<p>My teenager became a finalist back in the fall, and didn't match. However, forwarded his application to all ranked colleges. In addition, he applied to other partner schools. Out of 16 schools, only three came back with acceptances. Non of them were Questbridge partners. Some Questbridge partner schools waitlisted him, the rest rejected him. Is my son the only QB finalist that got waitlisted/rejected from ALL Questbridge partner schools in the Regular Decision process? Has this happened to anyone else out there?</p>
<p>In my opinion, it is better to apply EA/ED directly to the colleges. The schools will still offer you Need Based Financial Aid. You have a better chance getting into your top choice school by going directly to them, Early Action or Early Decision. </p>
<p>My other question is: Do QB partner schools consult each other about a certain applicant? Iâve always wondered. It is hard to believe that he didnât make it into any of the QB partner schools but was accepted into the ones that are not partners with QB. </p>
<p>I was a QB finalist also but I was rejected from all the QB schools I applied to and waitlisted at UVA. My mother also wondered whether the QB partner schools and Ivies consult each other about an applicant. My results were a bit of a surprise because I thought my QB status would help me but they did not. I got into two other non partner QB colleges thankfully!</p>
<p>My son was also waitlisted at UVA. It is just interesting. He has wondered what else he could have done right. Perhaps, the colleges he applied to are simply very selective. At the moment, he is deciding where to go. He did get accepted into two great schools and a state school and has a pretty good idea where he wants to go.</p>
<p>You know what? I would not be surprised if the partner colleges do consult each other. There was one college my son had considered then decided it wasnât for him at which time he withdrew his application. Colleges donât appreciate that since it messes up their numbers. I just think our experience with QB wasnât so great. If he had to do it all over again, I would advice my son not to go through QB because the process felt rushed at the beginning of his senior year. His essays werenât as good as the ones he wrote for the non-Questbridge partner colleges. That made a huge difference, I think. Anyways, I would advice someone who wants to go through Questbridge to consider applying EA/ED instead. </p>
<p>This happened to us as well. Besides the huge disappointment and wasted time and energy, which were significant, and financial fees to forward css profiles by deadlines, we were consistently led to believe by Questbridge that if he didnât get in through the match heâd get into a partner school through regular admit. So we missed all Early applications, and spent so much time applying to Questbridge partner schools weâd never considered under the ruse that they were thrilled to have questbridge students and it gave us all these chances. We spent so much time applying to those we didnât apply to a lot of other schools that he might have had better chance and been better suited for. I have read that if you are a white male you have very little chance of being matched through questbridge. the IVYs use questbridge applicants to meet their diversity quota or needs. Meanwhile, it almost seems questbridge keeps A LOT of these kids from applying early or regular, where they may have a better chance of getting in without being lumped in the âpoverty diverse pile.â I think the worst part, was how much they built it up, so that my son felt it was really something and he was really something that was really going to get into dream schools. Overall it was a huge disappointment, waster of time, energy, and money, and we should have been more wary and just gone the regular route. </p>
<p>Please do not give bad advice based on such a small perspective. </p>
<p>The colleges DO NOT consult each other.</p>
<p>Withdrawing an application is completely fine and understood.</p>
<p>No one is prevented to applying RD to any college they wish. If there is time management, then blame self.</p>
<p>All of the colleges are very selective. Some are the most minute chance for some students. If you are a Finalist then the schools are potentially within reach but you still must put every effort in and there are no guarantees. Iâd hope that QB doesnât make it seem too easy. Some kids arenât selecting colleges that are more likely for them.</p>
<p>You may not need QB, but chances for most people is that it will help. </p>
<p>@BrownParent - It sounds like things went your sonâs or daughterâs way, and I am thrilled for your family. However, it is okay to offer a different kind of perspective. My son manages his time very well. He has a 4.4 GPA and great stats, all the while working a part time job. He is not, however, first generation college-bound. My husband and I own a business and fell on hard times. Despite this, my son continued to show resilience, and do his very best. </p>
<p>May I ask, How do you know with certainty that QB partner schools do not consult each other? I have read that they do. They hear things through the âgrapevineâ. I have read this right here on cc. Look it up. </p>
<p>I strongly disagree with you that I am giving bad advice. I am not. Questbridge is not for everyone. It is a rushed process, and it appears to me that the partner schools have their own agenda. </p>
<p>The similarities I found among the Questbridge partner schools is their large endowments. And, NO ONE needs Questbridge to apply Early Action or Early Decision to these schools, neither rich, middle class, nor lower income class students. Iâve also found that one has a better chance getting in early rather than regular decision. My advice is to search for schools with larger endowments and give it a go during the EA/ED round. </p>
<p>Though QB if you are matched, that is great. If not, basically, you are being deferred. QB will forward your application. But that is like being waitlisted, then trying again for RD. It is the same thing but worse, because now you are competeting with a larger pool of applicants. </p>
<p>@sbanon - The other thing I might add to your comment is that Questbridge brings a lot of applicants in. The Ivies are thrilled to have their numbers go up. It helps them maintain their elite status. When it comes right down to it. It is a numbers game. </p>
the results you get back depend on how meritorious the candidate is AND the overall acceptance rate of the colleges chosen in the app process. Looks like the OP child has great stats. QB has a variety of schools in its partnership from the ubder selective (eg, columbia/mit at 6 pct) to the less selective (some 30-40 pcters). If the OP child had only the more selective schools in the application list, it might be a gooseegg , as it would for anyone. QB does remind us that you hv to satisfy the entrance criteria of the school. also, even 30-40 pct schools are more selective. </p>
