To questbridge or not (question re eligibility, etc.)

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
1

Just wondering whether there is a good match between questbridge (both cps and national match) and my 10th grade son in terms of our family’s eligibility and the benefits and suitability for my son.

Family background:
Both parents with masters’ degrees.
Once solidly middle income but due to the passing of a parent, now solidly low income (def. qualify for questbridge income limit)
However, family assets over 1 million after counting the house that has been paid off.

School & academic backgrounds:
Attends a competitive private school that sends multiple students to Ivies, MITs, etc. each year.
Top academic profile (eg. math competition kid)

In light of the above, I am wondering:

  1. if our family may qualify in terms of our financial standing (we would qualify on income portion but not sure in terms of our assets)

  2. if my son is a suitable questbridge candidate since there is not a significant lack of college guidance and resources at his current school. However, if he were to qualify, I can imagine that his cps/questbridge finalist standing may serve him well and set him apart.

Thank you very much in advance. Would welcome any suggestions or tips.

2

I can’t imagine you’d qualify for Questbridge and also colleges that count home equity.

My daughter got into W&L - and in my income range, they showed 88% of people got an average grant of $38,000.

My daughter got $0.

I asked why - and they said - because you have above average assets.

I asked what are average assets - they said 2x income which was far less than $1 million.

Cornell, flat out told me, if you have a million in assets, you’ll get nothing from any school.

But - different schools count different assets and some exclude home equity.

Given your home equity, you won’t qualify for Questbridge. You can see which schools include and don’t. Someone had a table but I can’t find it.

Perhaps choose schools with auto merit to keep costs down.

Good luck

This is from QB:

Assets All assets held by the family are taken into consideration, including:

  • Home ownership
  • Business or farm ownership
  • Cash and savings
  • Investments
  • Additional properties

Will Home Equity Hurt Chances for Financial Aid? (wealthmanagement.com)

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Just did the financial aid calculator at Princeton… and our family’s estimated contribution came out to be zero… it does not count the value of the primary residence as well as IRA account.

If this is the case, may we qualify for questbridge? Or more importantly, is my son a good match for questbridge? While I see many benefits of questbridge, I also do not want my son to take the spot from someone more deserving, esp. in terms of lacking college guidance and counseling.

I plan on emailing questbridge again. I had received a response to the effect: “Please apply. It will be decided case by case with specific info.”

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Please feel free to DM me. Thx!

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QuestBridge QuestBridge | National College Match: Who Should Apply says “Finalists typically come from households earning less than $65,000 annually for a household of four and have minimal assets.” We have low enough income, but we have assets, so concluded that QuestBridge is not meant for us, and we should go through regular channels.

You should look at Net Price Calculators at a bunch of colleges, and also try to learn how financial aid is determined with FAFSA and CSS. The wealthy famous colleges will be the cheapest (even free like Princeton) but extremely hard to get in.

Usually EFC includes 5% of countable assets.

With assets, retirement accounts are not counted. But taxable investments including 529s are counted. With home equity, depending on the particular college (and you need to find out for each one, they may count all of home equity, or some of it, or none of it.

The colleges that count 100% of home equity will likely be too expensive, so cut them from your list.

The colleges that count 0% of home equity (e.g. Princeton) will likely be affordable, so keep them on your list.

The colleges that count some of home equity usually cap it at a certain multiple of income, e.g. 2 times income, so that adds to the cost, but these ones could still affordable, so probably keep them on your list.

E.g. if you had $50k income and a $500k house, then with 2X multiplier,
2times$50k=$100k would be included in assets, contributing 5%of$100k=$5k extra to EFC, compared to a college that doesn’t count home equity at all, but it’s much better than counting 100% of home equity which would add the full $500k, and add 5%of$500k=$25k extra to EFC, which probably makes it unaffordable (and also your college cost for 4 years is fully exposed to house price fluctuation in the case that 100% of home equity, but not in other cases).

Okay, you didn’t ask for all that, but hopefully it’s helpful. Anyway, when we saw “have minimal assets” we thought QuestBridge is not meant for us.

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6

I don’t think your current school will exclude you based on the schools some qualifiers I have met have come from. Your assets, however, may.

7

Questbridge is not meant for a family with significant assets.

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8

I am sorry for yout loss. My twins were in a similiar situation last application cycle - I didn’t feel comfortable with them applying to Questbridge at the time. I think it’s a nuanced and very personal decision. They did focus on full need schools and in-state options.

