National College Match - 2009-2010

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
4261

<p>wait…internationals can’t get matched to brown…it says on their website that the only schools are princeton, pomona, and yale. Brown was on that list for a second (maybe a day or two) before it was removed, am I wrong?</p>

<p>i dont want to offend anyone but if we’re all finalists, then clearly we all face socioeconomic barriers. if you can’t get this scholarship how will you afford college? I’m just curious because that’s actually my biggest dilemma and i’d really appreciate some advice. thanks</p>

4262

<p>just to clarify–i’m speaking to the international students, since we’re ineligible for financial aid at most schools.</p>

4263

<p>Okay, so this has just crossed my mind.</p>

<p>If I turned in my Princeton and Stanford application BEFORE I had a chance to update the SAT scores (since the latest did come out on Oct 29th), they will still see the scores if you sent it in through collegeboard right?</p>

4264

<p>@crystal91 - Thanks - that’s what I hoped you meant - Stanford will have the names on a QB Finalist LIST of those who ranked Stanford and should look for (and hopefully FIND) everything that was sent and necessary to complete the app!!
Answer to your question? Post #4264 - I believe OCT. SAT 2 (subject) scores will be sent (not ‘rush’) to colleges requested and seen on time for the Match round! The ‘regular’ SAT scores had to be completed in June to be considered for the Match round.</p>

4265

<p>Just had my Yale interview…my interviewer was a TALKER and even interrupted me a few time to talk about his own experience there…he seemed to like me though…</p>

<p>At least interviews don’t count THAT much…</p>

4266

<p>Colleges will accept both Subject tests and SAT 1 test scores from the October testing date for the match decision. Later test scores will be accepted for regular decision</p>

4267

<p>Is anybody emailing their Princeton financial aid forms?</p>

4268

<p>@nameofthegame - Thanks for catching my ‘error’…(lack of sleep getting to me here! :eek: </p>

<p>Anyway - of course you’re correct - what was ‘stuck’ in my head was that the SAT 1 test scores had to be into QB for the FINALIST round (Sept. 30) so Oct. scores couldn’t/wouldn’t be seen, but of course scores taken & submitted before the MATCH round deadline would be seen by the individual colleges ranked. </p>

<p>Not going there YET (sights set on MATCH) :slight_smile: - but just in case, :frowning: further scores can be submitted to any/all individual colleges for reg. decision, according to their application (deadline)requirements.</p>

4269

<p>@twizzlerlover about paying for college…please forward your apps to regular decision! A majority of the schools on the QB list already give out amazing financial aid. UPENN gives close to the amount of money you would’ve gotten from the scholarship bc of your financial status! I don’t think you should not apply to colleges if you aren’t matched. Apply to the colleges you’re interested in, wait for the decision, and usually either with the letter or around two weeks later they’ll let you know how much aid they are offering you. </p>

<p>The worst case scenario here is that federal and state grants combined with the financial aid the school offers won’t be enough to cover the whole cost, and you’ll have to get some loans. I really think you’ll be okay though. I hope for the best! Please don’t lose hope!</p>

4270

<p>@people applying to Columbia through QuestBridge:
Can you guys track your application? It says on the website that ED applicants should be able to track their application today, and RD applicants can begin tracking after February 15th. When QB finalists do their Columbia College match, they’re required to indicate early decision on the columbia application.
So does it mean that we can only track our application materials after February 15th???
If so, is there any way to track the application now?</p>

<p>@people having their SAT scores sent last Friday:
If MIT processed your scores yesterday, what is the first letter of your last name?</p>

4271

<p>@sincere - twizzlerlove is international. There is almost no financial aid for international students. Twizzlerlove, what about colleges in your own country?</p>

4272

<p>twizzlerlover, welcome! Just in case you haven’t seen it, I wanted to give you a link to the international students section of this website. [International</a> Students - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/]International”>International Students - College Confidential Forums) It would be worth browsing the posts there to learn about more schools which provide FA to international students.</p>

<p>applicannot, congrats on your full tuition scholarship to Pitt!</p>

<p>Everyone, how is the search for a financial safety school coming along?</p>

4273

<p>Hahaha, what is a financial safety? My best bet right now is Pitt… community college –> transfer is way more expensive. It ends up being about $50,000, $30,000 of which is debt. So my “financial safety” is Pitt, where I would anticipate to graduate about $25,000 in debt. Not bad though.</p>

4274

<p>applicannot, I’m under the impression you’re a member of a minority group. Any of you QB students who are eligible should apply for the Gates scholarship. Here are the eligibility requirements:</p>

