<p>My daughter is eligible to apply to college through Questbridge - she participates in the free lunch program and our income is well below the eligibility level. She's reluctant to do so, however, mostly because she (and I) don't think of ourselves as 'poor', we don't like to dwell on or emphasize our problems, and also I think because she feels she hasn't 'suffered' enough. We live in a relatively affluent area with good schools - definitely not the 'hood' - and although there are some things she couldn't do because of finances, she's been very fortunate to receive scholarships or get into free programs during the summer and after school. And while we don't go out to eat or serve expensive food, we certainly have enough eat, the children have decent clothes to wear, etc.</p>
<p>We're not immigrants and we don't have a particularly 'sad' story (at least how we see it). We're low-income because of health problems, but again there's no point in dwelling on it - we're alive, which we easily could not be, and I'm improving enough that I should be able to look for work in a few months. In addition, I don't want my daughter concentrating on our health issues or on how dad's cancer might come back or I could get sick again - she's already lived it, I don't want her to dredge it up again by writing and re-writing about it. Even more important, she doesn't want to.</p>
<p>So the question is - does Questbridge want or need to hear our 'why-we-have-no-money' story, or is the fact that our children qualify for free lunch, along with supporting documentation, enough? On the website, finalists and match participants talk about the obstacles they've overcome, and it seems that to some extent the point of the program is to explain your background and circumstances to admission committees.</p>
<p>But what if you don't want to 'explain' your hardships, or if you feel your haven't really 'suffered', at least not compared to some? We don't want to apply if we're not what they're looking for; on the other hand our illnesses were real (DH had surgeries, chemo, radiation, and biological therapy) and we are low-income, so would we be selling ourselves short if we didn't apply? And how can I convince our daughter of this if she doesn't believe it?</p>
<p>Any experiences, information or advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Agree. Q apps allow for a lot more detail to come through. The program exists for a variety of challenging situations. I think this is a case where you don’t assume more than you know. As GMT wrote, tell your tale. Maybe revisit this question here this fall, when she’s polishing her apps. Best wishes.</p>
<p>S is a pre-College scholar, headed to Princeton on Saturday for a conference at which he will meet reps from 30+ great schools. QB is a great program. I have no doubt that there are other families who have suffered more, and if he hadn’t been chosen (and if he doesn’t get accepted to the Match round) I would understand that there are other kids who need/deserve it more. This said, QB will decide if your D will be a finalist – IF your family first decides that she should be a candidate, and it sounds like you haven’t made up your minds. I can only share our experience. Our situation is not of an underrepresented minority, nor is S first generation. We have an unusual story (as do you) but it is not a “hard luck” story, either. S is super motivated and eager to go to a top school, not necessarily Ivy but somewhere where there will be 1) other kids who have that spark and 2) enough financial aid to make it possible. Even tho our EFC is $0 the state schools and many private schools would cost us at least $10 K. The QB facebook page has already been a support for him as he encounters other kids who are both high achievers and low income. If nothing else being able to apply w/o the application fees to QB schools will be a huge help.</p>
<p>As for the information, it is up to you how gut-wrenching you want to be – actually it is up to your D. It must have been a difficult time. But you are in control of what you write (apart from finances which are asked for).</p>
<p>OP, 6 years ago I could have written your EXACT same post, minus the health issues. I convinced, well really I made my daughter apply to the NCM and she was very fortunate to be matched to her number one choice school. What and how much your daughter wants to disclose is entirely up to her. IIRC, my daughter may have written two sentances in her essays that inferred that she had grown up with financial struggles, but in no way did her application come off as some pity party or woe is me. I think a lot of QB applicants somehow think that the more struggles they can have come across in their app, the better. I can only speak for my daughters app, and she def did not come off as a sob story, charity case etc. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! So it seems that there’s no need to write about our ‘hardship story’ in the application, which is what I was concerned about, as neither my daughter nor I want to focus on it, either in our daily lives or the application. Telling her she can just write about herself, not family health problems or difficulties, will make it much easier to convince/persuade/force her to do the application. She refused to do the College Prep application and we didn’t try to change her mind, which I feel now was a big mistake.</p>
<p>I think we will tell her that she needs to do the NCM, even if she doesn’t want to. We let her make her own decisions about most things, as she’s very strong-minded and also generally realistic and mature. But it sounds like this is something worth pushing her on. </p>
<p>OP what are her grades and scores? It is a good thing that you found this website. It helps to develop a strategy. </p>
<p>I discovered CC three years ago. It was an eye-opener to learn that things have changed since 25 years ago! D didn’t have a chance at a top school with strong financial aid but neither could we afford to send her to a “good” private school where her stats would not earn her much merit money. Thanks to CC we learned about a state opportunity program which also includes private schools and that became our stategy, along with her favorite state schools. Guess what – she just finished her first year! </p>
<p>Our S is a whole other story. We are going for (half) top schools with need-based aid AND (the other half) schools with merit scholarships based on scores/talent. I spent probably two years developing a list of 20 schools which I believe he has a chance at, and which we could afford, and which have strong depts in the areas he wants to double major in. From those 20 he will choose the ones he wants to apply to. Many of them are QB schools, which means free apps. There are three on the list which have their own fee waivers and one which is free online. </p>
<p>It’s too bad your D didn’t apply to Pre-College in order to get an idea of competitiveness. It really is hard to gauge. Not that QB is the be-all, end-all but it helps to get an idea along the way. Early Action is useful for this reason.</p>
<p>Lastly I want to mention to you that several women’s colleges have excellent financial aid and can be wonderful environments. You might want to have your D look at Smtih, Mt Holyoke, Barnard, Bryn Mawr and Wellesley.</p>
<p>This describes our situation, too, and my son will be a senior at a QB school this year. We’ve just received our <strong><em>final</em></strong> financial aid award letter, and the FA for his last year is just as excellent as the first. I’d encourage any family in the QB income range to apply.</p>
<p>Also, I want to add that my son had a chance to listen in on a few admissions officer presentations at his campus job. At his school, the AO makes his/her pitch to a panel of 3, and all three have to agree to admit. He said the FIRST thing the AO mentioned, when applicable, was “This is a QuestBridge applicant.”</p>