<p>@happydreamer
If you are not confident about your QB essays, I would probably apply through the common app so that you may rewrite them. Not only can you still get an application fee waiver, but most QB partner colleges (and thousands of other colleges for that matter) will offer students a need based financial aid package equivalent to a QB match finalist package if their family income is below $60,000 annually. The common application will also allow you to apply to many other colleges that QB is not partnered with.</p>
<p>I was not a finalist back in October and realized that I needed to improve my QB essays. I wrote whole new ones and applied early to MIT, Tulane, and Colorado School of Mines (which actually did not need an essay). I have used the common application to apply to six other schools and used my improved common app essays for the UC application. I don’t know if it had anything to do with my new essays, but, even though I was not a finalist with QB, I was offered a $27,000 merit based scholarship to Tulane.</p>