Finalists: Post your stats.

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
61

<p>Finalist
-Male, Thai-Korean, first-generation college student, first-generation American
SAT: 2190 (720 CR, 680 M [low I know :P], 790W)
SAT II: 770 Spanish w/o Listening, 720 World, 710 USH
GPA: 3.93 UW/4.33 W
Rank: 4/307
AP’s (the ones that I passed): AP Bio-5, AP World-5, APUSH-3, AP English Lang.-4, AP Euro-5, AP Spanish-5</p>

<p>I go to a small public school in CA. I live with one parent and am not supported by the other.</p>

<p>Tons of EC’s like NHS, Red Cross Club, S.T.A.N.D., Editor for Journalism, ASB experience, etc. Plenty of leadership roles and success in fundraising. NO WORK EXPERIENCE WHATSOEVER. I have some family responsibilities though.</p>

<p>Recommendations: I chose teachers that liked me, knew me, and would spend the time with me to best cover my positive traits. [As a courtesy, I thanked them and also made them cards].</p>

<p>Essays: Biographical essay was about growing up w/o my mom. Significant experience was being a Spanish teacher at a place I volunteer. Diversity was about singing in Spanish, making empanadas, and working on a physics project.</p>

<p>Ranked:
-Stanford, Yale, Princeton, and Brown</p>

<p>SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE QB APPLICANTS:</p>

<p>-Prepare, prepare, and prepare. Have PLENTY of people read your application essays. Double check then triple check everything.</p>

<p>-Make sure you know what you’ll need to submit if you are a finalist. Work on supplements early on if necessary.</p>

<p>-If you’re not gonna have a chance to work on this over the summer at least look the prompts and other necessary information over. Keep in mind how much time you’ll need to spend and what you’d like to express in your writing.</p>

<p>-A calendar or other timeline/organizer would definitely be useful. You’d be surprised how time flies when you procrastinate.</p>

<p>-Set time aside to work on the application. It takes a lot of effort, thinking, and organization, but it’s far from impossible.</p>

62

<p>sat:1890
act: N/a yet
sat2: 690/670 ush&wh
hooks: black female, immigrant</p>

<p>-good teacher recs
-3.8/4.7
-APs (555443)
-Dual enrolled
-432 community service hours
-Theatre, SHS- VP, NHS- regional manager, Mu Alpha Theta, babysitting, and I have a job at a restaurant</p>

<p>I wrote about meeting my mother for the first time i could remember, a cop stereotyping me and my family and ho i realized i was different, i wrote about my passion for culture and tennis
I also wrote a letter of gratitude and a special circumstances page talking about how the economy has drastically affected my family situation and of the relationship i have with my father</p>

63

<p>*** how did 400k income + 2.5 million ranch = questbridge finalist?</p>

64

<p>Finalist</p>

<p>Korean [first generation US born American in my entire family, extended family, etc]
Female
Live in the South
SAT: 2210 - October scores [it was 2110 when I submitted the app, though]
SATIIs: 2120 [3 total]
ACT: Get scores on Nov 9th
GPA: 3.98 Unweighed // 5.18 Weighed
Rank: 1/483</p>

<p>Full IB Diploma Candidate
At the end of senior year, 14 AP/IB classes and one college class
Income <25k, brother in college. My mom’s a single parent. Father passed away when I was 13.</p>

<p>ECs/Awards: above average; couple State recognitions, etc etc</p>

<p>Part-time job since summer before Freshman year
Volunteer hours: about 200?</p>

<p>Recs were by teachers who really liked me; I really enjoyed their classes. Their classes were also the ones I had to work the hardest in my junior year. I wrote them thank you cards.</p>

<p>I wrote about how my dad passed away, and how my mom still encouraged me to do the things “normal” kids do despite my socioeconomic status, an experience at a summer program I had this past summer, and my newfound interest in cosmology. </p>

<p>I guess an interesting thing might be that I write a blog that has over 2500 readers. </p>

<p>I feel kind of bad because I didn’t put that much effort into my essays, except for the one on the summer program which was the one I wrote for the Common App. :|</p>

<p>Oh, and I didn’t rank any schools for the Match. I’m EDing to my number one school.</p>

65

<p>@tonerre, gaginang</p>

<p>Sup fellow Koreans.</p>

66

<p>

</p>

<p>Haha. Korean pride! G’luck to y’all, regardless of your heritage :)</p>

67

<p>Male, white
SAT: 2360 - 770 CR, 800 MA, 790 Writing
SAT Subject tests: 800, 800, 800
ACT: 35
13 AP exams (with 4ish more senior year), all 5’s except one 4
GPA: 4.5 weighted, 4.0 unweighted
rank: 1/330
$55K (but with a chunk of years w/ my dad severely under or unemployed before this)
both parents have bachelor degrees</p>

<p>ECs: Eagle Scout, Scout World Jamboree, Math, physics and chemistry Olympiad semi-finalist, National science bowl team member (team placed 13th in nation), National History Day 3rd in state, Jr. high youth group church leader/helper, church high school ministry leadership team, math and science school teams, tutoring, National honor society… </p>

