Advice from a former Questbridge Finalist (Now a College Sophomore)

<p>Hey guys! Wow, looking at this thread I can't believe it's been 2 years since I was the one anxiously awaiting the news. Best of luck to all of you, but since I know all of you are going to be worrying about college and opportunities for awhile before it's over, I thought I would take a minute and give you all some advice. </p>

<p>I was accepted as a finalist when I applied in 2009, but was not matched with the schools I chose. However, I ended up receiving a great full scholarship at a public, non top 50 school(referenced in my name, check out some of my former posts), and in addition to covering the usual expenses like tuition,room, board, and meals, it has also allowed me to attend a research conference and study abroad in England. Also with it I will be going to 5 countries in the Middle East next summer for conferences, internships and study abroad, and I work in a research laboratory and I'm on the board of one of the major service organizations on campus (in addition to being in several other honor societies). Because of my language sudy (previously advanced Spanish and now Arabic) and all of the other things I've been working on, I've already started discussing with my honors advisors post-undergraduate fellowship opportunities like Fulbrights, Gates-Cambridge, Marshall and Rhodes, and I have already been able to meet with several admissions and heads of the medical school I am wishing to do an MD-PhD with. </p>

<p>Anyways, the whole point of this mantra isn't to hit you all in the head with my resume, but to present 3 main points:</p>

<p>1). Don't spend so much time worrying about thing's like SATs and APs. I didn't have the highest SAT scores or the most APs in high school and I'm doing fine. I even beat out someone for the scholarship I have that is now at Stanford, because they were looking for qualities like genuine leadership and other qualities that will ultimately guide you further to success than standardized test scores.</p>

<p>2). This isn't your last opportunity for success. Not even close, so if you don't get a finalist (or matched), know that someone as successful as you will always have opportunities for greatness.</p>

<p>3). And tying into the second point, all of you are brilliant, or else you wouldn't have even considered applying. Don't sell yourselves short mentally by thinking this opportunity (albeit a great one that helped me) is the end all be all. And the Newsweek top 25 isn't the end all be all either. Heaven help us all if the only talented students are going to 25 schools in the United States.</p>