Questbridge Program???

Applying to College
1

<p>Has anyone heard of this thing? Is it for real? I was thinking about applying through it...does anyone think it's a good idea?</p>

<p>Here's my resume so do you think I'll be accepted as a finalist?</p>

<p>I go to a competitive private high school in New Jersey. Widowed parent, income around 40k ish, first generation college student.</p>

<p>Want to do civil engineering</p>

<p>On their form I was going to rank it as : Princeton, Stanford, Rice, maybe Columbia</p>

<p>white male (double damn)</p>

<p>SAT I: 2020 690 CR, 630 Math, 700 Writing
SAT II: Haven't taken any yet but plan on doing math, chem, and maybe lit/history</p>

<p>GPA: 3.8 something UW (If I recalculate according to how questbridge says, it'll be higher)</p>

<p>I did incredibly poor freshmen year and had to work instensely hard to get my grades up. I don't know if they'll see that but the self-improvement was immense</p>

<p>Rank: #10 out of 240</p>

<p>Junior year coursework: Honors English, Honors Chem, Honors Alg2/Trig, Ap US History, Honors Spanish 3, Religion (required)</p>

<p>four quarter grades and then year grade</p>

<p>Honors English- 97 97 99 98 98
Alg2 Trig Honors 95 94 96 95 95
AP USH- 99 99 99 99 99
Chemistry Honors 99 99 98 99 98
Spanish 3 Honors 96 97 97 96 95
Religion- 99 99 99 99 99</p>

<p>Senior year: AP Eng, Honors Physics, Ap Art History, Ap US History, Honors Precalc</p>

<p>My school only offers ap classes in English, Art History, US History, and Calc BC, so I'm taking all I am qualified for. I tried starting a US Gov AP and Euro Hist AP but the head of the department turned me down.</p>

<p>Taken 2 courses at a local community college, intro to philosophy (freshmen year- A-), sociology (sophomore year A), looking into another one now.</p>

<p>Extracurriculars:</p>

<p>Academic Team- Captain</p>

<p>Robotics Team-builder and participant when we won the 2005 and 2006 state championships for FIRST (possible hook? Idk..)</p>

<p>New Jersey Regional Science Fair-participant</p>

<p>Spanish Honor Society- helped fundraise and tutored students</p>

<p>Model United Nations</p>

<p>NJ American Legion Boys State representative</p>

<p>Intermural Basketball League assistant coach/player</p>

<p>Chess team</p>

<p>Intermural Ultimate Frisbee League- Co-Founder, captain of a team, and player</p>

<p>American Cancer Society Relay for Life-helped organize and set up event, three years</p>

<p>Worked at Afterhours Formalwear</p>

<p>Awards:</p>

<p>· The Elmira College Key Award, 2006
· Excellence in Spanish 2 CP, 2004-2005
· Excellence in English 2 CP, 2004-2005
· Honorable Mention in Eastern Civilization CP, 2004-2005
· Excellence in English 3 Honors, 2005-2006
· Excellence in United History 1 Advanced Placement, 2005-2006
· Honorable Mention in Spanish 3 Honors, 2005-2006
· New Jersey Regional Science Fair Rutgers Student Award, 2005
· National Spanish Examination Certificate of Achievement and Merit¸ 2004-2005 and 2005-2006</p>

<p>Thanks for any help guys I really appreciate this, college planning is driving me crazy since I have to do everything on my own.</p>

2

<p>Yes questbridge is for real</p>

<p>go to <a href="http://www.questbridge.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.questbridge.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>their partner schools include (all which give great need based FA anyway):</p>

<p>Amherst, Bowdoin, Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, columbia, Wheaton, rice, scripts, Oberlin, Stanford, Princeton, Grinnell & Wellesley</p>

3

<p>It seems pretty bogus to me, I was thinking about it, but I think I decided to apply regular admission.</p>

4

<p>Good to know it isn't a scam, there are so many of them out there. What do you think of my chances of being accepted as a finalist are?</p>