<p>I don’t know what my teacher’s reccs specifically were but I am pretty sure they were very strong (just from what they’ve said previously and since then). </p>

<p>part-time jobs of tutoring, lawn care/snow removal and corn detasseling</p>

<p>Essays on detasseling, Scout World Jamboree and… can’t recall. Thankfully I spent some of sophomore and junior year English class writing essays specifically for college applications so that helped. But it was still a lot of work. I wish I’d had more help/review with the essays but I procrastinated a bit too much to feel comfortable asking for rushed assistance. </p>

<p>I felt the college prep program was helpful and am hoping College Match will be as well. We might be too much on the bubble with income but we’ll see. You never know! </p>

<p>I ranked MIT and Princeton ED. We’ll see how it all pans out. Just waiting now. Best of luck to everyone!</p>

68

<p>^^ @Nritya</p>

<p>Negative $400,000. As in, we lost that much.</p>

69

<p>hard to believe it’s only been 11 days since the madness of submitting the QB app…and I think the hysteria and self-doubt is starting to kick in. ARGH.
Good luck to everyone; I think you all are so inspiring!!</p>

70

<p>Does being a QB finalist up your advantage/admission probability to top schools?</p>

<p>All things considered, it doesn’t look like it’s that hard to become a finalist…</p>

71

<p>stef1a: being a qbridge finalist doesn’t necessarily boost your chances of getting into a top school. it’s just that qbridge application allows you express yourself and the world you come from (hardships you encountered by being low-income, etc…). you can clearly see the difference when you compare it to the common app, which only has one essay to describe yourself, while qbridge has three essays to describe who you are more in depth. </p>

<p>and yes, questbridge takes roughly 50% of applicants as finalists. but out of the 50%, only about a tenth of those students are actually matched. for example, last year at the stanford college prep conference for qbridge, the administrator said they took in about 2500 students as finalists, and about 270 were matched. </p>

<p>hope that answers your inquiry</p>

72

<p>I actually thought becoming a finalist would be ridiculously easy, but seeing some of these stats and the stats of those who weren’t chosen, I think it was my recommendations that probably helped me.</p>

<p>I waived my rights to see them, but my teachers just told me they had difficulty condensing what they had to say about me to fit the word limitations. They really tried to include everything that they could to make them good. I also know my teachers on a more personal level because I go to a small school. I honestly think that did it. (I bought them their favorite Starbucks drinks after submitting as a thank you.)</p>

73

<p>I’m not the most awe-inspiring finalist, but I am one nevertheless.</p>

<p>SAT: 1510/2300 (Superscored–I took the SAT I twice) US History: 770, Literature: 750, Math II: 720
GPA: 4.00 UW/4.5ish W
Rank: 1/397
APs: AP European History (5), AP Calculus AB (4), AP US History (5), AP English Language and Composition (5), and currently taking AP Calculus BC, AP English Literature, AP US Government (second semester), and AP Japanese.</p>

<p>Location: Washington
School: Public inner-city. Competitive.
Ethnicity: Asian (Chinese, of course) First generation.
Gender: Female
Income: ~20K, only child in single family.</p>

<p>EC’s: Creative writing (participation in various programs and various forms of validation—nothing super impressive though), private violin lessons (7 years or so), orchestra (Principal Second Violin in 11th, Program Designer in 11th and 12th and other orchestra-related activities), school literary magazine (submissions editor), Gay Straight Alliance (officer), Book Club (founder and president), JV in Cross Country, and miscellaneous volunteer experiences.
Work Experience: None except for miscellaneous volunteer experiences at the point of my QuestBridge application.
Awards: National Merit Commended Scholar, AP Scholar with Honor, Honorable Mention in Letters About Literature, some publication.
Recommendation letters: Okay, at least. I asked my AP LA teacher and AP US History teacher from last year to write mine. My LA teacher loves me, so that one should be good. I worked really hard and did really well in AP US History, but I find my teacher rather inscrutable, I’m afraid.
Essays: I’d like to think they’re the strongest part of my application. I wrote writing (my main passion in life), my struggles with violin, and Book Club (using reading as a metaphor for empathy), but I didn’t really talk about any real struggles I’ve been through in life. Though I did not make any glaring errors, I did not have enough time to do any intense editing since I decided to apply rather late.
Advice: I’m not sure I really took advantage of the unique setup of the QuestBridge application since I’ve been kind of unaware of how subpar my financial situation really is in comparison to that of “most people” and did not talk about financial hardships at all, but we’ll see how it goes.</p>

<p>Start early if you have ANY inclination to do QuestBridge at all. Don’t worry about whether you’re going to make Finalist or get into a school via QuestBridge while you’re doing the application. Even if you don’t get any tangible benefits out of the experience, you will have started thinking about college and working on an application MUCH sooner than most of your peers. And if you spend a good amount of time on your QuestBridge essays, you will be able to reuse them in some shape or form even as a non-Finalist :)</p>

<p>Best of luck to you all!</p>

74

<p>ACT: 33
SAT Subs: Literature: 760
GPA: 3.9UW/4.3W
Most difficult schedule available
Rural area</p>