<p>One thing I noticed about many QB 30-40 pct LACs is that they tend to waitlist people - ck the Princeton Review guidebook which reports the numbers put on waitlists.</p>
<p>2) check the profile stats that QB publishes from the previous year . My recollection says that it was roughly 20-30 pct - or was it 48 pct?- of the qb applicants (or was that the finalists?) get into a partner school during RD. ANother way of saying that is 80-70 pct (52 pct) do not get into a partner school RB.</p>
<p>I was going to write that post you wrote till d got an acceptance .</p>
<p>I recall reading a couple years back a post by a mother whose finalist D had not been accepted at any QB schools. Problem was, they hadnât applied anywhere else. The student sounded really resilient and her parents were fully supportive so they were already looking at options (from what I remember, they were not complaining, just telling others not to limit their apps to QB).</p>
<p>Many QB schools are extremely selective. Even being a finalist is no guarantee. Furthermore, students tend to aim for the more difficult admits among the college partners rather than the ones with higher acceptance rates. Even kids with really high stats have such low chances at Ivys/Stanford/MIT/etc. It is not all that surprising that even QB canât bridge that gap. There just arenât enough spaces to go around.</p>
<p>ED is fine when you have a clear first choice, but rememberâŠif you donât get in, you will have to pay for all those other applications. We canât imagine paying $50 - $60 for apps 10 schools (As a high need family, if he is not chosen for match, or if he is not matched, we will apply to that many schools, so we can compare FA packages.) </p>
<p>Of course it is hard to stick to, but theoretically I tell my S to make his list with wide range of selectivity. We are still top heavy but reading about this yearâs difficult, super-competitive admissions cycle is a dose of reality.</p>
<p>Best of luck to everyone waiting to get off waitlists, making decisions and weighing financial aid packages.</p>
<p>Honestly,I got rejected from all QB schools despite doing pretty well academically in a school that had 4,000+ students and tons of community service while going through much financial struggles, ,but donât be discouraged because dedication helps you in the long run! One rejection from my dream school opened doors to Many MORE acceptances:D. QB really prepares you for writing essays and thinking about what worked and didnât work.Now getting accepted from great schools Iâm heading to Cal:D.Btw my dream school that rejected me is across the bay from it.</p>
<p>However APPLY.Luck and destiney will take you where you want to be and will it in.Now this will sound cheesy and bogus like I used to think,but you will figure out later on.Believe me and trust me! Good luck and still apply to QB for luck and experience. Moreover,your son will be extremely perfect for those schools he got accepted too.Plus I get it.QB schools are awfully selective and it is better to apply EA/ED ( I kind of shouldâve done it too:P)</p>
<p>^P.S. Cal is amazing financial aid for in-state students.So APPLY to non-QB schools everyone too! Just a little piece of advice for future students.Go Bears!:D</p>
<p>Now having hindsight I can honestly say If I had to do it over again, I would NOT have had her apply through the QB program. Why? Well for one the application is SO much more work than the CA. And two, she is a WASP. I think I would have just had her focus on ED or EA at her top school(s) instead of wasting her time and my $ on CSSâs to QB schools. She did not get accepted to any and got WL to one QB school that really was not a good match for her. But we were worried about the $ so that was the route we took. </p>
<p>Also, I gave QB a recommendation for a 2013 applicant who was a low income, high stats student. She did not get accepted even though her scores were probably higher than my DDâs. I felt so bad because we felt she was a shoe in coming from a low income family and an award winning writer too. My only assumption as to why she was rejected, because she is Philippine and would be classified as Asian.</p>
<p>I am sure QB has helped many students but I think all it does is increase the college applicant numbers and any student that would have applied ED/EA/RD would have most likely had the same results. And still gotten waivers and not gotten their hopes up and flagged them as low income. </p>
<p>Am I bitter? No, both my DD and I love her non-QB school and are thankful that she applied there and not just QB schools. It has been a perfect match for her and She is doing excellent and is now beginning to look at Grad Schools. Only one of those is a QB school from her early undergrad applicant days and it is not her top choice school. We have both learned a lot since then and I am replying to this thread because as I read of others who feel disappointed after thinking QB was going to help, I have to agree. I am not sure that it has been such a great service for the majority of applicants. </p>
<p>I have several friends who were finalists and were ultimately rejected/waitlisted at all QB schools that they applied toâŠ</p>
<p>Reflecting as a finalist I absolutely saw a pattern between race/first-gen and admissions results which I have very mixed feelings about. I applied to QB as a white, Jewish female who was not first-gen or extremely low income compared to many of my QB peers. Despite this I got CPS, Fein Fellow and Finalist which I am extremely thankful for. But it also gave me a sense of false-hope. I applied to all but one partner LAC and a decent number of non-LAC partners thinking some would surely see in me what QB had seen in me. After hearing countless times how my essays were great, my grades/rank/scores were strong and my ECs showed clear passions I found myself accepted at one partner, waitlisted at four and rejected by the rest of them while I saw peers with lower stats/less ECs who were first-gen and/or racial minorities accepted at many of the schools that had just rejected me. I am very fortunate that in the end I have two good college options and donât in any way blame those who receive a âboostâ in an admissions process (many more of them were deserving of their acceptances) but at the same time I wish I had known going into the process what I would be up against.</p>
One rejection from my dream school opened doors to Many MORE acceptances:D. QB really prepares you for writing essays and thinking about what worked and didnât work.Now getting accepted from great schools Iâm heading to Cal:D.Btw my dream school that rejected me is across the bay from it.</p>
Good luck and still apply to QB for luck and experience. Moreover,your son will be extremely perfect for those schools he got accepted too.Plus I get it.QB schools are awfully selective and it is better to apply EA/ED ( I kind of shouldâve done it too:P)</p>