5

<p>yeah questbridge is definitely not a scam. i'm not really sure how selective the college match program is, but i was a winner of the college prep scholarship thing</p>

6

<p>the college match program is extremely, extremely competitive given the nature of their applicants. i myself am applying for this program but i just want to get the recognition that i participated w/in the program, not necessarily be recognized as a college match finalist---but that would be so awesome...but unlikely. being a recipient for the college prep scholarship moreover, has given me tons of benefits including recognition from the top schools in the US, all-expense college visits to places like swarthmore and amherst, and much needed help in the application process...I would really urge you to apply if you are qualified, meaning you have academic excellence, write good essays, have great ec's, preferably a minority but don't have to be, and you should be of low income status...if you fit this description then you have a chance. troteck I don't know what your ethnicity/financial background is, but that is really a key factor in the decisions so make sure you have something...hope that helped...</p>

7

<p>Well I'm white unfortunately. But I have a widowed parent, income is around 40k and I'd be a first gen college student. All of these are things they listed as stuff they look for, they even said they don't discredit whites so, with that knowledge and my academic stats above do I stand a chance?</p>

8

<p>What exactly does the program do for you, because i just got an e-mail from them yesterday saying that i should apply. Is it a form of scholarship or does it help with admissions? any info about the program would be great.</p>

9

<p>ok, to troteck yes you do and just apply! there's no app fee so just go for it! lol pm if you need more info...J-sus that goes for you to...check out the website too, it will explain better than anyone here can...
<a href="http://www.questbridge.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.questbridge.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

10

<p>PM finale...she did quest last yr.</p>

11

<p>that's even better ^_^</p>

12

<p>Questbridge is truly amazing - please take advantage of the folks named here to pm. The prep scholarship may pay for SAT prep assistance, a computer, and things like that - it's all on the website. You do NOT have to be a minority - they are looking for kids like you - lower income and first generation college - who are VERY bright. If you are aiming for the match program, work hard on your SAT score and get involved with Questbridge - they are an amazing group!</p>

13

<p>Keep in mind that the college match program is binding! It's essentially early decision.</p>

14

<p>I'm thinking about definitely doing it now, with all the positive responses. I know it's binding, I have no problem with that. But the real difficulty is, even after being accepted as a finalist...I'd have to be accepted to an impossible university. I read that the university doesn't have to accept any questbridge finalists either.</p>

15

<p>questbridge is ABSOLUTELY awesome. i received the summer program scholarship and i had sooo much fun at harvard! i loved it and i learned soo much especially around a ton of differnet people.</p>

<p>i'm considering applying for the match thing... it's very competitive though... but i don't like the whole binding thing (if i even get that far!)</p>

16

<p>yeah I just found out today while reading the program description that the Questbridge college match in considered as a ED application... I think I read somewhere that last year 45% of the applicants made it into the finalist area...</p>

17

<p>That's a pretty decent percentage, seems to me like I should go for it. What's everyone else's opinion? Should I do it, if so think I'll become a finalist and actualyl get into those universities?</p>

18

<p>Questbridge is amazing. I know three people from my high school (including me) who became finalists, and at least two of us were offered a full-ride at Williams plus three years full-ride at any graduate school of our choice, though neither of us took it. Questbridge can match you with amazing schools (mostly LACs) and at the very least, the extensive Questbridge application is forwarded to schools like Princeton and Stanford as well as scholarship programs like Gates Millennium Scholars even if you do not become a finalist. This opportunity to share even more about yourself is nothing but good. Princeton even extended an all-expense paid fly-back weekend last year for a select group of finalists to try to convince you to apply to Princeton complete with VIP service such as delicious meals and meeting a dean! APPLY!!!</p>

19

<p>Do you think that an annual parents salary of about $80,000-$90,000 is too high to be accepted?</p>

20

<p>Probably, considering the range of income most of the applicants come from. I personally didn't do their junior year scholarship for that reason (my family had relatively good income flow), but this college match thing I will apply just for the hell of it.</p>