I’m not sure if this will be useful, but I made this thread for juniors applying this year. Hopefully, we can all help each other out and answer each other’s questions.
How’s application going everyone ?
Wow, I was so sure no one was gonna reply. It’s going pretty well I think. I’ve finished most of my essays but I just need to do the Awards ones.
Hey I was wondering if I should even apply since I have a unique financial case. Basically my family used to be poor where I qualified for free lunch, had food stamps, etc. So 5 years ago I would definitely without a doubt qualify for questbridge. But now, my family makes above the $65,000 for four and we’ve been better off. So I’m not sure if I should still apply if things are better but at the same time, I feel obligated to apply due to the circumstances I had to go through growing up.
Just popping by to say that, if you family has been making $65,000 for only a few years, and likely does not have assets due to having low income for many years, I would suggest that you apply. Your family is likely still dealing with financial issues which accumulated during the period during which you were low income, and therefore will have a difficult time paying for college.
So I think that, despite your family’s present income being above $65,000, I think that you are likely eligible, unless your family had a huge windfall which included enough money to pay off all their debts, buy a house, etc…
Glad to see a thread like this.
I was also wondering if my application will even get looked at because my tax returns from last year are different from my current financial situation. My family used to make $200,000, but we are in an insane amount of debt (hundreds of thousands of dollars on the house, ten of thousands for my sister’s college, medical bills, etc.). Also, one of my parents had been on disability for 2 years and is now unemployed, which is not shown on the tax forms. We also have really high medical bills because of mental illness in the immediate family.
I would really like to apply for this program, but I don’t want to think I have a chance if I don’t.
@riverandsasha3 From what I’ve read, the general rule is: no matter what’s on your tax forms, if you feel your family has faced financial hardships, apply. I think you should just really take advantage of the additional information forms.
I have a question about Quest for Excellence awards. It probably won’t be answered in time because this thread has been really really quiet but you never know!
I know that you can apply for multiple QFE awards, but can you receive multiple awards? Like, is it possible to get the STEM award and the New Americans award to get a total of $2,000? Now that I say it, it seems pretty unlikely but I just wanted to confirm.
I hope this isn’t rude but…
To anyone who comes here and is as disappointed with the thread as I was, check out the Questbridge subreddit. It’s filled with super supportive people and it’s MUCH more active. Here’s the link:
@BundleaBees where’s the link?
@FellowBonist Oh I didn’t realize CC doesn’t let me link to it. But you can just google Questbridge reddit
Does anyone know how likely it is to get selected for one of the summer programs? My family is big on planning, and they’re trying to put together a summer schedule, so they are trying to figure out how likely a summer trip for me is, but I can’t find that information? I feel like I must be missing it or something.
@mtmousie they’ll probably cancel some summer programs due to .the corona and the remaining ones will be online
So I was looking at this short response question on the application:
“What do you admire most about your community? What would you improve?”
Does anyone know if this has to be about the community I live in or can I write about my band community or school community instead? I feel like my writing would be much stronger writing about that instead of writing about the town community I live in.
@leen326 I think they say community so you can write about a specific community so I am guessing so…but I’m not 100% sure
I have a 1350 SAT score but I have an unweighted gpa of 3.98 and weighted 4.52 and a pretty strong activities and leadership. I was going to take it in March but it got cancelled 
so should I even include it bc its optional sooo
@leen326 I think they mean any community of any kind. I know people have gotten in by writing about the gamer community or their school. It seems intentionally broad.
i’m thinking of applying too,but i’m probably not smart enough
@diorjhs Don’t put yourself down like that! I know it’s cliche but you really never know until you try. But if you want to apply, you’ve got to start NOW. It’s due in 4 days. In fact, I honestly don’t know if you’ll have enough time. If you can’t apply this time, you could apply for the national college match later on.
AAAAH I’m not sure if I’m the only one in this thread, but the application is due on Thursday and I haven’t turned in my application yet! Eeek. I’ve just never found the time to work on it due to my immense college and high school workload. I’m writing my biographical essay as we speak!