Let’s say there are only 3 QB schools I really want to attend. I could list only those 3 as my “matches” and would have to accept the first one that matches with me. If none did, I could then apply to those same schools “Regular Decision?” And do you think I’d still have a chance as regular decision even if they didn’t choose me as a match?
pretty much. if you’re designated a questbridge finalist, you’re basically guaranteed admission into one of the partner schools. I’m not sure of you’d get the 3 schools you like specifically, but you’d be admitted to one of the 38.
@wypiposuck___ Thanks!
Status: Accepted- I’m a College Prep Scholar
Awards: Pomona conference with a $500 stipend, college trip nominations
Objective:
*ACT (Super-score, Comp, Essay, Eng, Math, Read, Sci): 35, 34 - 9, 36, 35, 34, 31 (33)
*SAT (EBRW, Math): 1540 (750, 790)
- Weighted GPA (out of 5.0): 4.67/4.0
- Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.95/4.0
- Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 21/883 Top 3%
- AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World History (5), AP Human Geography (4)
- SAT Subject Tests (place score in parenthesis): Math 2 (740), World History (660)
- Junior Year Course Load: IB SL French 4, Pre-IB US History, Debate 3, IB Theory of Knowledge, IB SL Economics, AP Government, IB Math SL, and IB HL English 3
- Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Full scholarship to the 2016 Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar (TASS), Prose Interpretation HISD District Champion (30time finalist), 2nd Place 2015 State Farm African American History Challenge, Varsity letters in tennis and debate, NJTL Bessie Swindle Park Ambassador, NSDA and NCFL Nationals qualifier, International Public Policy Forum (IPPF) Top 64, and NSDA Academic All-American
Subjective:
*Essay: I gave a good story about my grandmother, but the end seemed a bit superficial to me (8.5/10); Short answers: I gave direct answer, but they were not creative (7/10)
- Extracurricular activities (place leadership in parenthesis): Lamar Speech and Debate (Most improved), Lamar Key Club (secretary and vice-president), Lamar Young Democrats (Webmaster), EENHEID: Lamar’s Diversity Club (co-founder and president), Lamar Varsity Tennis (captain and most-improved), and World Youth Foundation (VP of students and Service Works Ambassador).
*College access programs: EMERGE, 100 Black Men, and Breakthrough Houston - Job/Work Experience: Sylvester Turner for Mayor Campaign internship (175 hours), McMillon Remodeling Apprentice (60 hours)
- School Type: Magnet, Public
- Ethnicity: Black (African-American)
- Gender: Male
- Income Bracket: $40,000
- Assets: $100
- Property: 0
- Extenuating Circumstances: personal…
- Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM, first gen.
Also, be aware that you aren’t applying to NCM directly. You have to be designated a Questbridge finalist to even move onto the NCM round. If you are not designated as a finalist then you’re basically on your own as far as applying to college.
Did anyone get accepted into summer programs or Quest for Excellence awards yet? Or will everyone who was accepted be notified of that in May and June?
It should say in the bottom of the acceptance letter that results for the summer programs will be out at May/June. The only summer program notifications out right now are the nominations for Notre Dame.
@Naperthrill Some Asian groups are actually under-represented and colleges have started to take this into account. For example, Vietnamese, Hmong, Cambodian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Laotian, Filipino, Korean, and even some minority Chinese individuals are starting to be considered within the context of their cultural group’s lack of representation in higher education and average socioeconomic status. I’m Black, but come from a Nigerian background. Nigerians are one of the most overrepresented ethnic groups in higher ed within the Black community. It’s all about context!
@wypiposuck___ I think you facts about guaranteed entrance to a partner school is wrong
Have the Yale Young Global Scholars program decisions been released yet if you applied through questbridge?
@GeoffWii2 On QB’s website it states that if you are not selected as a Questbridge finalist, you have to go about the college admissions process alone. However, if you make it to the finalist round, you can contend for NCM and that doesn’t work you go to Regular Decision. This is just information that I received from a QB information session at my school with current Questbridge finalists and alums.
