Questbridge Income Definition

I always thought income for most need-based financial-aid considerations is drawn from the AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) field of one’s 1040 form. But I was told Questbridge is looking for gross income PLUS any pre-tax contributions (401K, IRA, etc) PLUS the scholarship the applicant is currently receiving from the high school. Is that true?

Yeah, it is if I’m understanding your question. I think they do this so that they aren’t potentially “over giving” to their recipients. For example, you mentioned scholarships. They don’t want to give the same amount of aid to someone with a scholarship as someone without one. Overall, trust the process, you’ll still get all the help you need, no worries. I was a Questbridge finalist btw- I’m not some random person talking about the program lol

Thank you so much, Warren!
BTW, if you do not mind, I often heard about the term a QuestBridge finalist mentioned in the forum. What constitutes a QB finalist? Does that mean you ended up being accepted to your QB-partner university through QB?

no problem! (and warren’s not my actual name btw haha)
A Questbridge finalist is someone who applied to the National College Match and was ultimately selected to be able to participate in the match. Basically, if you apply through the match and make it as a finalist, you are allowed to rank schools for the match (but you don’t have to! lots of people just wait until regular decisions)

If you are a finalist, that gives you an advantage whether you’re matched or not

It’s kind of confusing at first, but if you’re a junior, there’s the QB College Prep Scholars program that has a similar process and if you become a QB prep scholar, you have a higher chance at becoming a finalist later on (but it is not neccesary).

Then, for seniors there’s the National college match which I’m sure you already know about. You can apply for the national college match and youll hear back if youre a finalist by October usually. Then, if you are a finalist you can participate in the match (if you arent a finalist you cannot participate in the match, but still can do the regular decision process).

If youre a finalist and decide to participate in the Match, you can rank up to 12 of their partner schools (essentially applying early to 12 schools!) and will hear back be december. Otherwise, if you arent matched or dont want to do the match even though you’re a finalist, you can still apply to as many schools as you want (with most using your QB application instead of a common app)

sorry if I’m rambling or if this was unclear!

Thank you so much.

I think my question was more for someone who has been going through the junior year College prep Scholar program but got rejected:

  1. How much a chance is there for him or her to try again with the Natalie College Match in the senior year?
    Many thanks for your reply, I got that they are related in a positive way (finalists of the first have a chance for the second), but are they also related in a negative way?

  2. Procedure-wise, can that someone start a new account for the National Match or he or she has to use the same account in the junior year?

Sorry that was not clear in my firt question.

The two programs are separate. Being a finalist in one doesn’t have a correlation in your chances in the other. FWIW, my kid only did the National College Match and was matched to their first rated school. And no, don’t create a different account. Your information is in their data base so that wouldn’t work. Trying to game the system is never a good idea.