@xxluvforeverxx Yeah, I’m a bit of a nervous wreck when it comes to these type of programs, especially when the release date is so soon. As @HERCULES_HERCULES and @CMKingOfFl said perfectly, we shouldn’t stress. (◕ᴗ◕✿) I think I’m more cautiously optimistic than anxious, though. It’s nice to talk to others that are applying to the program (at least for me lololol), and I realize that getting rejected won’t be the end of the world, even if it hurts reading it at first.
@sugarysnow honestly I’m glad to talk to applicants outside of myself. It’s cool to know that my lack of patience is shared by others XD
OK - now that I am reading last year’s winners’ posts from when they were first notified they’d been chosen as a Prep Scholar, I think I may be wrong about whether you know right away if you won a Quest For Excellence Award (Arts, STEM, USA etc…) Most of the ‘new prep scholars’ are just saying they learned if they were invited to an admissions conference (plus a few got a small stipend for travel assistance) and some were saying they were ‘nominated’ for free college visits. (Not sure what that means if you are ‘nominated’ or whether that ever comes to fruition…). So maybe it is later that we find that out.
Question: Do any of you know if all College Prep Scholars get free online Test Prep through one of the programs like Kaplan? Seems like I saw that somewhere.
@Southern5062 I believe that’s one of the Quest for Excellence awards, I believe the NY one. The only thing all College Prep Scholars have is the Conference for college application prep.
Question (while we are waiting on QuestBridge…). I need to pull my SAT score up a good 150 points. My PSAT was pretty good (1410 out of 1520) but then my SAT was 1320 /1600 which is not exciting at all. I really want to be in the high 1400’s minimum. I feel like I have studied Khan Academy on College Board quite a bit. Maybe I need better test taking strategies? Not going to be getting a private tutor (lol) but may scrape some $ together and pay for an online program if I could find one that really gives results. Or do any of you have a particular book / program / strategy that you recommend? I really appreciate the advice, friends.
Also considering the ACT but no one at my school ever takes that so I have limited exposure to it other than what I read… that there are a lot more questions and it moves quickly. Any of you find that you did considerably better on one vs the other?
Does anyone know anything about getting money to visit partner colleges?
@Southern5062 Hi! I was able to get my ACT from a 28 to a 31 to a 35. The best way to study is to take actual practice tests made by the CollegeBoard (for the SAT) or even previous tests. Take these tests in the most realistic environment possible, same time, the entire tests, etc. As you take the test circle every question you are unsure about.
When you finish (the next day) go over every question you circled and the ones you got wrong, hopefully these overlap quite a bit. If they don’t overlap you need to work on slowing down. Go over all these questions and make sure you know exactly why you got them wrong or were unsure about them. If you want to, do other problems like these on KhanAcademy or some other program.
Rinse and Repeat.
Good Luck!
@Glorfindel1 Thank you! I would be THRILLED to increase like you did! How much time did you set aside to study… daily? weekly? long weekends? It seems if I have done a good amount of studying - you think at this point I should just ‘start taking tests’ and find my weak points, then studying just those areas, then doing it over and over and over? Yes? Also interested in how you managed your study time / what time you set aside. Dd you do marathon studying or what…?
@Glorfindel1 That is one of the Quest for Excellence awards, I believe under either NYC or STEM
@Southern5062 I basically started about a month or two before the test date, depending on when it was. I did a month before my one in September and two before one in March because it’s easier to study more frequently during September. Basically, I tried to get 4 practice tests done before the test. I tried to do one every Saturday and then spend Sunday looking over questions and the rest of the week working on specific skills, not really more than an hour a day unless I didn’t have much homework. If I’m very busy during school I’ll just do one every two weeks.
I don’t really like marathon studying as the more tired you get, the less you will remember later. Definitely make sure you understand everything on the last test you took, even if it means skipping your next one. I heard of another tip that I didn’t use but could be useful as well. Take a notebook and write down formulas or rules or specific problems you had trouble on and flip through it when you have fertile throughout the week.
@CMKingOfFl Thanks
@Glorfindel1 I hope to improve on the ACT as much as you have. I got a 28 the first time I took it, 30 the second time, and 31 the third.
I improved my ACT score from a 31 to 34 by doing practice tests released by ACT. But my writing is a 7, my reading is a 27(I got 36 or 35 in all other sections). What do you guys think?
@HappySquirrel Woww congrats on the high score! Maybe you could even get a 35 if you pulled up that reading a bit D: (though honestly you should be content already :P)
Also, friendly reminder to all that results might be out tomorrow 
I got a 31 on my first one. Didn’t think it would be my lead score so I didn’t take studying seriously and was stunned when I got the score report. My science and math was 26 and 27 so I’m gonna up those and try to get to a 34-35
Lol, this thread has more replies than the NCM thread. I can only imagine next year’s.
@Glorfindel1 I honestly don’t know anything either when it comes to paid visits to colleges, but here’s some info I found on Wikipedia. Very credible, I know. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ It doesn’t list the specifics you want, but I found it to be somewhat helpful.
- 40 full scholarships to the Brandeis University High School Summer College Program for Fein Fellows, Emory University Pre-College Program, Harvard University Secondary School Program, University of Notre Dame Pre-College Programs, University of Pennsylvania: Leadership in the Business World Summer Program, University of Pennsylvania: Management & Technology Summer Institute, University of Pennsylvania: Summer Academy in Applied Science & Technology, University of Pennsylvania: Wharton Sports Business Academy, Stanford University High School Summer College Program, and Yale University Summer Session
- 60 individualized college admissions counseling awards, in which a current Questbridge staff member or college student mentors a student through all stages of the college admission process
- 2000 invitations to QuestBridge's College Admissions Conferences, which in 2013 will be held at Northwestern University, Stanford University, and Yale University
- All expense paid trips to visit Questbridge partner colleges
- 300 telementoring awards with Amherst College, which will pair low-income and first-generation Amherst students to the award winners. The students will answer questions about the college process and provide support and encouragement
-Quest For Excellence Awards, offered in a variety of categories, which offer promising students laptops, iPads, or all expense paid trips to the partner colleges
@HappySquirrel I think your scores are amazing. Love them.
@sugarysnow Thanks for the info. I was really curious about how many scholars ended up getting one of the summer programs and 40 sounds about right. I knew it was low, but to put it into perspective that’s little more than a 1% chance for ACCEPTED scholars…
Many of the partner schools have fly-in programs. Requirements vary. Here are some -
http://blog.■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/blog/college-fly-diversity-programs-2016-2017/