<p>What does it usually take to become a finalist? How does the selection process work?</p>
<p>-Selection criteria
[QuestBridge</a> National College Match - Selection Criteria](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/cmp/criteria.html]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/cmp/criteria.html)</p>
<p>-Process Overview
<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/students/process.html[/url]”>http://www.questbridge.org/students/process.html</a></p>
<p>It’s a convoluted process, but it is on the Questbridge website.</p>
<p>I am a “late in life” mother by way of adoption. My son is a rising junior and URM. I have no earned income, only a pension, around $50K from many years as an educator and social security. The SS would put me over 60K. Has anybody had any experience with QB and this kind of income profile?</p>
<p>It is possible to become a QuestBridge finalist over the $60k mark, especially with multiple children. However, be aware that some colleges will only Match students under a certain income threshold.</p>
<p>You’ll find this page useful:</p>
<p>This part especially
</p>
<p>5% of Match recipients had a household income above $60,000.
[National</a> College Match Program: 2008 College Match Recipient Profile](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/students/profiles_class2013/stats.html]National”>http://www.questbridge.org/students/profiles_class2013/stats.html)</p>
<p>I’m going to be a senior in high school after summer. What should i papers do i need for questbridge. I tried to go on to their site but the application was closed. When should I apply? Currently I’m 23rd in my class about top 5-6 percent. My top school is Emory and the other ones I am looking at are Notre Dame and Oberlin. Emory only has early decision. I want to apply to all my colleges either EA or RD. Is it possilbe to get the Quest Bridge Aid without having to apply to Emory or other colleges early decision. Can I apply RD? On the QB College Match Webiste there are instructions but the dates are 2 yrs. old. I also need assistance filling out the CSS PROFILE. QB says that they help students pay for this and I’m absolutely grateful to them for this. But I’m not sure when to fill out that application or the the actual CSS PROFILE. My junior counselor for my high school was absolutely helpful but I might get a new one senior year. I don’t want to wait until school starts and fall behind on QB. Thanks alot and I greatly appreciate your help.</p>
<p>QuestBridge just welcomed two more partner colleges: Dartmouth and University of Virginia:
[QuestBridge</a> Home Page](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/)</p>
<p>The addition of Virginia will definitely benefit OOS students who want to attend UVA because of its academic excellence, but dont have enough money to afford the OOS cost.</p>
<p>“QuestBridge just welcomed two more partner colleges: Dartmouth and University of Virginia”</p>
<p>That’s great pnptruong. Sad to not see Cornell yet, but hopefully in my kids time all colleges will work with QB to help low income individuals.</p>
<p>This is so surreal. I remember being on last year’s forum when I was just beginning to apply for QuestBridge. You guys, work really hard on those apps, pour your heart and soul into them, when you do everything else - test scores, teacher recs, completing the rest of your app- will fall into place. I was a nervous wreck when I applied but everything turned out amazingly. I was matched with Princeton University, but decided to attend Harvard University. Nevertheless, you guys will do amazing things when selected as finalists. PM me if you guys need help/advice. =]</p>
<p>Hey–I’m eligible for Questbridge (I’m going to the College Prep conference at Yale and everything) but I don’t know if that application is right for me…while my family is low-income, both my parents graduated from Cornell and we get by with belt-tightening rather than significant hardship. MIT is my first choice; would it be better to use their EA application rather than the Questbridge one? I think the regular app might be better as the Questbridge one seems more focused on explaining economic circumstances.</p>
<p>Hi, azcpamom,
My situation is similar to yours, except I’m still working as a teacher (at 56) and therefore making less than $60K (around 55), but I only have one child. He applied for College Prep scholarship and was invited to the College Match Conference next week at Yale. You have nothing to lose by applying.</p>
<p>Thanks, scoutsmom, will do. Keep us posted about his experience at the Yale conference.</p>
<p>My son and I went to the QuestBridge Conference at Yale. It was amazing to see so many top colleges represented and get advice from the people who actually read and make recommendations on the applications. We learned that the essay is a much bigger part of the process than we imagined at these places, since essentially most of the applicants have the same outstanding GPAs, test scores, etc., and the essay can make you stand out. And since the application is due the end of September, the essay is the only thing left that we can work on - so we will.</p>
<p>The QuestBridge staff were very caring and accessible, too. The founder, Michael McCullough, spoke as well and he has quite an impressive story of his own. Very inspirational.</p>
<p>Are the essay prompts consistent from year to year and is it advisable to start on these essays now without having the official application online yet?</p>
<p>My counselor told me about this but what are the advantages of applying through Questbridge?</p>
<p>^ There are plenty. If you are a finalist, you automatically get the application fee waived for any of those colleges. If you are matched, you get a four-year scholarship; however, if you get accepted in Regular Decision, the financial aid is still very, very generous.</p>
<p>You get a lot of room [more work] to explain your case and present yourself to very selective universities that offer amazing financial aid.</p>
<p>Can we apply to any colleges we want in the US through Questbridge, or just only their partners universities ( like yale, princeton…) ?</p>
<p>You can only apply to their partner universities. If you are interested in the free application, this would be an ideal time to do your research for the Questbridge Program. Otherwise, you may wish to consider looking up how to get application fee waivers from other universities :)</p>
<p>I’m having some trouble deciding whether or not to apply through the QuestBridge application.</p>
<p>On one hand, several of the colleges I am looking at are indeed partner colleges of QuestBridge. However, I am hesitant to apply with the College Match because some other schools I am very interested in, like Harvard and Duke for example, are NOT partner colleges. Is it possible for me to use the QuestBridge application for RD to the partner colleges I am interested in, PLUS the Common App RD for the other colleges? Is that allowed? Would it be worth the hassle? Or should I simply apply with the Common App for all of them?</p>
<p>chram, I believe you can indeed apply using the QuestBridge application to the partner schools you’re interested in during RD and still apply through common app to other schools that do not participate in the program.</p>
<p>Another option would be to not rank any of the partner universities and continue into the Regular Decision part of this process; that way, your application fees with the partner institutions will be waived, but you will also not be bound to a university in place of another interest like Harvard or Duke. :)</p>