

3252

<p>For Yale, the FAQ for QB students, it says send official scores, BUT it also says that score reports from your guidance counselor are okay too? does that mean transcrpts?</p>

3253

<p>@natim1: when you take the test, a copy of the official scores is sent to your school so maybe this is what is meant by the score reports from your guidance counselor?</p>

3254

<p>i have come to the conclusion that my QB app to MIT and Yale will be craptastic (so much wasted space, and exclusion of important activities)</p>

<p>to make up for it, i am going to make my Prnceton CommonApp sooo bleeping awesome.</p>

<p>Princeton 2014!!! (hopefully…o_o…)</p>

3255

<p>i know i’m late to this party (been lurking), but also a finalist!</p>

<p>@andromeda89: why not email QB and/or the schools on your list to find out if theres any way to drop them from your list? if you don’t think you’ll be eligible for the Match round becausee of your cit status but you still want to apply there for regular decision it might look bad to just not send your materials in. just a thought… if you do email would you post the reply here?</p>

3256

<p>when i took the act in september, i used my 4 fee waivers for QB schools. do i have to send those scores to those 4 schools again?</p>

3257

<p>should i send my SAT 2 scores right now or wait to be updated on the 29th and then send it in?</p>

3258

<p>@mia12: once you send your scores, the schools have them so there’s no reason to send them again. There is no way to indicate on the scores that you are a QB finalist and so no special way or time to send the scores.</p>

3259

<p>I just realized that notification date has passed and read many pages here and it reminded me of our city’s high school choice system. We used to have thingy called Ed. Opt for some of most popular schools, which made to mix kids’ ability and background intentionally. What happen is if half of kids are chosen by academic merit, other half are by pure luck or some other agendas i.e. disability, geography, gender. As a result, some school succeeded achieving diversity they craved and some others suffered tanked stats: test scores and graduation rate and quit doing Ed. Opt. Soon enough.</p>

<p>Is it possible QB wanted some sort of Ed. Opt-sh here? They get more than enough high caliber applicants that could get in to their top choice schools with substantial aid money without their help. In other hand, there are kids really no way re-taking tests to improve score or no AP classes offered at their school, as a result, with much lower stats overall but add some diversity that QB is supposedly after. Maybe QB ’d sprinkle later kids = partner colleges won’t take during match possess - along with mostly high achieving high score but so-so poor kids (like, EFC zero but single mom still willing to take any job to feed kids) colleges actually want = would be matched - to make finalist profile diverse enough on the paper?</p>

<p>I just want to say that not picked as a finalist is no way determining how everything pan out in the end, same could be said about who become finalist as sprinkles. By following this threads couple years now, I smell something not so clear-cut. </p>

<p>In the end, colleges wants kids who can contribute and able to do the work to graduate safe and sound while acting as its poster kids of racial or socioeconomic diversity. Many hardships overcame, great, but it should not be the degree of trouble that would shadow kids away from home. </p>

<p>Just a thought.</p>

3260

<p>@Token Value - et al
(caveat: IMHO only)</p>

<p>Brief summation of how to determine House Value:</p>

<p>Look at the 2008 and the 2009 ‘Proposed’ Property tax bill. It shows Market Value and Assessed Value of your property for Tax purposes only - - It usually shows a low value and it is recommended that you add at least 10%.</p>

<p>Yes, you could use that number.</p>

<p>BUT - Colleges use different formulas for valuation and this impacts your individual FA package.</p>

<p>Look at the House Price Calculator - [Federal</a> Housing Finance Agency - HPI Calculator](<a href=“http://www.fhfa.gov/Default.aspx?Page=86]Federal”>http://www.fhfa.gov/Default.aspx?Page=86)
The House Price Calculator uses the FHFA Purchase-Only House Price Index for all states. </p>

<p>Look at the ‘Student Guide to Financial Aid’ calculator -
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Federal Housing Index Calculator](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/calculators/scripts/housing.cgi]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/scripts/housing.cgi)</p>

<p>Look at other valuation sites you find on Google - ‘Home Values’
ie. Zillow.com - Find your house (Realtor) value and comparables in your neighborhood</p>

<p>Some of the sites you may find use charts only to 2006 - The ‘rule of thumb’ for 1997 purchase is 1.5 X Purchase price </p>

<p>Bottom line Value should take into consideration general condition, less any mortage and/or liens etc. </p>

<p>Look at a number of different calculator sites to determine your estimated but accurate final number.</p>

<p>Hope this helps. </p>

<p>I’m Blown away & awed by posted Stats- Everyone is AMAZING, Amazing! I’m confident that I have a strong application but I have given up trying to figure out where I am in the whole QB picture - hopefully the colleges will figure it out to my advantage. </p>

<p>@tomjonesistheman - Sadly I do think it is true that you need 0 EFC to be matched. You can find lots of calculators (see above) - but admission is so holistic, we’d need a ‘cystal ball’ to see how things will eventually work out.</p>

<p>GOOD LUCK to all - Take one step at a time, One day at a time, Try to stay sane through the seemingly never ending details.</p>