Questbridge chances

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
1

<p>I was just wondering if anybody who was a finalist of even matched can give me an honest opinion on whether I have a shot at being a finalist</p>

<p>GPA: 3.89 UW and 4.03 W
Rank: 7 out of 657
SAT/ACT scores: 1720 and 27
SAT Subject Tests: Chemistry-640 and Math I-660
AP Scores- World History-3 ; Statistics- 4
AP courses taken- World History, English Literature, English Language, Chemistry, Statistics, Government
Senior Course Load- AP Calculus BC, AP Environmental Science, AP U.S History, AP French, Pre-AP Biology, Medical Microbiology/Pathophysiology</p>

<p>Activities:
NHS- sophomore officer
French Honor Society- secretary
Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)- running for President
University Interscholastic League (UIL) Math/Science – Co-Captain – district team in math, number sense, and math (team got 1st place in science and 2nd place in math in our city)
GISD Student Leadership Committee- sophomore representative
Basketball- starter on Freshmen/JV
Football- starter on Freshmen/JV- co-captain (JV)
Basball- played on JV
UIL Current Events – district team
High-Q (quiz show completion)
Will join Key Club, maybe FBLA
~ 80 hours of community service</p>

<p>Summer:
Pre-Freshmen Engineering Program at New Mexico State University for two summers (received “Academic Excellence” honor first summer)
Summer Academy of Math and Science (SAMS) at Carnegie Mellon University this past summer
I’m a Hispanic Male</p>

<p>My mother makes about $16,000 a year to support me and my brother. She has been a widow for 12 years after my father was murdered in 2001. We were homeless for 6 months after his death and have had to constantly move because of financial strain. I was actually held back in 1st Grade because I had mental block (due my father’s death) and couldn’t read or write well. I’ve 2 different high schools, and my old high school was subpar to say the least. The curriculum was a complete mess and didn’t offer REAL science courses (biology, physics, or chemistry) until junior year. Fortunately I was able to take both Pre-AP Chemistry and AP Chemistry with a wonderful teacher, who was a teacher of the year at the school I am now. My family actually moved because our apartment was robbed and it was getting too dangerous to live in that area. The school I’m at right now is the best in our city and the competition is so fierce (my friend did major research and is already set for Yale or Cal Berkeley).</p>

<p>The biggest factor against me is my ACT/SAT scores. I will be totally honest; I don’t think I can get higher scores. I’ve already taken two SAT courses (one at my school and the other at SAMS), both were free, I did A LOT of practice and still got a terrible score. Granted when I took the test I had stomach problems, got only four hours of sleep because my neighbors were fighting, and was in a car crash 15 minutes before my test. I did well on the ACT with little practice, but I’m swamped with school work, am studying for the subjects tests in Math II and Chemistry (retake), and have too many other things to do (including looking for a job). But in essence I’m just a bad test-taker.</p>

<p>My dream schools are MIT or Cal Berkeley, but I know I won’t get the scores I need. The only thing I have going for me are my essays and recommendations. Anyway, any comment is welcome and please be totally honest, thank you very much.</p>

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<p>Sorry i meant to say “quiz show competition” and meant Caltech instead of Cal Berkeley for my college choices. I also apologize i did not know my post was that long.</p>

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<p>From my limited knowledge, MIT will be a reach for you with your test scores even among QB applicants. However, write a great essay explaining your circumstances and Caltech might be a possibility. Best of luck!</p>

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<p>What was your math SAT score?</p>

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<p>590 and 27 on the act</p>

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<p>Your test scores are very low however you have a story that you should share with them. I think you should definitely apply but make sure you have plenty of safeties too.</p>

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<p>OP you have a very compelling story. However I do want to ask you, and maybe challenge you…QB has how many partner schools, like 40? Why does it have to be MIT? Aren’t there other schools on that list which you would be thrilled to attend?</p>

<p>Yes, by all means apply. If you are a finalist, you can choose to rank (or not). But if you rank, you can list up to 8 schools. If you choose not to, or if you are not selected by a school which you rank, you can have your app forwarded to even more. Your transcript sounds like it will be quite promising. And again, your story is compelling: your motivation shines through.</p>

<p>Congrats on your summer programs and your success in such a competitive high school.</p>

<p>Study up on the schools. Keep reading College Conf. Make a list of schools you like and focus on those where your stats will not sink your app.</p>

<p>Also…have a safety – or two – where you would also love to go, maybe the Honors program at your local state university?</p>

