Official 2008 Questbridge National College Match Discussion and Help

<p>If we are Questbridge finalists and decide to forward our QB app to some of the partner schools we did not rank for the match round, do we have to send another batch of teacher recs? It differs for each school, right?</p>

<p>Tsprite : Thank you for your post !</p>

<p>nickel&dime
yea it depends on the school
refer to the Regular Decision Requirements table <a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/students/post_match.html”>http://www.questbridge.org/students/post_match.html&lt;/a&gt;
sigh good luck :)</p>

<p>to the hopeful matchers:
18 MORE DAYS !!! :):):):)</p>

<p>ilovetechno
wow ~20 essays?
thats a lot… you’re doing it on commonapp and its still that much?
how many schools are u applying to? the supplements shouldnt really add up to that many essays… plus u can recycle a few</p>

<p>Found out some disappointing news…but glad to find it out now. Many/if not most/of the QB colleges will not match us if our parent’s EPC (estimated parental contribution) is not $0. In other words, if our parents can pay some, we’ll most likely not be matched. We’ll be put into the pool for RD and a generous package will be offered, but not the 4 year package. While this makes sense, and I understand the whole process and the good it does, I wouldn’t have applied through questbridge and my whole application process would have been much different. My parents aren’t part of social security , and they have been saving and saving. From what I understand, this savings will have to be used for my college. Had I known about this, I would have made sure to explain on the additional information, yet still I think the colleges would say that my parents savings had to be used. I thought I’d give you guys a heads up on this so we’ll not be so disappointed. I wish QuestBridge had included this information in the profile stuff. Some kids can have incomes of $80,000 and still have EPC of $.00. OR like me, have income of $45k, but have parental contribution $3,000.</p>

<p>^ who told u that ? my parents contribution is $1500… which is very low!and we have only $31000 gross income! last year questbridge was different… maybe because too many people apply…</p>

<p>QBbound, can you cite your source for this? It was a rumor last year but never heard anything definitive.</p>

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<p>This is consistent with what I have heard from ONE former admission officer at ONE QuestBridge college, confirmed by another former admission officer at another QuestBridge college, but may or may not be universally true. Both of those admission officers followed up by saying that it is still very advantageous in admission chances to apply through the QuestBridge process, and any QuestBridge finalist should be glad to get that recognition.</p>

<p>Well has anyone tried to contact individual schools about their match policies with regards to EFC? I’m most likely going to do that now. Ehh, if the rumor is true I would have more heavily considered applying EA to several places as opposed of doing QB. I believe that any “bonus” we receive in he admissions process from being QB finalists is more likely due to the factors that led to our finalist status (our background, academic success, etc.) much more so than being a finalist in and of itself. The main benefit of QB, in my opinion, is simply that the application allows us to write a bit more than we could otherwise.</p>

<p>[National</a> College Match Program: 2007 College Match Recipient Profile](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/students/profiles_class2012/stats.html]National”>http://www.questbridge.org/students/profiles_class2012/stats.html)
Check out the household income chart. I believe it says otherwise.</p>

<p>I remembered the chart before I posted, but I thought it was possible that people could have ~$0 EFCs with higher incomes as long as they had extenuating circumstances (perhaps multiple children in college?). But I’m no expert on EFC or anything. In any case, I suppose we’ll find out in a 17 or so days!</p>

<p>RE: EPC “rumors”. My source is from another QB finalist who had corresponded with an admissions counselor that they’d been talking with for some time. The admissions counselor did mention that most LA colleges used the $.0 EPC rule, but that a few that have deep pockets were more “forgiving.” Anyhow, I’m not counting on getting matched because in every EPC calculator I’ve found online, it says my parents can contribute anywhere from $3,000-$9,000. If my parents however could have unloaded their savings, then I think I could/would have been matched. (I suggested they give it away when I found out about this, but they seem to think that wouldn’t be the right thing to do ethically) I agree that the “QB finalist” status does help in applying , but I still would have done things much differently. As per :), the income chart I thought to mean like my parents salary. The way the EPC is figured includes assets too, and as I said before, my parents assets are substantial since they’re required to have an alternative plan since they don’t pay into Social Security. The profile on the QB site says nothing about assets.</p>

<p>Was EPC reported to questbridge from us? Or do they calculate it themselves?</p>

<p>Does anyone know which specific schools use the 0 EFC thing? Penn seemed to be implying that on their QB site, but idk of any others.</p>

<p>Hey guys. I happen to be QBbound’s source, and this is unfortunately true. Here is part of the email I received from an admissions officer at Williams:</p>

<p>"Brittany, </p>

<p>I’m sorry to say that your estimated family contribution is NOT zero, but around $800 to $1000/ year. </p>

<p>Unfortunately that keeps you off our match list. We truly regret this."</p>

<p>At Williams, that is the policy. She mentioned that other colleges, such as Amherst, tend to be more forgiving if your EFC is less than $1000, but beyond that, you cannot be matched. This is specifically pertaining to the LACs, not Yale, Princeton, etc. Some of them may have policies as well, but I have no information about them.</p>

<p>@Watson&Crick: EFC is calculated by the colleges themselves.</p>

<p>Okay, does anyone know of good EFC calculators then?</p>

<p>EDIT: Collegeboard has one.</p>

<p>Also, keep in mind even if your EFC is 0 colleges may have a student income contribution which is like $1000 or $2000 or something. So don’t get too freaked out if you see your TOTAL family contribution (you + parents) is not 0 since in most cases it wont be</p>

<p>I really think that theyre being way too strict with the 0 efc thing. I mean there are people that really will struggle to afford college without major aid but their efc is like 2000 or something.</p>

<p>why didnt anyone tell us about this before?!</p>

<p>why don’t the colleges explicitly state that if the EPC isn’t 0, there isn’t a chance at being matched?</p>

<p>@secshisuhee and others - Please realize this is all hearsay and hasn’t been confirmed formally by any of the partner colleges. Don’t get too discouraged by what people say on an online forum. Do your best and everything will turn out well, trust me. Colleges understand that EFC is not the sole determinant of a family’s ability to pay - there are so many non-quantitative factors involved that will be reflected in your essays and additional info. Good luck guys and keep up the faith!</p>

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<p>It might be because not all colleges have the same policy, and it might also be because even colleges that usually do things that way have limited circumstances that are exceptions to that policy. If you’ve already been named a finalist, you’re in great shape for both admission and for financial aid at some great colleges. The National College Match is a great subset of the QuestBridge program, but you can gain admission to a great college and afford to attend it even if you don’t get a match. </p>

<p>By the way, how are all of you guessing your family’s Estimated Family Contribution (EFC)?</p>