<p>I’ve read almost every previous year’s QB threads. I don’t have a signed confirmation from the president of QuestBridge, but the word from many finalists (both matched and not matched) is that phone calls are not really part of the notification process at all. You may get a phone call from QB HQ in California, or from an alum of the school you matched with, or possibly even someone else. You get one if they decide to call you. There’s no rhyme or reason to who gets called. I actually saw fewer people (of those matched) who got calls than didn’t.</p>
<p>Going by what people reported on previous threads, calls start to go out at around 2-3 p.m. ET. Most calls happen from 3-6. Emails usually go out from around 3-8, following the calls.</p>
<p>Whether you match or don’t match, count on an email. But don’t hold your breath for a call––they are not the end-all of decisions. ;)</p>
<p>So, just curious, what does everyone intend to major in and what career do you pursue? I intend to double major in either anthropology/chemistry w/ a minor in Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese or history/chemistry w/ a minor in Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese. I intend to either become a doctor (neurosurgeon) or an university professor in history, anthropology, and/or chemistry.</p>
<p>I wish it was Friday, but at the same time I don’t. I have this super nervous feeling that crept up yesterday and has only been building. I just hope (for everyone) that whatever happens is for the best!</p>
<p>Is having a zero efc an absolute? Or is it just rare not to have a zero efc? I know QB says that zero efc’s are ones who get matched, but is there any anecdotal evidence from past acceptance threads that shows exceptions?</p>
<p>SVMMom - most of the colleges themselves say that they won’t match anyone who doesn’t have EFC=0, but that’s the college’s EFC. None of this references the FAFSA EFC at all. For example, Yale says that any family with income <$60K is EFC=0, and more income can be EFC=0 depending on circumstances. Each college has their own method for computing EFC.</p>
<p>So, yes, EFC=0 is required for a match with most of the colleges (I don’t remember exactly if I read that information for all of them), but since each college has its own EFC, it’s not something you can predict.</p>
<p>Usually 0 efc is the norm because if you were accepted in the rd round, you’d receive a financial aid package that’d equate to a full ride. For the ivies, stanford, and maybe mit, the guideline for 0 efc is $60,000 and below. I’m sure there are exceptions of matched students, and you can always look online for specific schools’ criteria.</p>
<p>I wish I’d known that earlier. We don’t have $0 EFC per FAFSA, but our family income is less than $60K. Ds1 didn’t get matched to his schools, and I assumed it was the non-$0 EFC. I don’t think I’ll volunteer this info to ds2, who might have matched Yale, if we’d known that less than $60K counts. Of course, if he gets in EA at G’town, he won’t care as much. :)</p>
<p>I keep seeing 60K being tossed about, but Yale’s website says 65K
“Yale will only offer admission through the National College Match to students whose parents qualify to make zero contribution to college costs. Typically, this includes families with a total income of less than $65,000 per year, though Yale does consider family assets, business ownership, and other special circumstances in addition to annual income. If you are not eligible for zero parental contribution and therefore not eligible for the National College Match program at Yale, you may be considered for admission to Yale in the Regular Decision process and will still qualify for financial aid calculated to meet your full financial need, with no loans required.”</p>
<p>Some other QB partners are even higher - I believe Rice is 80K for 0 EFC. P</p>
<p>OK, that makes me feel better. I don’t think that wording says definitively that $60K or $65K counts as $0 EFC, just that you’d think that someone making less than that would typically have few assets and would have a $0 EFC. Thoughts?</p>
<p>With the CSS profile and what not, I’m sure specific schools will take into account your financial situation in its broader aspect to determine your efc rather than a rigid 60 or 65K cutoff. Last year, or maybe the year before that, a student was matched to Yale with a ~100K income. To the blind eye, that’s evidently not low income, but who knows the entirety of their circumstances.</p>
<p>My mistake on the $60K - that was the number I had in my original spreadsheet for Yale from several years ago and it’s stuck in my head - sorry!</p>
<p>YDS - yes, my take is that the income is not a guaranteed number, just a starting point. A family of 4 with a $50K income, house paid off and money in savings will look different than a family of 9 with $70K income, renting and with medical expenses. Either one could be 0 EFC.</p>
<p>My primary point was not to count on your FAFSA EFC when dealing with CSS Profile schools. I didn’t realize that when we started the QuestBridge process either.</p>
<p>In fact, I’ve had some very nervous moments in the last month, because we are under $60K but not at a FAFSA 0, so S13 picked match schools for QuestBridge relatively casually. None of us believed he’d ever be matched without the “0.” Once I looked more closely at some of the websites (like Yale’s quoted by karencov - thanks for that!), I realized that he very well could be matched and bound to one of several schools he hasn’t visited (one of which is far away ). I’m not sure how I would have voted on the matching… He picked the schools that best suited his planned major and favorite ECs, and then eliminated the ones that “didn’t feel right” – which is as good a process for picking schools as any, I guess, since money was the same for all of them – and that left him with four binding schools. Two have been in his top 4 forever, but 2 have not.</p>
<p>Friday should be interesting. S13 has a “really good feeling” that he’s going to be matched, even though he acknowledges that “the odds are astronomical.” Sigh.</p>
<p>Re calls: Last year my daughter did get a call, and almost everyone she knew on the facebook page who were matched-they also got calls-and the calls were from QB headquarters. The call came at about 5:30 est as I recall. Perhaps a bit later. Perhaps there were people who were matched who did NOT get calls, but personally, I do not know of any. We were on our way to an alumni interview! So…we called and cancelled. I was just starting to feel sad for her when the call came. Ha!
