I’m a high school junior nearing the end of the school year. I come from low income, but I dream of going to Yale. 4 people in my close family have gone there, and I want to continue that tradition. I know that yales financial aid offers free tuition and room and board for families under $65,000, but I am just a bit higher than that. So I assume I would still get a lot of aid. I am debating if I should apply for quest bridge, though, because if I was selected to be a finalist, it could help with aid as well (or possibly even more). But since it’s admission system is different, I’m not sure what to do and how that would affect my chances of getting in. I just want the best shot at getting in. Suggestions??? It is my dream to go there, but I need to have good financial aid or I will not be able to pay for it (if I even get in!) is questbridge worth it or not?
The financial aid people at Yale will look at more than your family’s income. If you have considerable home equity, or that might factor in. On the other hand if there are more than 4 people in your household, and your family income is over $65,000, you might still get the same generous aid. It is based on CSS Profile but each school formulates their aid packages according to their own criteria taken from the report.
Yale is one of the most generous schools when it comes to need- based aid. Have you run a net price calculator? You don’t need QB to get an aid package with no loans, and for many families there is no parental contribution, either.
As for QB, it is very competitive, too. I think the acceptance rate is around a third. Were you accepted to College Prep?
QB is a great program. But it is not the only way to be accepted to a great, affordable school. Our two sons are QB scholars, and one is at Yale. He chose not to rank, altho he could have ranked only Yale. He decided to do SCEA for reasons I could explain in a PM. Your situation may be different, so it is important to figure out what is best for you and your family. I would be glad to be a sounding board as you think it out.
Your chances for QB would be pretty limited with a family income in excess of $65k unless there are some serious extenuating circumstances. Many of the QB partners even require a FAFSA EFC of 0 for a match if I recall correctly.
I’m not even convinced QB is worth it for most very low income students, let alone students with incomes above 65k. It MAY be worth a shot, but most likely you’ll either not make finalist status, or make finalist status but not match. Not a personal failure, just how the numbers shake out for the program.
I would personally probably direct the time and effort elsewhere.
okay thanks! What is SECA? Does that mean he was still accepted to QB but didn’t apply through them? Also how was the financial aid with that? @momcinco
Oops sorry – just came back after a few busy days. SCEA is Single Choice Early Action. It is non-binding, however you agree to only apply to one private school. Many SCEA schools will still allow you to apply to other schools that are public, or have special scholarships for which you must apply early.
Yes he was a QB College Prep and then a Match finalist.
2 is right in that Yale only matches finalists who have a 0 EFC. We were not sure about their specific financial aid formula and whether we would come out as exactly 0. So he opted to do SCEA and forego the chance to rank. We knew fin aid would be extremely generous per the net price calculator. We wouldn't have taken that risk for a less generous school because of not being able to compare aid packages.
If SCEA had not worked out he would have had his QB application forwarded for free to about 10 schools. It would have saved us a lot of money in score reporting and transcripts (his high school charges per transcript) and it would have made him a stronger candidate at those schools.
S #2 is a College Prep scholar and we will attend the conference at Yale, where he will meet reps from 30+ schools. Hopefully by then he will have researched and will know which tables to spend the time on. It seemed like the QB scholars have their own reps (like georgraphical regions do) and they come to the conference so it is a good chance to make an impression. Like you he will have to decide how to tailor his strategy.
Of course there are some other things:
– We do not really expect a Match if he does decide to rank. A more feasible scenario could be a phone call from one of the ranked schools to encourage him to apply RD (a good sign of admissibility)
– Regardless of QB he will apply to three or four fly-ins.
– QB has a range of schools. Some are less selective than others. Being in QB, he still has to have the stats to get a close reading. Fitting into the middle 50% of SATs would help. His transcript is really strong and he has lots of APs but test scores do matter. In other words, don’t apply to only the most selective QB schools where your stats don’t stack up!
– I have read about cases where QB students end up not being accepted at the QB schools they applied to. S #2 has two other, non-QB schools that he is interviewing at and where he is a good candidate and where financial aid is very generous, and that he likes a lot so far.
Keep us posted!