<p>"Students are eligible to be considered for a GMS scholarship if they:</p>

<p>• Are African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander American, or Hispanic American;
• Are a citizen/legal permanent resident or nationals of the United States;
• Have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.3 on a 4.0 scale (un-weighted);
• Will be enrolling for the first-time at a U.S. accredited* college or university as a full-time, degree-seeking, first-year student in the fall of 2010; or GED
• Have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular or other activities;
• Meet the Federal Pell Grant* eligibility criteria; and
• Have all three forms (Nominee Personal Information Form completed by the student, Nominator Form completed by an educator familiar with the student’s academic record and a Recommender Form completed by a person familiar with the student’s leadership and community service) submitted by the deadline.</p>

<p>In order to be
eligible to be considered for the GMS scholarship, all three forms must be submitted by the deadline. "</p>

<p>The deadline for submissions is January 11, 2010. </p>

<p>See [::</a>. The Gates Millennium Scholars .::](<a href=“http://www.gmsp.org/]::”>http://www.gmsp.org/)</p>

4275

<p>^^^^^
Thank you 2blue for reminding everybody of Gates. I think I have previously posted this, but it needs to be restated. Start it now! You will have to get 2 teachers to fill out forms, and with the Holiday’s coming up, there really isn’t alot of time. Apply for Gates even if you are QB match, there are still benefits.</p>

4276

<p>@Code H: You’re interested in Kenyon? Why in particular, if you wouldn’t mind saying.</p>

4277

<p>For whoever asked (sorry, I was just scanning through the past posts),</p>

<p>I emailed my financial forms to Princeton. I think that’s a lot safer than faxing.</p>

4278

<p>Anyone looked into University of Alabama for last ditch financial safety? They seem to be willing to ‘give away the farm’ for extra-qualified students (read as: with excellent stats.)
Surf through the CC threads on this subject for suggestions of schools that will give good/great Merit Aid, combined with financial need, you might get close to ‘full ride’ if you are the kind of student they are looking for. (I’ve read that Tulane is increasing their aid and ‘■■■■■■■■’ for good students).</p>

4279

<p>This is a little off topic, and it might be off putting to many of those anxiously waiting for December to come, but I’ve been reading up on Questbridge a bit and have a few concerns.</p>

<p>I’m not even remotely close to applying yet; indeed, I’m a year and a half away. However, I have looked into the program for my brother and have found it to be a way to put an emphasis on certain hooks to colleges (as Financial Aid is hardly an issue with the deep pockets of some of the QB affiliates). </p>

<p>I’ve been relatively well off most of my life. I’m white, and my mother returned to college at around 32 to get her bachelor’s degree. Even more, both of my parents are still together, physically and legally (however, my father’s unemployed, but I doubt that matters). Moreover, our family income is not exactly mirroring poverty; it’s in the 35000 range. Even having a relatively low income and participating in a reduced lunch program, an outsider looking in would have little perception of my family as “not well off.” We live in a middle-class neighborhood, which sends students to a decent high school with a plethora of families earning above or below the middle 50% of wages. Even more, my family has received a lot of help from relatives, allowing us to own a (albeit subject to foreclosure soon) mortgage on a small house with a backyard.</p>

<p>With all these criteria, I do not stand out in Questbridge. I am not the applicant who the program seeks to put out there, yet I qualify and would have a chance (although I do not think of it as a high one, given the aforementioned benefits that I enjoy) to become a finalist. That being said, would it even be worth it for an applicant like me?</p>

<p>Becoming a finalist – to my knowledge – prohibits one from applying Early Decision or Early Action (However, I don’t know the circumstances if one lists only non-binding colleges or doesn’t participate in the match at all, as the FAQ didn’t specify) and few colleges would select a relatively well off finalist as opposed to one who is a URM, a first generation, and/or in poverty. </p>

<p>Sure, there’s always the perk of boasting it in awards during regular decision, but the supplement essays of how a, relatively, privileged student has overcome nonexistent challenges would hardly catch an Adcom’s interest. So, really, is there a great benefit in applying if one is not the epitome of underprivileged?</p>

<p>And again, I’m not trying to be a pessimist seeking to harm prospective QB finalists’ hopes. I just fail to see how the program can be an advantage to some when EA or ED may, perhaps, be a much better route to follow.</p>

4280

<p>^If you’re wondering whether the Questbridge program is interested in people with your background, apply to the Questbridge college prep scholarship in your junior year and see if you get invited to their conferences and so on. Of course, you don’t have to win the college prep scholarship to be a national match finalist, but getting the scholarship may indicate that QB may be a good match for you.</p>

<p>The downside to applying through QB is that if your family is not low-income enough for a college to give you full ride, they will very likely defer you to the regular round even though you might have been accepted EA or ED at the school without questbridge.</p>