Apply to Questbridge or not?

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
1

<p>So I am thinking about applying to Questbridge, but my top choice, Harvard, is not a partner school. I really wanted to apply to Harvard SCEA, but now I'm thinking about applying to Questbridge Partner Schools through Questbridge. One part of me wants to go to Harvard, but another feels like I can't pass up an opportunity to get a free education. I can't risk getting denied by Harvard, and then apply to a school RD and perhaps not get much financial aid. I am interested in some of the partner schools though. The problem is that if I get rejected by some of the first schools on the list, I would still have to attend the schools I don't like that accept. From my understanding, I have to fill in 8 schools in order of preference. I heard that MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale are the only non binding schools. So my list would probably be:</p>

<ol>
<li>Stanford </li>
<li>Yale </li>
<li>Princeton </li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Columbia </li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Dartmouth </li>
<li>Brown </li>
</ol>

<p>I like the top 5 on my list and would be very content if I got in even though Harvard is my top choice, but I'm not particularly fond of UPenn, Dartmouth, and Brown. </p>

<p>So my dilemma here is, should I not take Questbridge but just apply SCEA Harvard and RD to the rest of the schools that I just like (Johns Hopkins, Stanford, Columbia), knowing that Harvard gives generous aid? Or should I take advantage of Questbridge since I know for sure that I will be given full aid, and just settle and go to UPenn, Dartmouth, or Brown if I get rejected at the top 5 schools? Should I just suck it up knowing that I'm at least getting an opportunity to get into a good school? Please respond! </p>

<p>And here's some background information on me; I don't even know if I'm that strong of a candidate to even get a Questbridge scholarship. </p>

<p>Academics:
-SAT:2300
-3.95 (UW)/4.6 (W)
-All AP/Most Rigorous classes
-Top 5% of class out of 105 students </p>

<p>Awards:
-AP Scholar with Distinction
-National Merit Scholar SemiFinalist
-Intel ISEF Semifinalist
-Spanish National Exam Honorable Mention
-Some Model UN awards at 2 colleges (Best delegate, honorable mention)
-AIME 2x Qualifier
-National History Day (1st place county, 3rd at state) </p>

<p>Extracurriculars:
-Quiz Bowl Captain
-Model UN Vice President
-Key Club President
-Amnesty International President
-Tutoring little kids at a church
-Kumon Tutor
-Reading to toddlers at a library
-Volunteer at a non profit that helps improve global health
-Founder and leader of an organization with a goal to fight the education issue that goes around failing schools in my state and uses teaching materials from a website to educate the kids better (it is in supplement to what the teacher teaches).
-Founder of a non profit organization (501(c)(3)) that fights the poverty issue in my state (Fairly successful)
-Created an app in the App Store that raises awareness about many global issues </p>

<p>-Annual Breast Cancer Race volunteer
-Breast Cancer Non profit organization volunteer
-Internship at breast cancer research lab 3 summers
-Did a science project on breast cancer (got Intel with it)
-Founder and president of Breast Cancer club
-Summer camp on Medicine
-Author in a science publication
-Soccer Club and School (4 years Club, 3 years school)
-Assistant soccer church league coach
-Attended a soccer camp one summer</p>

<p>Misc: Indian- first generation immigrant. Born in Eastern Europe. Diverse family- mom from India, me from Europe, and sister from America, and I can speak 4 languages fluently. Single parent household (mom), and I have a little 5 year old brother. Income: just a tad below 40K.</p>

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<p>You sound like a great candidate for selective schools, but of course there are no guarantees at any of them. I just wanted to clarify that you don’t HAVE to fill in 8 schools if you applied for the QB College Match - you can fill in UP TO 8. So you can rank only the non-binding schools, or none at all. You don’t want to rank any school you wouldn’t be happy to attend!</p>

<p>If you choose not to rank any schools, you could apply SCEA to Harvard and still, if you are chosen as a finalist, apply to QB partner schools RD (with the application fees waived).</p>

<p>Here’s the QB flowchart that shows how that would work:</p>

<p>[National</a> College Match Flowchart](<a href=“http://questbridge.org/for-students/ncm-flowchart]National”>QuestBridge)</p>

3

<p>Looks like the flowchart link isn’t working - here’s a quote and link to the QB ED page:</p>

<p>“Please note that students who apply to the College Match but do <em>not</em> rank colleges, or who are not selected as finalists, are not subject to any agreements with QuestBridge and are free to apply to any colleges for early or regular decision. Finalist notification is on October 22, 2013.”</p>

<p>[Early</a> Application Policy](<a href=“QuestBridge”>QuestBridge)</p>

4

<p>Thank you so much that was very helpful!</p>

5

<p>A quick question, so for clarification my choices if I were a finalist would be to apply to Harvard SCEA and the rest of my QB schools RD, or I could rank those 4 schools (Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT) and it would be applying early basically, and I would apply to Harvard RD?</p>

6

<p>You might want to spend some more time readings past threads from the QB forum since similar questions have been asked – and responded to – over the years.</p>

<p>My S also started off his college search by fixing his sights on Harvard. I kept asking him, Why Harvard? Even more, Why only Harvard? We are now at 14 schools, mostly QB but a couple which are not. Funny enough now he loves Yale.</p>

<p>You are right, the admit rate is so low that not even someone with your great stats (and they are great) can count on getting into Harvard. I am very glad to see that you are focusing on other great schools. However none of these has over a 10% admit rate. Even QB may not be enough to give you enough of an edge. Again your stats are phenomenal, it is not about that…it’s about the sheer volume of competition.</p>

<p>You probably should consider adding a couple more schools to your list. And if your situation is one of financial need you probably want to include need-blind/meet demonstrated need schools, and run net price calculators. </p>

<p>Even QB does not place ALL of its finalists – assuming you become a finalist – in one of their partner schools. So keep that in mind as you make your list. For financial aid students with great need I think 10 is a good number and they all fit on the FAFSA.</p>

<p>To address your specific posts, it sounds right…let me repeat back to you:
– Harvard as EA and the others QB non-ranked as RD
– Rank 4 schools and apply Harvard RD</p>

<p>Again do consider expanding your list, but yes, those two options do sound possible. Best of luck!</p>

7

<p>Thank you very much for your helpful insight! I do have other schools (non-QB) that I plan to apply RD: Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and I am still considering my safety. I know the apps may cost a bit, as rent and cost of living eat up most of the my mom’s income, but I am sure that I have enough of my personal money for these apps.
I have saved up money from my job as a Kumon tutor, and I have also never spent a single dollar of my own savings since 6th grade (my dad would give me a little money the few times he visited, and I didn’t spend any of my Christmas, and Birthday money that I got from friends and relatives since 6th grade). Again, thank you very much for your advice!</p>

8

<p>I think that since you are a rising sophomore, you should concentrate on your next two years and try to do well on the SAT. You can definitely get your projected SAT of 2010 to a 2300. Try to stay active in those ECs and do what you are passionate about. Good Luck.</p>