I’m struggling to see the benefit for my son. 36% chance of being a finalist…I’m guessing less than half of those 36% get matched into a college they really want to attend?
What is the biggest benefit? Sorry, I didn’t go to college and this is my first time navigating something like this.
Is QB easier than just applying to 8-10 colleges via Common App in November?
QB may increase his chance of admission &/or getting a full ride scholarship. I believe it also waives application fees for 8 schools. I think the application process is similar to Common App. I think QB gives more opportunity to reveal limiting financial or familial situations, and the colleges like the opportunity to choose from hand-picked “diversity” applicants.
Completely anecdotally, I think successful QB applicants tend to have stories that include violent parental death, homelessness, life threatening disease, foster care, etc.
My D applied for the junior year QB program, did not make the cut, and decided not to apply for the senior year program. She got fee waivers through College Board & CSS Profile. Although you only get 4 appl. waivers, some schools are free to apply to, sometimes only before a certain date. We ended up only paying one $20 fee to the state “safety.”
Be sure to look into SAT fee waivers which include some special services such as Q&A service which helped her prepare for her retest. I think we did end up having to pay for a few score reports, not sure if QB helps with that.
In the elite college world, 36% chance of anything is very good, but you’re right, it’s still not a guarantee of anything. But the prize is very good. Through QB you may get FinAid over and above what you might get otherwise. You might get mentoring. You might get guaranteed housing that you wouldn’t otherwise.
You can rank up to 12 schools now
You can only apply to one school ED (with preferential admissions in exchange for your commitment to attend.)
Questbridge magnifies this by allowing you to apply with the ED advantage to 12 colleges at once.
You keep your nacac and sat fee waivers (4+4) for other colleges. This way you can diversify your applications to ensure the optimal outcome - which, for lower income first generation kids, means attending the best school they get into and which they can afford.
Nor all ‘meet need’ schools are on Questbridge so you could use the fee waivers for four of those, plus two for guaranteed scholarship universities, and two for in state flagships.
Huge time sink with much added benefit – could change his life, matched or not, finalist or not. Just knowing how to approach the college admission process and essays is a great benefit. I might be biased since my kid got matched, but I assure you it’s not wasted time in any event. DO read the website, especially the very long letter from the founder, before applying.