<p>@idessab: It depends on what your ACT score is. Is it above 32? Or below 27? On CC, “bad” ACT/SAT scores can mean having a 33/2250.
Also, how did you do in your AP’s? It looks like you <em>could</em> get in, because the finalists do vary. However, you really need to be able to portray yourself in the application, and starting 3 clubs doesn’t mean very much.</p>
<p>@powerbomb: The issue for most people is whether they’ve decided if they want to go to a school indefinitely. You’re essentially creating a list of schools that, if accepted, you would go to no matter what. Are there any on that list like that for you?
If you get matched in the QB process, they will give you a full financial package, so you literally cannot get out of it.
But if there are schools you are willing to attend no matter what, by ALL MEANS go for the match. Why not? It actually increases your chances of the end purpose, to get into a good school. It won’t hurt your chances later. The schools accept a lot less in the ED round, for several reasons, one of which is the guarantee of giving about 200K in aid money. It never hurts to try.
It isn’t a filter- it’s just a separate process. In the end about 60% of finalists are matched, and most of those through RD. It won’t hurt your application.</p>
<p>I understand that applying ED won’t hurt me and that it’ll increase my chances in the end, but as I have said, I only have taken 1 SAT subject test so far and even my SAT 1 is only sitting at a 2110, which I don’t think is nearly good enough for the schools that I am looking at on the list. </p>
<p>One more - does Questbridge really help in terms of ADMISSIONS? or is it simply an aid in terms of MONEY? I really can’t see how this whole program would help increase one’s chances…and if it is that QB only helps with the money aspect of the application process, then what would be the point of applying through QB, when if I had applied regularly like all other applicants, and got in, I would probably qualify for aid in need-based schools?</p>
<p>50% of applicants get in, and then 60% of the finalists get in. Which means of all the people that apply to the program, 30% will ultimately gain admission at one of the schools on their list. That is FAR better than the 10 or 15% admit rates of most partner colleges.
It also greatly increases your visibility to the colleges; they won’t know these things unless you tell them, and you don’t normally get such an opportunity to tell them.
The three people I know that are QB admits were not considered “competitive admits” by any normal standard. No 2400 SATs, no incredible ECs…just good grades and solid scores and normal EC’s. The opportunity to show their personality gave them a whole new dimension to the adcoms. In a nutshell, QB is far more than a scholarship.</p>
<p>Depending on when you take your test, you may be able to send in your scores later during the ED process. Again, if such a situation were possible for you, I would highly recommend applying ED. When do you expect to take/re-take your exams?</p>
<p>Also, I am an international student which narrows my list down to 3 schools - Yale, Princeton and Pomona. </p>
<p>Does this still increase my chances? How do I prove that I am low-income? What should I use instead of FAFSA? would this depend on the college?</p>
<p>Also, I think my previous question has gone unanswered - I don’t have 3 SAT subject tests yet - does this FORCE me to leave my college list blank for the ED round and go back and fill it in come December? Should I give ED a chance anyways, with 1 subject test? If I get “rejected” from ED, am I automatically reconsidered for RD?</p>
<p>EDIT: You answered my second question : I plan on taking 2 more subject tests in October and another SAT 1 in November which I think is too late, right?</p>
<p>If you have a strong portfolio and meet the financial qualification of QB, then, applying for the top schools via QB would increase your chance; because you are competing in a small pool as opposed to the general pool.
This is the advantage of having QB and that’s the only advantage. Nothing to do with financial package.</p>
<p>“One more - does Questbridge really help in terms of ADMISSIONS?”</p>
<p>The schools that are partnered with QB do so because they have chosen to set aside spots in their incoming freshman class for lower-income applicants. This is a category separate but similar to such other set-asides as athletes, legacies, and URMs. Without QB, need-blind schools would have no idea you were lower-income. Thus, QB assists in admissions the way that being a recruited athlete, a legacy, or a URM does. </p>
<p>As to Match, yes, the percentage who get in via this process is very small. BUT … for some, it is like buying a lottery ticket for a 4-year ride, and that ain’t bad. Not only that, but instead of only being able to apply ED to one school, you are tossing your hat in the ring for as many as 8. There is no other way one could do such a thing. Example: You want a top LAC. You plan on applying to Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Trinity, and Swarthmore. Without QB, you would have to pick only one to try for ED, since all are binding. But with QB, you can rank all of them – that’s 5 ED apps. Non-QB kids cannot do that. </p>
<p>My S applied to Princeton & Yale for Match. Didn’t get into either during Match, BUT … Princeton doesn’t even have any form of early anymore, so at least he had that shot, and Yale has SCEA. By doing Match, S got to take a shot at both. As it was, he got into Princeton regular.</p>
<p>4th house, so your Son applied Match (synonym for ED?) but was “rejected” (synonym for not matched?) and waited out, without having to do anything for the RD round, or did he have to submit extra material in between his rejection for Match and the RD decisions?</p>
<p>Can I apply Match/ED with only 1 subject test and a low SAT, purposely get rejected/unmatched and send in my new/additional scores along the way for RD?</p>
<p>@powerbomb: (1) 50% of applicants to QB become finalists, and then 60% of the finalists are admitted to a school on their list. (2) Go to the site below, as I don’t know much about int’l aid, and ask Stanford, Princeton, and Pomona as well as Questbridge directly (you’ll be answered promptly by QB, and the schools can take up to a week and a half). (3) For the SAT 2’s, you’ll be able to forward your scores after you find them out to the colleges. The SAT 1 would be JUST before admissions decisions were finalized, but you just might be able to squeeze it in. I would try.</p>
<p>It is possible that you can’t apply to ED without the proper number of scores for the schools you apply to. However, you can apply to be a finalist without the full quotient of scores. Questbridge recommends you don’t as it is “significantly” more difficult to become a finalist.</p>
<p>@Significa: only as awkward as you make it out to be.</p>
<p>I don’t see the connection between the Match Process and Regular Decisions. </p>
<p>I thought “finalists” were those who get accepted in the Match Process and all those who got rejected are reconsidered in the Regular Decisions…</p>
<p>So if I can’t apply ED without the full scores, then can I apply RD (which, the deadline seems to be Dec 15th, and that would give me time for all my tests)??</p>
<p>Questbridge: the program you are applying to
Finalist: ALL Questbridge scholars, all the people that were accepted into Qquestbridge</p>
<p>Yes, once you are accepted into Questbridge, you can apply through the ED and RD rounds. If you don’t apply ED round, you can apply RD round once you have sufficient scores.</p>