<p>Keep posting, OP there are tons of knowledgeable parents on this site! ANd good luck!</p>

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<p>hfavila, if you decided to apply to NCM and are busy working on your app this week, I want to second the support momcinco sent you. Remember, QB is primarily asking these questions in order to select finalists: </p>

<p>“Does this student have the motivation and academic ability to thrive at one of our partner colleges?”
“Has this student overcome socio-economic obstacles to achieve academic excellence?”</p>

<p>Despite the low scores you seem to fit the profile :).
I wonder about your AP courses and scores. You list 6 AP courses already taken but only 2 scores. Did you not take the exam for the others or are the scores just lower than 3? That’s something you will want to explain on your app if it’s not evident.
Anyway, listen to momcinco and keep researching colleges from this amazing group! [Partner</a> Colleges](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/partner-colleges/overview-listing]Partner”>QuestBridge)</p>

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<p>My son was a QB finalist with a 1/400 class rank and a 36 ACT and was turned down by MIT. Had to settle for Brown, poor thing. :rolleyes:</p>

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<p>Thank you for the insight, I do have safety schools, several from Texas and New Mexico State University. </p>

<p>By the way you have a very funny and awesome username</p>

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<p>Their is a very specific biomedical engineering program that I would like to get into after I graduate from college. It is a joint program between Harvard and MIT, so even if I don’t get accepted by MIT I’ll probably still apply to the program after I complete my four years in college. But I think if I’m a graduate of MIT I’ll probably have a way better shot at being accepted.
As of right now, I almost want to lean more toward the biomedical engineering program at Columbia. I applied to the Columbia Engineering Experience program, did not get accepted though, and through my research I’m starting to like their facilities. They are doing research in cartilage repair, nanotechnology, etc. that is on-par with what I want to do.</p>

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<p>honeybee63, thank you for the motivation. You and momcinco seem to be very insightful. My essays were mostly about the story that I shared in the post, and I had many people review them, so I have high hopes. I believe I have a good shot at being a finalist, but my scores are probably too low for a match. I’m retaking the SAT and taking other subject tests. But as I mentioned, in general I’m a terrible test-taker, it is not my strong suit.
Yes, I did not pass two AP exams, and the other two I did not take, for a separate dilemma that is a story for another day. But I did explain many things in the QB application about my circumstances. I’m almost done I just need to copy and paste my short responses.
I also want to explain to them that there were other AP courses I could not take because of schedule constraints, due to the transfer issue when I changed schools, and that I’m planning on self-studying for at least two AP exams by myself.</p>

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<p>hfavila - check out Rice for nano-tech and bio(med)</p>

<p>loremipsum - my S too was also not successful with his app to MIT… the QB app just really do not work. If he had to do it again, he would have applied directly to MIT using their supplement and I am certain he would have been successful.</p>

<p>It’s alright though :-)</p>

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<p>My son didn’t know that much about Brown when he applied, but the school’s open curriculum and its quirky sense of humor has really been a great fit for him – better than MIT, in fact. My son indicated that he would have ultimately chosen Brown over MIT in any case.</p>

<p>The lesson to the OP: don’t obsess about any one school, you’ll find a place that will make you happy – and your original target will still be around for grad school if you want.</p>

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<p>Crazymom, I’m curious abut your experience with QB, esp your feeling that the QB apps “just don’t work”. I haven’t (yet) had a kid go through the process but I have mentored many QB applicants. My sense from their experience is that if you have a school you have your heart set on, the chances of admission are better applying ED/EA to that college than doing the NCM. But what about if you apply and ‘rank’ as many as 8 schools? or just use the QB finalist ‘hook’ when applying RD to a list of colleges? Do you believe that the QB app doesn’t give a boost at all? I’m asking out of genuine curiosity - I’m not yet sure how much faith I have in the QB process as far as increasing odds of admissions ( I do think that many of the kids I’ve worked with would not have applied to selective colleges if not for QB and in that sense it is providing an important service - but that’s obviously not your situation)</p>

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<p>For Questbridge itself, I’d say you have a good shot, particularly if your essays are good. You certainly sound like you’ve overcome obstacles in your life, and that’s the kind of thing they like to hear.</p>

<p>Admittedly, however, MIT would be quite the reach. I recommend checking out some of the other partner colleges – you may fall in love with a few that you never even knew about beforehand. If you aren’t matched, it’s not the end of the world - just remember that you’ll be an even more attractive candidate for early decision!</p>

<p>Good luck. :)</p>