<p>Parents separated, under $40k annual
Diabetic
Female
Mother has 2yr degree</p>

<p>VP National Honor Society(3yrs), President of Drama club(4yrs), International Honors Thespian, President of Spanish Club(4yrs), Drum Major of marching band(2yrs), Jazz and concert bands(1yr), Show Choir(2yrs)</p>

<p>Ranked: U Chicago</p>

<p>I would assume that my essays held sway over my finalist decision. My letters of rec were from teachers who know me very well and in whose classes I performed excellently.</p>

75

<p>Hooray for drum majors!</p>

76

<p>Poor Appalachian white guy reared by single mother after death of father, a coal miner. Will have 5 people in college next year on 30,000 yr.</p>

<p>SAT II: U.S. History: 650 World History: 770</p>

<p>ACT w/ Writing: 31</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 4.0 (School does not calculate a weighted GPA, If they did it would be higher.)</p>

<p>Class Rank: 1 of 195</p>

<p>AP’s: US H: 3 Euro H:3 World H: 5 (I never took any AP classes; none were offered. I just decided to sign up for the tests lol.)</p>

<p>Senior Course Load: Tough (Dual-Credit English and Pre-Cal, Calc, Geography, Physics, AP Enviro Sci, Adv Topics in Math, Biology II)</p>

<h2>Awards: Quest Bridge Ntl College Match Finalist, WYMT Mountain Student Achiever, Graduation Marshall, Voted Smartest in Class 4 years straight (is this an award lol?), Who’s Who in Band and Honor Roll</h2>

<p>Extracuriculars: I worked for the majority of this year at the local supermarket to help pay for food (I’m not kidding lol.) Before that I was in band as a section leader and now I’m on the academic team. Nothing stellar like 1st chair state, but always busy with EC’s.</p>

<p>Vol: Little Side Projects, Church Work</p>

<p>Summer Activities: Local College Camp Program</p>

<p>Essays: Good</p>

<p>Recommendations: Superb (Best kid they’ve ever seen)</p>

<p>Interview: None</p>

<p>State: I live in Virginia, go to school in Eastern Kentucky (think hatfield and mccoy fued :P)
School: Public
Race: White
Hooks: 1st Generation to actual college campus, nobody in this area EVER applies to Ivy.</p>

<p>Strengths: Location, Appalachian (?), Poor?
Weaknesses: No giant list of Vol’s or EC’s</p>

77

<p>Finalist</p>

<p>1st Gen College
ACT: N/A
SAT: 2230
SAT II’s: 800 Math II, 720 Physics
AP Scores: APUSH 5, APLANG 5, APCALC BC 5, APWH 4
GPA: 3.8 UW/4.2 W
Rank: Top 15%, Rather low in relation to rest of QB Finalists
APs: 11 APS in all</p>

<p>Location: Southeast
School: Public, top 1000 USA High Schools
Ethnicity: Chinese
Gender: Male
Income/Family Situation: Household income under 30K, 1 brother in high school</p>

<p>EC’s: President of Math Team, Member of Georgia ARML Team, One of Georgia’s most accomplished high school classical pianists, high involvement in school activities in music, section leader of top orchestra (viola). There are more, but I feel that these are the strongest.
Work Experience: Tutoring in Chinese, Piano, and Math
Awards: Numerous piano and mathematics awards, NHS, AP Scholar, Governor’s Honors Program
Recommendations: AP Stat, AP Lang, AP Calc teacers, and Valdosta State Univ. Music professor
Essays: I’d like to believe they were rather good. I think they were very passionate about my interests, as well as thoroughly explained my background and situtation. One of my editors told me it had a strong voice, which I think is important for Questbridge. </p>

<p>Mainly, I think my strengths were in my EC’s and essays. My SAT’s are decent, but my ranking is very mediocre. I think I’m an anomaly among QB finalists. Good luck to everyone!</p>

78

<p>Reading through all of these posts, I am actually quite inspired. It’s amazing to see how far everyone has come despite the difficulties. I wish everyone the best of luck, and I hope to maybe meet some of you in college!</p>

79

<p>FINALIST! :smiley:
ACT: 33
SAT: 2250, 700 M 790 W 760 R
GPA: 3.7 unweighted
Rank: N/A
AP’s: 8, taking 5 this year all 5’s except two 4’s
Location: FL
School: Private, on scholarship
Ethnicity: White
Gender: Female
Income: 20k
first gen college student, immigrant mom
EC’s: Figure Skater for 11 years, work 2 jobs as figure skating instructor, a lot of random volunteering no main project but 500+ hours community service, VP NHS, Rho Kappa Society, President Relay For Life Club, French Honor Society, Model UN
nothing really outstanding
Awards: National Merit Commended, National AP Scholar, some school subject awards
Recs: US History teacher who has told me that im one of the most “exceptional” students he has ever worked with and Art History teacher who knew more about me personally, guidance couselor doesnt know me too well, met with her a few times
Essays: average, I dont think that I can really judge them since I wrote them :stuck_out_tongue: counselor told me that one of my essays moved her to tears but then said that she was kidding so i dont really know? </p>

<p>crossing my fingers!</p>