<p>I’ve heard some things about questbridge, but does going through questbridge initially increase your chances at a selective university?</p>
<p>I’m not sure if there’s any hard data to back that up. QuestBridge doesn’t necessarily increase your chances at a selective institution. What it does is provide a more thorough, form-fitting application for low-income students and the challenges they overcome. This is key. If you are a low-income student and you want to highlight what you have done that is extraordinary, the QuestBridge program is for you. It then, in a way, advocates for students in the admissions process by attempting to match students with their selected schools.</p>
<p>In the QuestBridge program, we don’t have perfect numbers, but we do know this. The rate of selection of finalists (the first step) is 40% to 50%. Then, the Match rate is a meager 10% or so. However, in the regular decision process, the acceptance rate for QuestBridge finalists is over 60% - and that’s only considering QuestBridge partner schools. </p>
<p>QuestBridge students are guaranteed a full, four-year ride. At schools such as Stanford and Yale, this is otherwise guaranteed because of the income stratifications of their financial aid. At other QuestBridge partner schools like Trinity or Parsons, that kind of financial aid package is only available for QuestBridge Matches. The most selective Match programs are Stanford, Yale, Princeton, and a few others, whereas other schools take a higher percentage of their finalists in the Match round. The QuestBridge Match round is important because it gives students a second chance (an implied benefit, then, is knowing by December 1st - and also having most of your applications completed by November 2nd!). For any of these schools, you apply once and you’re done. With QuestBridge, your application is reviewed twice.</p>
<p>I am a QuestBridge Match for Stanford. I was skeptic. I did not want to use QuestBridge because I did not feel that being a low-income student had put many challenges on my path, as otherwise I lead a good life. I did not realize how differently I’ve lived than my middle or upper income counter parts. I thought that my application would stand out more in the EA round. I took some time to speak to a QuestBridge team member, as well as a former Stanford employee. Although I wasn’t convinced until the last minute, she and her boss firmly believe that a finalist’s chances of being accepted to Stanford are increased by as much as 25%. Considering an overall acceptance rate of less than 8%, that’s pretty significant.</p>