Official 2008 Questbridge National College Match Discussion and Help

<p>There's a thread about this in the college admissions forum, though just by this thread, it should be in this forum...</p>

<p>You can take the October SAT; that is the last acceptable test date for the Match program, and you will need to have your scores sent directly to the universities you plan to rank. Obviously, you will not be able to put those scores on your QuestBridge application, but it doesn't matter so much there as it does for the actual Match round, granted that you make it to finalist status. If you have the need and seem qualified, QB won't care. In fact, QB even says that you need only take the tests required for the colleges you are ranking, so subject tests may not be necessary.</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: FAQ</p>

<p>Plenty of students retake the SAT in October, so I don't think it'd affect your chances at all of becoming a finalist.</p>

<p>I'm seeing other QuestBridge threads popping up in other forums, so I thought I'd bump this.</p>

<p>Please from now on post all your problems and concerns regarding Questbridge here: </p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/508411-official-2008-questbridge-national-college-match-discussion-help.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/508411-official-2008-questbridge-national-college-match-discussion-help.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It'll always be found in the College Admissions subforum.</p>

<p>What exactly qualifies as a low enough income for QuestBridge? My parents make, combined, just over 100k, but my sister is in college as well, so I don't know. QuestBridge also sent me a letter regarding the program for juniors, which makes me think I can apply for the College Match, but can I really?</p>

<p>Well, many things go into their calculations, so it's possible to have a deceptively high income but still be eligible for this program. However, the highest reported income was about $80k for those who were able to go through the program (become finalists, etc.); according to the Match profile, only about 2% were in the 60k-80k range, so it's not very likely that you'll be able to make finalist status with an income of over 100k. However, many of the students were first-gen, so they probably didn't have another sibling in college, which would be taken into account for you.</p>

<p>In addition, QuestBridge sends letters to juniors who may or may not be eligible for the program (and here, I speak of eligibility as just low-income status). So even if you did get a letter, you may not have actually received the College Prep Scholarship or made it through the College Match, due to your income. But you should definitely look into, since financial aid is a very sticky process and many, many factors are taken into account. (Seriously, once you complete the CSS profile or the FAFSA, you'll see how unpleasantly detailed/complex it can be.)</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: FAQ</p>

<p>I won a college prep award, but I'm still debating whether or not to do the whole college match thing.</p>

<p>hi there
sorry if this question came up already but i was wondering
which of questbridge's college partners gives aid to international students?
I'm a domestic international student and my family earns less than 40k a year. I've read somewhere that princeton and yale might give aid but is that true? </p>

<p>Also, I would like to know hether taking the october sat would affect my chances of becoming a finalist. i did okay on sat but way below what I'm aiming( 680 CR, 740 Math, 780 Writing= 2200). If I'm not named a finalist, could I still get aid? Actually, it would be great if you could clarify it for me the difference between "match" and "regular admission".Thanks,</p>

<p>unefille</p>

<p>The letters from Questbridge are merely invitations to apply - no guarantees.</p>

<p>Sorry if this has been answered, but I'm a bit confused. Ok, so if I were to apply to QB and become a finalist, would the schools I ranked consider me under regular decision or EA/ED (where applicable)?</p>

<p>jay123, actually they would consider it even before EA/ED! Questbridge winners of the College Match last year received their acceptances 2 weeks before the other official EA/ED decisions!</p>

<p>And if you don't make it as a College Match winner, those schools you ranked will review your application a second time during the RD round, and not surprisingly, during the RD round, a lot more QB Finalists were selected admitees.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info, kyledavid...I think I might just apply then; there's no harm in trying.</p>

<p>From what I understand the "contract" is only binding if it occurs in the first round of "college matches", not the RD decision round in which you may be chosen by a number of partner colleges. Is this true? I know for a fact that you can not be a "college match" if your family's EFC is larger than zero, so that leaves a good number of us out in the first round.</p>

<p>Ahhh! Thanks, azsxdc. That really clears it up!</p>

<p>What are your particular stats? Meaning your GPA, financial history, and SAT scores.</p>

<p>unefille:</p>

<p>
[quote]
sorry if this question came up already but i was wondering
which of questbridge's college partners gives aid to international students?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Many of them do; you’ll have to research each one individually. However, only two of QB’s partners—Yale and Princeton—will consider international students in the Match round. Thus, they are the only two colleges for which an international student may get a Match scholarship.</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: FAQ</p>

<p>
[quote]
Also, I would like to know hether taking the october sat would affect my chances of becoming a finalist.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It will not.</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: FAQ</p>

<p>
[quote]
i did okay on sat but way below what I'm aiming( 680 CR, 740 Math, 780 Writing= 2200

[/quote]
</p>

<p>A 2200 is excellent for QB. It’s great even for the colleges. Look at this for comparison:</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: 2007 College Match Recipient Profile</p>

<p>
[quote]
If I'm not named a finalist, could I still get aid?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes. The partner colleges are very generous with aid; even if you are not a finalist—and thus cannot be matched—you may still receive some aid in the RD round. It’s not likely that it will be a full scholarship, but you can get some.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Actually, it would be great if you could clarify it for me the difference between "match" and "regular admission".