SB: If you’re selected as a finalist, you are definitely more than qualified for NCM and Regular Decision, so I don’t see why you would not be accepted to at least one partner school. Plus, all the kids at my school who were denied NCM got accepted to one the of QB partner schools they applied to RD. (But that could just be my school) So who knows really
Decision: Rejected
Objective:
SAT I (breakdown): N/a
PSAT: 1200 from Sophomore year
ACT: n/a
SAT II: n/a
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 40/550
AP (place score in parenthesis): AP World (4); AP Psychology (4)
IB (place score in parenthesis): n/a
Extracurriculars:
FBLA
-National President’s Council
-State Officer
-Local Chapter Officer
• Business Management and Administration Award
• Second Place in FBLA Principles and Procedures at State Leadership Conference
• FBLA National Competitor
• Community Service Awards: Community, Service, and Achievement
• Business Achievement Awards: Future, Business, Leader, and America
• Statesman Award
• Finalist for Battle of the Chapters at Fall Leadership Conference
• First Place in Client Service at Region 5 Leadership Conference
• First Place in Organizational Leadership at Region 5 Leadership Conference
• Seventh Place in Client Service at State Leadership Conference
Student Council
-Junior Class President
Spanish National Honor Society
-Founder
Spanish Club
-Secretary
DECA
-member
Psychological Society
-member
Tennis team
-Varsity for 3 years; county champs & state qualifiers each year
Job/Work Experience:
-Real Estate Analyst
Volunteer/Community service: +600 hours
• Taught English via Skype to foreign speakers
• Participated in “Feed the City” project and donated food to families in need
• Provided child care services
• Worked with children and managed the game center at Trunk or Treat event on Halloween to provide candy to underprivileged children
Summer Activities: community service, internships, FBLA, seeing family (taking care of my niece & serving as a guide for my family who has very little English skills), studying history & languages (I taught myself French & Spanish)
Essays: 7/10 I wrote them last minute because of how busy I was with other stuff, but I thought they weren’t bad- definitely not my best work, but not bad.
Teacher Recommendation: I have no idea; my Spanish teacher has written a few letters of rec for me already, and she did an amazing job with the previous ones, so I hope the one she submitted was good.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): GA
School Type: public
Ethnicity: Middle Eastern
Gender: female
Income Bracket: under 15k
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Immigrant, abused, many family problems, low-income, living in the middle of nowhere (having to fight for opportunities), family member passed away from Cancer & I had to work to help pay off medical bills,taking on a ton of responsibility at a young age
Reflection
Strengths: leadership positions… income probably. Straight A’s & community service
Weaknesses: no SAT or ACT score; PSAT was old; not very high either
General Comments:
If you guys have any ideas as to how I can improve my application before NCM, it would be greatly appreciated!! Also, huge congrats to those of you who were accepted!! And to those who were not- it’s not the end of the world, and you still have a shot at NCM! Use this as motivation to work even harder to make your app even better! You got this!! Best of luck to everyone 
I do not understand why questbridge would not accept an applicant like you. Does questbridge really help individuals in need?
That’s awesome! Congrats!
Even is Asians are not underrepresented, would that be a sole reason for denying me? What about my first generation status, my academics, and my financial background? Would questbridge choose race over those factors?
@uzbekistan08 it’s so unfortunate that you did not get selected by QB. Idk what your topics for your essays were, but you did mention some of the extenuating circumstances that have occurred in your life. I suggest using those events in your college essays/supplements/personal statement to make a really compelling story to QB staff when you apply for NCM. Start now while you’re still in school and get your teachers to revise your paper. For example, there is this guy at my school who got matched to Stanford, but he did not have the best statistics or standardized test scores (3.3 GPA, 30 ACT), yet he had a really good essay. If you can craft a really compelling essay using your life experiences as an immigrant and so on, I have no doubt that you will be a strong candidate for NCM!
@uzbekistan08 @kchen0514 (As @wypiposuck___ mentioned) I think QB decisions are heavily dependent on the quality of your essays and I mean heavily. You can override many shortcomings in your quantitative data by making an emotional essay. Test scores, income, minority status, etc. don’t matter immensely (to QB) unless you show them how those factored into your life in your essays. If you’re going to apply to NCM, a good way to gauge whether your essay will pack a punch is to keep note of how emotional you become while writing it. If you don’t react to the words as you’re writing them, then keep editing and rewriting until you do. This will ensure that when people evaluate your essay they won’t just read about your pain, they’ll feel it.
Question: Do the essay questions change for the College Match application? Or do they say the same, and if so, do we have the chance to edit / revise our essay answers? I was selected as a Prep Scholar but still think I could do better on the essay questions that were asked. I am trying to understand if I’ll be answering the same questions, or answering completely new questions, or is it a combination?
@Southern5062 They’ll be the same questions. The letter says that your College Prep Scholars application will be automatically converted into the NCM app (but you can still make edits)
@naperthrill Asian-Americans are underrepresented at some LACs, and are specifically included as a preferred group for a lot of “diversity fly-in” programs.