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No. See my previous note. Questbridge takes home equity into account.

However you may get a full ride from Princeton outside of QB - that’s how I read it.

But QB clearly says home equity applies.

You can apply to QB. Anyone can.

I’m simply saying based on what they wrote on the website, you won’t qualify.

If you want to apply - go ahead.

But when you build your list, in addition to the prestigious, you can add schools with automerit to get to where you need (depending on the #). Lots of ‘prestige’ able kids do this exact thing.

Most privates, not all schools, will want you to tap equity. As they say education is an investment.

But you never have to worry about applying. You won’t be taking a spot from another. If you’re not eligible, they’ll simply reject you.

Best of luck

10

I am of three minds about this:

  1. Obviously, do not lie or try to game the system. I think it would be unethical and potentially take funds away from families that need it much more than you do. If you are able to pay for your child’s education through money that has been saved for that purpose or because you have assets hidden some place then I think it is problematic to apply for Questbridge.
  2. That said, in general, I am of the belief that you should allow the agency or organization to decide if you are eligible. Trust them to do their jobs. You don’t have to do it for them. Princeton has a blanket policy of providing for families making under a certain income therefore you are not gaming the system unless you are hiding assets from Princeton. Similarly, QB is perfectly capable of saying no if your son applies. You don’t have to say no for them.
  3. Lastly, maybe try talking to the college advising office at his current school? D22’s boarding school told her not to apply to QB at all though our income is fairly low (at least compared to most posters here), we don’t own a house, and our assets are negligible --really close to zero. The college advisor said outright that Questbridge’s resources are meant to help families who don’t have resources at their schools, and D22 who has been a full financial aid kid at various private schools since kindergarten is not the type of kid that QB was designed to help even if our income and assets are within their ordinary threshold. They strongly advised her not to apply since the college office at her school was able to provide great guidance and help. Neither D22 or D24 applied to Questbridge based on the advice of D22’s school. It felt a bit wrong to me to try to get the “honor” if the kids didn’t need the resource.

I know that my three responses do contradict each other but maybe they are useful for you to ponder.

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11

Greatly appreciate your response!

Indeed, my hesitations towards QB mostly centered around your point #3. Since the quality of his peers are exceptionally strong at his school (e.g. 7 acceptances to MIT EA this year at a small school), I have been pondering whether QB might be of help to my son if we do qualify with full, honest disclosure. But, I do believe and hope that he can do well without QB.

I will ask the college counselor(s) at my kid’s school re the suitability of QB for their students.

Thx. again!

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This is a far point, but the QB college match app takes quite a bit of time and effort. In reality, it’s the colleges that will be giving out the aid packages, not QB.

Sure, but they can’t provide your D an ED/EA app at 15 schools like QB College Match does. For the record I disagree with this college advisor’s advice. This is how QB characterizes the College Match:

The National College Match Are you a low-income high school senior who has excelled academically, but feels that the nation’s best colleges are financially out of reach? The QuestBridge National College Match can be your pathway to a top college. Through this college and scholarship application process, you can apply for free to the nation’s best colleges and be considered for early admission and a full four-year scholarship. Watch our video to learn more:
Why apply through QuestBridge? The National College Match application gives you extra space to tell your unique story as a student who has excelled academically despite financial hardship. Our college partners are actively seeking students like you.

I would encourage you to let your D apply through QB and let QB and the colleges decide.

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Yeah and my kids’ choice not to apply does contradict the earlier point that I made. Let QB (or any organization) say no to you.Tthere is no need to take yourself out of the running ahead of time. QB knows what it is doing.

On the other hand, my children aren’t first generation, they have not suffered financial hardship (for my kids, I don’t believe coming to terms with living on a normal budget when surrounded by wealthy friends = financial hardship), and the boarding schools were perfectly capable of helping them find a good place to land. Why should they get fifteen potential ED matches when the rest of the students at the school just get one shot at ED?

But maybe more to the point, the BS advisor said flat out that D22 would likely be turned down by QB and it didn’t seem like a good use of time to push her to apply when there were other outside scholarship essays to write and organizations to apply to --I was not suggesting that my D22 needed to be completely selfless. But if QB is really meant mostly for FGLI with students whose parents may be new or less savvy about the college process than I am AND the college office at her school is providing robust help AND the BS is saying that QB rarely (approaching never) accepts low income kids from their school, it just didn’t seem like a good fit compared to some other ways of getting financial help.

