My parents earn ~60K a year. Should I still apply to colleges through questbridge next year?

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
1

Hi guys, I’m a current junior in high school and this questbridge program has recently caught my eye. I’ve been researching quite a bit to see what kind of people get accepted to the top tier schools through this program and I’m completely dumbfounded. Despite me having similar accomplishments, my parents earn nearly twice as much as the average applicant through this program… I want to apply to 12 different colleges to maximize my chances of getting accepted into one, but they’re all prestigious colleges, so it should ostensibly be very hard to get in.

They list like this: Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Dartmouth, Duke, Columbia, UPenn, Northwestern, Brown, Emory, Vanderbilt, Rice

Here are my stats (please take with a grain of salt):

Tests:

SAT: 1580 (800M, 780 R/W, 24 Essay)

ACT: 35 Composite Score

SAT Subject Tests: Math 2 - 800, Chemistry - 800, Physics - 740 (will retake), Biology M - 800

AP Classes (* signifies expected score): Human Geo (5), World History (5), Bio (5), Stats (5), Physics 1 (4), Calc BC (5), Physics 2 (5), English Lang (5), Chem (5), APUSH (4), Micro (5), Macro (5), Psych (5)

School:

Senior Year Course Load (confirmed through negotiation with counselor): Multivariable Calculus (not AP but a very difficult class), AP Physics C E&M, AP Physics C Mech, AP US Gov, AP English Lit, AP Comp Gov, AP Spanish Lang, AP Environmental Sci

GPA (Weighted): 4.8 (My school has a GPA cap)

GPA (Unweighted): 4.0 (HOPEFULLY going to stay this way)

Class Rank: 1/892 (Again, since there is a cap, there will be multiple number 1s. There is suspected to be around 8 valedictorians, but some will definitely have had a more difficult course load than others.)

IB: School doesn’t offer IB

Major Awards: USAMO depending on how well I do on the AIME this year, many academic-based awards (like honor roll, AP Scholar, etc etc.)

Extracurriculars: Varsity Quiz, Science Bowl, Science Olympiad, HOSA, DECA, NTHS, Speech & Debate, Biogenetics Club, Track & Field

There’s definitely some more stuff I could mention, but the concrete information is listed here. This isn’t a post to flaunt my stats, but rather a question: is it worth applying to the top-tier schools through questbridge if my parents’ income is near the income ceiling in terms of what questbridge accepts? (I have a family of 4, by the way)

2

PSAT Score: 1520 (National Merit)

Furthermore, I’m interested in the questbridge college prep scholars program and I plan on applying for it.

3

With your stats, probably not worthwhile since you are likely to be accepted to several of your 12 targeted schools most of which meet full financial need. = one perspective.

On the other hand, are all of your targeted schools Questbridge partners ? And, if accepted through Questbridge, what are the financial benefits ? Are your odds of acceptance greater through Questbridge ?

I don’t know the answers, just raising some questions to consider.

4

Yes you should. They should let you know if your qualified for their program. From their website.

Financial Qualifications
College Prep Scholars typically come from households earning less than $65,000 annually for a family of four with minimal assets. This is not a strict cut-off and we encourage students who feel they have faced significant financial hardship to review these financial details carefully to see if they may qualify.

All sources of family income are taken into account, including:

Salaries, wages, and tips
Business and farm income
Rental income
Interest and dividend income
Retirement distributions
Alimony
Child support received
All assets held by the family are taken into consideration, including:

Home ownership
Business or farm ownership
Cash and savings
Investments
Additional properties
Individual household circumstances are taken into consideration, including:

The number of people supported by the household income
The number of students in college (undergraduate only)
Unemployment or other changes to the household income
Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch
Having been in foster care
Other non-discretionary financial commitments, such as high medical bills
Students with divorced or separated parents must report the income of both biological parents, as non-custodial parent information is taken into consideration by our partners when determining financial need (households are evaluated separately).

5

I understand I might be competitive for these top tier schools, but one of the main draws for questbridge was the fact that the tuition is free for four years. The prospect of getting through college without any debt would be a dream come true for me. Furthermore, it would be even better for my parents, as my dad is experiencing a huge financial strain right now being the breadwinner of the family and paying off bills and debts. However, if I find that the colleges I listed offer a VERY generous financial aid package whilst also being easier to get admitted into via the regular admission/early admission process, I will look to rescind my choice to apply through questbridge.

As for the three questions you stated in your second paragraph, I’m a little confused. Yes, all these schools are questbridge partners… Why else would I list them? And if I get accepted through Questbridge, wouldnt the financial benefits be an entire four years without having to pay? Moreover, I posted this thread to ask if my chances were greater if I applied through questbridge, signifying I have no clue if they are. This may just be my idiocy, but i don’t get what you’re trying to ask. Could you elaborate a bit further?

6

^ That response was directed towards “Publisher” btw.

7

Pretty sure that you would get full tuition if accepted to any school which meets full financial need regardless of whether or not you apply through Questbridge.

My info. may be outdated, but the advantages for one applying through Questbridge is application fee waiver & help with applications. The full tuition benefit is same as you would receive if applying to any “meets full need” school.

8

@BlubInTheTub Sit down at the computer with your dad and run the Net Price Calculators on the websites of the colleges you are interested in. My understanding is that a few financial situations can make the NPC less than accurate, such as owning a business or divorce, but generally, begin with the NPC and together look closely at the types of financial aid provided. Then you can compare to what might be offered through Questbridge.

9

@Publisher I see… Hypothetically, if I was not able to match to a college via the national college match (questbridge’s early decision), can I rank the same schools for questbridge’s regular decision and regular apps via common app? For example, can I apply to Yale via questbridge’s regular decision AND the common app?

10

You should definitely apply. Questbridge is a terrific program.

11

Why is Questbridge a terrific program for OP ? Outstanding stats & likely to be granted at least full tuition as a financial aid grant if admitted without participating in Questbridge.

12

Questbridge might give you a leg up if you are a finalist. For example, Rice admitted 51 Questbridge students this year.

13

For a high-stats student applying to elite schools, every application is like buying a lottery ticket. All the elite schools turn down students with perfect grades and scores. Questbridge can help the odds.

If you don’t believe me about the lottery thing, take a look at some CC threads where students list their qualifications and tell if they were admitted or not. It’s a bit demoralizing, to tell you the truth. Kids who have “done everything right” are not getting in where they hoped. It’s strictly supply and demand, of course, and there are more fantastic colleges than just the Top 20 on the USN&WR list. It’s a disorganized and flawed system. That’s something I love about the Questbridge concept of “matching.”

14

Based on what people self-reported on CC, most of the acceptances are URM. If you’re a URM with your stats, you can probably get into many of the colleges listed, so the program doesn’t really offer you much advantage. There’re definitely some disadvantages if you’re not.

15

I know only two Questbridge students both of whom are URMs. One hit the jackpot at Pomona, the other hated his Questbridge “match” school.