I think about one hour later was the official email from QBridge, and then an official email from the school. The day after, if are not matched, you will receive emails from those schools that you ranked, but, for what ever reason, passed.
Last year, some people who were not matched were contacted by Dartmouth and Brown, (by phone and email) and they were urged to apply as part of a select group-ED. Those who followed through on this were accepted ED. However, one girl wrote on FB that she was pretty ‘meh’ on Brown and that the town gave her the creeps. She went on and applied as part of the select invited group and she was rejected. She was the only one who was rejected of those who were given the ‘special invitation’. Moral of story: Do not trash a school on the QB facebook page. </p>
<pre><code>Re: Visiting campuses-honestly, I don’t think you should worry if you are ‘bound’ to a school you have never visited. I think you find out more (good and bad) about a school from CC and the internet then you will find out from an official visit. Not to mention the QB facebook page. For example, today one of the QB applicants from last year posted the details of a ‘scavenger hunt’ at the University of Chicago, (See FB/QB today)…some students would think running around and searching for obscure artists etc. is wonderful, but some (my D) would see this as a bit too precious. But this is what the U of Chicago is like. I think on the internet you honestly have all the resources you need to get a feeling of yea or ney.
Good luck everyone! For those of you who get matched? I cannot tell you what a wonderful relief it is. It is over. You can enjoy your senior year without the stress and anxiety. Remember, all of the QB schools are great schools, and undergraduate education is pretty much the same everywhere. The funny thing is, I do not know of a single QB kid who hated their school, or left after one semester. And this is whether they were matched to their first or 8th choice, or went via regular decision. IOW: It all seems to work out.
</code></pre>
<p>Re Yale: we can verify that 65K is the 0 EFC cutoff for Yale, with “typical” assets (no trust funds in our Profile!). We’re a family of two. As is spelled out in the Yale FA site, they do expect a summer student contribution ($1200) and $3000 in a term-time job - what used to be called “work-study.”. So they reduce their total COA number, which includes tuition, room, board and about $3000 for books and expenses by about $4200 - and the rest is no loan FA. Exactly the same for Year 2 as Year 1, meaning FA was raised to equal tuition increase.</p>
<p>And that is for a NON match admission, which is why I’m posting. It is exciting to wait for that NCM call/email, but please DON’T be discouraged if you are not matched. My son was not matched, but was admitted to 4 of the 6 QB schools he applied to, including all 3 Ivies. So do put the effort into completing the regular admission requirements of the QB schools if you are not matched - it is SO worth it.</p>
<p>We are forever grateful to QB; my son would not be an incredibly happy Yale '15 without them.</p>
<p>Thank you for those wonderful words of hope. What a great, supportive group. The kind words from previous QBers and families are truly appreciated.</p>
<p>Hm. I didn’t rank more than two schools for three reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I didn’t love any other QB schools so much that I was willing to make a 4-year commitment;</p></li>
<li><p>I didn’t have enough time to fill out any other supplements and make them great;</p></li>
<li><p>I have faith that if I’m not matched, I’ll get a good enough financial aid package wherever I land, and, ultimately, be happy. (That last bit might contradict reason #1…)</p></li>
</ol>
Probably a minor in chemistry. </p>
). I’m not sure how I would have voted on the matching… He picked the schools that best suited his planned major and favorite ECs, and then eliminated the ones that “didn’t feel right” – which is as good a process for picking schools as any, I guess, since money was the same for all of them – and that left him with four binding schools. Two have been in his top 4 forever, but 2 have not.</p>