Anyway, I am not arguing against a QB application for the OP’s son. I am just saying these are things to consider in making the decision. In my mind, it also may matter a bit if “once solidly middle-class” means a middle-class family or it means an affluent family. People use the phrase middle-class to mean a wide range of incomes. If the family could pay the full private school tuition until recently, maybe financial hardship has not shaped this child’s journey. I don’t think financial hardship has shaped my kids’ lives though I have never been able to pay their tuition without aid. But tragedy is tragedy, and I certainly don’t want to discount how that has affected the whole family. The loss of a parent is unfathomable.

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14

That all makes sense. Thanks for sharing your insights.

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15

Would appreciate your thoughts re the below:

If a student (assuming low income and QB eligible) is of caliber and character that meets the admission standards at a college of his choice, is there any meaningful difference between applying via QB vs. applying via ED or EA aside from the fact that QB allows a student to apply early to 12 schools (max?) at once?

What if a student does not want to rank a lot of schools via QB and instead wants to apply early to two or three schools? In such a case, is there any material QB benefits/difference vs. just regular EA or EB assuming the low income status or challenges of a student can be adequately seen and addressed in the application without going through QB?

Lastly, how to think about the QB benefits or edge vs. the extra challenge of completing the entirety of the application a bit sooner compared to EA or ED (I suppose September 26 vs. November 1)? Can one more month to refine your app make a meaningful difference?

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I am sure that I know less about this topic than some other posters, but based on what @Mwfan1921 posted, I think the extra space thing could be a significant advantage.

Why apply through QuestBridge? The National College Match application gives you extra space to tell your unique story as a student who has excelled academically despite financial hardship. Our college partners are actively seeking students like you.

While the quote specifies “despite financial hardship,” I would think that “extra space to tell your unique story” could be really helpful to any applicant who has an unique story and any applicant could use the space to talk about a recent financial hardship including the impact of a family tragedy. The more that I think about it, the more I think your son might as well apply to QB unless his school strongly advises against it. QB and the colleges can still decide to yes or no.

ETA: Yuck, I just read what I wrote and I realize that I made it sound like your son should talk about his loss as a strategy. I am sorry if it came off as transactional. I did NOT mean it that way. I think that I am just trying to say that the extra space might be beneficial or there may be other benefits of using the questbridge process even for a kid who only wants to list a few schools rather than all 12 slots.

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My daughter is at an elite prep school with very good college advising and a student in her class did Questbridge and matched to Princeton. I don’t know about the financial piece, but being at a good prep school won’t disqualify you.

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No worries. So grateful for your input.

As for our financial situation, we went from receiving “really good” aid to full aid after the loss of a parent.

I do hope that my son would be brave enough to appropriately address this event in his application and essay, as it did impact him and our family significantly.

And it does seem that in that sense QB may be a good match for my son, as it offers that extra space.

Thank you again!

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19

I think you’re mixing things.

QB - is for kids who financially can’t afford school.

That shouldn’t preclude you from applying. The worst they can say is no - but that doesn’t mean that Princeton (your example before) wouldn’t accept you outside and give you a full ride. You may not qualify for QB financially (based on assets) but you may qualify for Princeton - which won’t look at home equity.

All schools will have essays where he can write about the loss and impact. While many kids need advising, he already has it and obviously a great parent who is doing a wonderful job through trying times and I applaud you for that.

QB is a “time” commitment in application.

Perhaps you should talk to QB up front - and tell them about the home equity. They can likely tell you right then and there - either apply but yes, unlikely or no chance.

Your student should certainly apply to schools he wants to go to where a net price calculator will give a price you can afford.

But I think the right question isn’t being asked here - which is simply - is he a candidate for QB. The answer, based on what you’ve stated and info they’ve provided, is no. Doesn’t mean you can’t apply. A wealthy person can applyt, of course.

But outside of the financial angle, I’m not sure there’s any benefit to your son vs. regular apps.

While they say they give you extra space - that’s marketing - all it is.

Either you’re a financial match or you’re not - and I don’t believe you will be. If you are a financial match, then they’ll dig deeper - but again, you’ll have that same “space” with each and every school in your common app and other supplemental essays.

My advice- reach out, explain - and if they eliminate you now, save the time, and focus on building a proper list and giving your all to the regular applications.

Sorry for your loss - but you’re doing a fantastic job in research. And best of luck.

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