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<p>It is not necessary. Your financial information is available to QB and the partner schools that are reading them. Just the fact that you are applying through QB lets them know that you are of low, or relatively low income in the first place.</p>
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<p>Just remember when you are looking at the #'s of match recipients taken by each school, you need to take them in the context of the size of their student body. For instance, Princeton has about 3X more incoming freshmen than Amherst, so the rate for the match would be 31 versus 27, so not that much different. Many more QB students will rank Princeton as well. I just wanted to point this out so nobody gets a incorrect impression that their chances of matching at Princeton is much greater than other partner schools.</p>
<p>Does anyone have the data for number of Questbridge students accepted through RD to the partner colleges?</p>
<p>^^^^^^</p>
<p>It doesn’t appear the final #'s are out for last year, but you can see the numbers for the previous years.</p>
<p>[2005-08</a> National College Match Program Results - Acceptance Rates](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/cmp/chances.html]2005-08”>http://www.questbridge.org/cmp/chances.html)</p>
<p>All in all, the rates of admission for Questbridge applicants are more or less the same as any pool would be; the real difference is in the applicants themselves. Often these same kids would be rejected from the RD pools because they aren’t in the 2300 SAT/4.5 GPA range. The reality of the program is that you simply can’t measure your chances. Although 50% of applicants are admitted to the Match program, you can’t really figure it much more than that. Apply, hope for the best, and use what resources you have to your advantage.</p>
<p>@natim1: There is no need to talk about the difficulties, as GA2012MOM said, but if you think they are important to mention then there is no reason not to.</p>
<p>@Jimmy28: There are no real rules for the QB process. Most finalists are under 60K/year, so if you fit that then you’re really safe, but if you’re over 60K and circumstances show that you have just as much need, then you’ll (again) probably be a great candidate.</p>
<p>Ok i know that people are saying that “there is no need to” mention financial difficulty or horrible experiences, but from the sample essay on the website and several QB match recipients i’ve talked to i’m getting the idea that that is the point. I feel like just the way the prompt is phrased is meant to quide you towards actually explaining your circumstances. You don’t have to write some sob story about how your family has no money, just an interesting, real and heartfelt account of something to do with you. Don’t whip out the pity card, just put them in your shoes for 800 words.</p>
<p>Anyways, that’s the sense i’m getting…and that’s what i’m going with.</p>
<p>What are the teacher recommendations like?</p>
<p>are they questionaires or they have to write an official recommendation?</p>
<p>@Panda: I hear that they’re question style T_T i think it’s good for QB purposes but it sucks for CommonApp cause they have to do QB and a regular one</p>
<p>I’m thinking of applying Columbia ED (which is definitely my top choice), but I can also do the College Match. A few schools on my RD list aren’t College Match schools. Would it be wise to apply to the College Match in this case?</p>
<p>You cannot do ED and any other school for the Match. If you are doing the Match, everything has to be done through QB. Same for EA.</p>
<p>But if you don’t get Matched, you can do EA for some schools.</p>
<p>I already wrote a Common App essay that I love, but that doesn’t fit at all with the Autobiographical Essay. It’s also significantly more than 500 words long. I’ve made peace with the fact that I won’t be able to send it in the Questbridge application, but I was wondering if anyone knew if there was any way I could send it to the actual schools I’m ranking? It could fit as a Creative Writing Supplement, I think. I’m just really disappointed that I can’t use it, and I think it really captures a little of who I am, in a way I can’t quite manage with the biographical essay question.</p>
<p>Or, would any of the veterans be willing to read my essay and comment on whether it could be used as the biographcal essay?</p>
<p>I can’t really think of any way that the CA essay would not fit with the QB essay- if you aren’t writing about yourself (practically the only requirement as far as the QB essay is concerned), then you shouldn’t be giving it to any colleges. The QB essay doesn’t need to be a condensed autobiography, more of a picture of yourself. Send it in as an extra essay if you feel it is important; they’ll be more than happy to read it.</p>
<p>@Ju_liaa: I think you’re misunderstanding mine, and perhaps GA2012MOM’s, point. The idea I’m putting across is that it is ineffective for most people to fit their life story in several hundred words. As an essay reviewer, I see this fail all too often. Probably 5 or 6 out of every 10 essays I read is an attempt along these lines. If you feel that it is essential and you can effectively present that as a short essay, then by all means do it- there isn’t anything stopping you.
I’ve read the essays of past QB matches, and this belies what you’ve stated. These essays gave a piece of the puzzle in the general picture of the applicant. Each puzzle piece is a different essay or part of the application; often even more of the picture is recieved through the letters of recommendation. I know the real issue is to logically present everything you want the committee to know in what is really a small amount of time and space; this is very difficult to do. What I’d recommend for you is to make a list of things you think are important for QB, and colleges, to know. Rank them, and write primarily on these issues.
I, for one, have quite a few things that have taken up a lot of time in my life (abuse, trauma, hospitalization, depression, ED, etc) as well as the financial problems. Obviously, I’m going to have to weigh what is most beneficial and most logical to write about in these essays. For you, it is going to be entirely different- you may have had primarily financial issues to deal with.
My interpretation of the QB prompt is: using the financial/other issues as a springboard, what effects have these problems had on your life and how did you deal with them? This can be so widely intepreted that, to me, it seems futile to say that one should write about a particular thing: QB applicants come form literally every type of background.</p>
<p>@fitzmor: Yeah that’s what i was trying to get to as well. What i was trying to say is that there is a fine line between pity card and this is what I’ve been through. Regardless of whether you write about one thing, a few things,or your whole life, there is a way to go about it. You just have to be aware of that boundary.</p>
<p>On that note, I think anyone attempting “chances” on this thread should know that there isn’t really any specific criteria one can be chanced by. If you meet the (flexible) requirements to apply to QB, you’re as good as in as long as the QB committee is taken with you. Unlike the regular admissions process, which QB flips on its head, there is no ideal applicant.</p>
<p>By “Unlike the regular admissions process, which QB flips on its head, there is no ideal applicant” you mean people who are QB finalists are very likely to get in RD?</p>