Questbridge for international student...

Paying for College Access Programs (Questbridge, Posse)
1

<p>Hi. I am a low income international student in a U.S. high school (no citizenship, no green card) and just found out about this Questbridge program. </p>

<p>I am pretty confused about this program... Are we required to go to the school that we are matched with? What exactly does being a finalist mean? What happens if we don't get matched with any school? Do internationals get treated entirely the same as domestic applicants? </p>

<p>Also, how are my chances of becoming a finalist?</p>

<p>My dad makes about 40~45K a year, (sends money from working in Korea) and my mother is not allowed to legally work as she lives here under an F1 visa.
My high school is very competitive and highly regarded/ranked. Some stats:
2290 SAT I
790 SAT II math 2, 790 SAT II Chem
3.88 unweighted 4.31 weighted GPA
10 APs in high school; 1 in sophomore, 5 in junior, 4 in senior
300+ volunteer hours from church, tutoring, key club, couple Leadership positions
Various ECs (including UC COSMOS, summer internship at UCSD)
prospective chemical engineering major (not sure)</p>

2

<p>You can only apply to the following schools through Questbridge National Match: Brown, Carleton, Grinnell, Pomona, Princeton, Swarthmore, University of Chicago, Washington & Lee, and Yale.</p>

<p>There are two kinds of schools- binding, and unbinding. All the schools are binding except for Princeton, Yale, MIT, and Stanford. Binding means that if you are matched to the school (ie. you are accepted), you MUST go to that school. You can only get matched to one school, the highest on your list (of up to 8 schools), that decided to accept you. Keep in mind that Match is an assured full ride (books, tuition, room, board) with no loans, so don’t let the binding part scare you.</p>

<p>More often than not, people don’t get matched. When this happens, you can apply ED to some schools, get an EA decision from others, and apply RD to all partner colleges (with free application). Most QuestBridge students get into a partner college this way. All the colleges will consider you, despite your status.</p>

<p>Do internationals that reside in the US get treated the same? Only at 8 schools: Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Dartmouth. Most other schools are need-aware for international students that reside in the US. </p>

<p>Your stats are excellent and you have a great chance in being named a finalist.</p>

3

<p>Couple of questions:</p>

<p>So if you are matched to any of the school, you get guaranteed 100% full ride for all 4 years?
And can you do the national match only if you are selected as a finalist? If you could expand on what happens after you get chosen as a finalist and the benefits, that would be great. There’s a separate Questbridge application… right? How does using the Questbridge application compare from normally applying through the Common app in terms of chances of getting in, etc? </p>

<p>Thank you, appreciate your help.</p>

4

<p>Yes, pretty much. While you will have to apply for FA every year, the amount you have to contribute will be the same, which for most if not all matched packages is 0$. The only exception is if your income suddenly jumps up (ie. 70,000$+)</p>

<p>Yes, you can only do Match as a finalist. When you are named a finalist, you can rearrange your rankings list (but not remove or add schools). You must forward the required materials to the partner colleges. Since you only get a week to do this, it’s recommend you prepare the materials well in advance. Questbridge sends the application to all the schools you rank, and they choose the students they want. You hear back if you are matched by late November.</p>

<p>Most are not matched. In that case, you are given a link to where you can forward your application for free to all the partner colleges. I highly recommend taking advantage of this as it is 35 free applications. </p>

<p>Being a finalist also gives you access to the Quest Scholars Network, a growing network of low income college students representing the best colleges in the nation. </p>

<p>Yes, there is a separate Questbridge Application. The application goes into more depth and gives you more opportunities to advertise yourself, which is great. There is no difference between using QuestBridge vs. Common App, except for schools which require the Common App, who will only use the QB Application as a supplement or not consider it all.</p>

5

<p>I see. I understand Questbridge much better now…
Do you think I have a chance at being matched to any of these schools, if I become a finalist? </p>

<p>This is my list so far (in order)</p>

<p>Princeton University
Yale University
Brown University
Northwestern University
Dartmouth College
Pomona College
Amherst College
Swarthmore College (not sure if I’ll put it on the list)</p>

<p>Northwestern, Dartmouth, and Amherst are not open for international students for the match program but they “may still consider students who are not U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents on a case-by-case basis.” Considering this, do I at least have a SLIGHT chance? </p>

<p>My detailed stats/ECs HERE: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1535610-suggestions-school-apply-totally-lost.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1535610-suggestions-school-apply-totally-lost.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>I think you should take Northwestern out and replace it with the University of Chicago, as it does look at international students, takes more in via QuestBridge, and is an excellent physics school.</p>

<p>Match is always a competitive process. The non-bindings are especially selective, taking less than 1% of applicants. Dartmouth is also ridiculously selective- only taking 3-5 students out of the Match process out of thousands of applicants. U’Chicago, Pomona, and Amherst are less selective (30/900 applications at U’Chicago, 13-16/300 at Pomona and Amherst), but a 5-10% acceptance rate doesn’t guarantee anything.</p>

<p>I think you do have a chance. But it’s a low chance, just as it is for everyone, and especially with those schools. The schools you listed are also the most selective in terms of average SAT, so your high scores may not make a difference. If you want to be matched somewhere, consider less selective, but still excellent schools like Carleton and Grinnell. Carleton is noteworthy in that it ranks among the top 5 produces of science and engineering PhDs.</p>

7

<p>Hmm I’ll consider Carleton. It’s just that Northwestern was one of my top choice school…</p>

<p>Also, can you apply to non-QB partner schools (such as Harvard) using the questbridge app for free? (if I am selected as finalist). For the schools that both require the QB app and the common app, would it still be free to apply there?</p>

8

<p>No, the QB app can only be sent to the 35 QB partner colleges. That being said, schools like Harvard give free applications to low income students, so the app fees shouldn’t be a problem.</p>

<p>Yes, for the Common Application you select Other Fee Waiver and write in QuestBridge Finalist. You won’t have to worry about CA fees.</p>

9

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<p>I can’t imagine how ANYONE could manage or would want to apply to all 35 schools! After the Match, most schools require you to send in additional admissions paperwork to complete your application; many have Common App supplements, most require CSS/IDOC and SAT/ACT scores which do involve fees…not to mention these are vastly different schools of all different sizes and environments!
nostalgicwisdom, I read your post about not limiting college choices, and while I appreciate your stance, it’s really not practical or advisable to apply to so many schools, even with the help of QB!</p>