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The “Match” is the equivalent of ED or EA. You apply for the National College Match in late September; you find out your finalist status in late October; you apply to the colleges in early November; and you find out your match status (matched or unmatched) in the end of November. If you are not a finalist, you may apply for the early programs that some of the colleges have. If you are not matched, you may apply for regular decision; the deadline is typically early January and you find out your college decision with the many other thousands of applicants in late March or early April.</p>

<p>jay123:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Ok, so if I were to apply to QB and become a finalist, would the schools I ranked consider me under regular decision or EA/ED (where applicable)?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You would be under EA/ED. If you did not get matched, then you would be automatically deferred to the regular decision round.</p>

<p>(Technically, azsxdc is right; you do find out a few weeks before EA/ED applicants usually do. However, the binding/non-binding status of the program and the rough time frame are exactly like EA/ED.)</p>

<p>
[quote]
And if you don't make it as a College Match winner, those schools you ranked will review your application a second time during the RD round

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I’ll also add that QB allows you the option of selecting schools that they will forward your application to in the RD round, but that you don’t rank for the Match program. So let’s say I wanted to apply to Columbia; however, I don’t want to be bound to attend, so I choose not to rank it, and instead on the application, I ask QB to forward my application to Columbia in the RD round. It would not be on my ranked list, but I would be set for the RD round.</p>

<p>
[quote]
during the RD round, a lot more QB Finalists were selected admitees.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Exactly. For the past two years, roughly 500 students have been accepted in the RD round. That, combined with those matched, makes for an acceptance rate of roughly 40% through QuestBridge.</p>

<p>Just this past year, Stanford took over 100 students; the numbers were similar for schools like Yale, Princeton, Amherst, etc. The numbers for the year before last can be found here in the picture table:</p>

<p>Matching</a> Top Colleges, Low-Income Students - WSJ.com</p>

<p>periwinklekitten:</p>

<p>
[quote]
From what I understand the "contract" is only binding if it occurs in the first round of "college matches", not the RD decision round in which you may be chosen by a number of partner colleges. Is this true?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That’s correct. Note, also, that a few colleges are non-binding even in the Match (Yale, Princeton, Stanford, and Notre Dame).</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: FAQ</p>

<p>
[quote]
I know for a fact that you can not be a "college match" if your family's EFC is larger than zero, so that leaves a good number of us out in the first round.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No, that isn’t true. For your EFC to be zero, your income is typically in the low 20k range. Even with a family’s assets taken into account, many students have non-zero EFCs and are still matched. See this:</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: 2007 College Match Recipient Profile</p>

<p>I have quite a few friends whose EFCs were greater than zero and were still matched.</p>

<p>i thought i should bump this....</p>

<p>Also, QB does get students' names from the PSAT, etc.</p>

<p>
[quote]
2. I am not from a low-income family but I received a mailing from QuestBridge inviting me to apply. Why did you choose to send a mailing to me and how did you receive my name?</p>

<p>We receive names and addresses of students who scored highly on the PSAT, SAT, or ACT through the College Board and Educational Testing Service. Thus, most students who receive our mailing receive it because they did exceptionally well on their standardized tests and checked a box on their test indicating that they would like to receive information about scholarship opportunities. The College Board and ACT do not release information from students regarding family income. We estimate students' household income using data from publicly available sources, such as the U.S. Census Bureau. However, these sources do not provide perfect information on the income of individual households. As a result, some of the students who receive our mailing do not qualify financially. We hope that these students will refer others who qualify for the program.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>National</a> College Match Program: FAQ</p>

<p>kyledavid for MOD :D :D</p>

<p>Bump. Fell back 4 pages.</p>

<p>Applying Questbridge is a pretty copious process, and I don't know if it's truly worth all of the work. I applied to the Questbridge College Match program and did not make a finalist, yet I ended up with pretty much a full ride at Stanford anyway. A lot of the schools that have partnerships with Questbridge will give you a full ride or close to a full ride if you are a typical Questbridge applicant just based off of need. Questbridge did, however, help me prepare for the college admissions process because the Questridge application is similar to other college apps.</p>