Yep, unfortunately all unmatched QB finalists are in the process of doing so, together with all non-QB highly qualified ED/EDII/RD applicants - the reason the process for unmatched QB Finalists is so competitive every year. Not a reason not to apply to those schools, yet best advice should certainly include GPA target schools where OP is confident he/she can be admitted and has a good chance at Financial Aid.
HKim, did you submit an EA app to CWRU? Their waitlist offer last year seemed to signal that you’d have a good chance post-green-card, and it sounded like the financial aid picture was favorable. I don’t remember reading whether you’d decided to reapply.
I submitted a Regular Decision Application to CWRU @aquapt as Questbridge’s policy does not allow me to do Early anything. I submitted one for Rochester and UIUC as well.
As for EDII, I think my plan is to do WUSTL EDII. Honestly, I think I would like to stay in-state if I can - and that means if I go to UIUC (which I’d happily go if I get into).
For ED, honestly, I’d love to do Penn ED, but I was already rejected there and I have no “hook” so to speak - meaning I’d get rejected once again.
I think my best bet (and by this I mean where I’d like to ideally go to) is to ED to Northwestern (but would that mean I would have to withdraw from my QB schools that roll-over automatically to EA like UChicago?)
I have a LOT of schools I will apply RD through QB with (which includes no-supplement required schools like Emory, Vanderbilt, Grinnell, Colby, Washington & Lee, Wesleyan, Amherst, and MIT).
Also, I’ve come to really like Swarthmore which seems to have a very quirky atmosphere on-par with UChicago.
Being a QB Finalist IS a hook. If you prefer Penn to NU, then apply ED to Penn.
This statement is in conflict with loving to do Penn ED. But, You can apply EA to UC (and any other auto-rollover QB EA schools) and ED to NU. You would pull all other apps if you are accepted ED to NU.
You might only apply RD to schools that you would prefer to attend over UIUC (assuming acceptance and qualifying for Illinois Commitment). Yes, some apps are easy to just click yes to apply, but don’t do extra work to apply to a school that you wouldn’t go to over UIUC. The financial and academic combo of UIUC and Illinois Commitment will be tough to beat…but again, you won’t have an answer on that for a week or two.
@Mwfan1921 Great insight, thank you. Also, thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way.
For UIUC, yes, it would be very hard to beat. A great bio program, in-state, full-ride (albeit not a no-questions-asked scholarship), and just overall great.
The reason I’m hesitating (and this is may just be my shortcoming of not understanding a “No Match” means) but I didn’t match anywhere to USC, Rice, and even Northwestern. My EFC was extremely low (and it’ll get lower next year when my brother is discharged from the Military), so I don’t “think” I have much going for me besides saying “Yup, I was a QB Finalist” - what does stick out right now is my GPA which I can’t do anything at this point so best to zoom past.
What I mean by the above thought (just to clarify) is essentially, “If these colleges didn’t want me during the NCM process, why/how would they justify letting me in RD”.
With the RD schools, I’m applying to many, if not all of the RD schools are schools I was still interested in (LAC). My biggest regret is probably leaving the space open with Amherst. I should’ve done Swarthmore/Bowdoin argh, but again, no point in thinking about this.
P.S I’ve applied to CWRU through their medical scholars program, but I am still bummed about how they let me dry out late into May last year through the waitlist.
It’s just a numbers game…many good applicants, too few spaces.
You are right there’s nothing to do about your GPA but just to be clear…you took a highly rigorous curriculum at one of the best public high schools in the country resulting in a high weighted GPA (yes, schools look at that too). You have many AP scores of 4 and 5. An ACT of 35. Published research scientist. Please celebrate these achievements and accomplishments. Stay the course, things are going to work out for you both in the short and long term.
I didn’t realize you dropped Amherst from your list of 12. You may be still be able to ED there, they say: Please email questbridge@amherst.edu for further information on applying Early Decision to Amherst College.
You can still apply EDI or EDII to Bowdoin:
And Swarthmore (I agree it attracts similar students to U Chicago):
Of course you can apply to those schools RD as well.
What I have for ED I are:
UPenn: Highly unlikely, not really going to think much into it unless there’s something I didn’t know about
Northwestern: Highly considering it, although I have to think about “Do they want me to hang on?” I think this is my best bet and where honestly all the stars align.
Bowdoin: Great school, great community, great for Pre-Med, but far away/not much info known.
Swarthmore: Same as Bowdoin, but has a very quirky atmosphere.
Dartmouth: Not very much interested in the school besides their special D-Plan which seems to be their version of the Open-Curriculum. It would be nice, nonetheless, since I can pursue Psychology and Anthropology.
Rice: Very much considering it, great Pre-med, great community, and great everything tbh. But I don’t have a great “connection” to Rice as I have with Northwestern (their research)
Amherst: A possibility, but also, honestly I would rather go to UIUC. I know beggars can’t be choosers, but I am having a hard time convincing myself I wouldn’t be miserable during my four years there.
ED 2 Options:
WASHU: Great school, great location, great Pre-Med program.
Pomona: Great Pre-Med, California, but very VERY hard to get (just numbers alone) into nonetheless.
More to come…
I very much like LAC, but they just can’t be too small (Pomona is an exception as its part of the Claremont Schools and just…in California and can easily go to big cities).
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This is also why I’d prefer UIUC if the LAC is too small/isolated.
Sounds like your heart is saying Northwestern for ED. I’d go for it!
@momofsenior1 It really is, but I’m not sure if Northwestern is open for me. I wish universities would’ve just rejected us if they don’t think we’re capable - would be a much cleaner finishing.
I’d like to extend my arm one more time, but it’s just that same burn feeling as last year when I got rejected from UChicago ED1. So much connection and feeling of fit, but apparently not a great fit from the school’s perspective.
@HKimPOSSIBLE
What happened to UChicago? I remember last year that it was at the top of your list. Like so many on CC, I anxiously look forward to seeing where you will end up.
I’m sorry you did not get a match I think you are aware that those schools are so very selective that getting accepted to any of those on your QB list was not likely. It gave you a boost over applying out of the blue, but a boost, hooks, none of these things are guarantees.
My one student was a recruited athlete and many folks had the misunderstanding that he would be accepted wherever he wanted. It doesn’t work that way. To have enhanced chances does not mean a guarantee and there was more chance than not, that he’d NOT get accepted to the more selective schools. There were more athletes than spots under consideration
So it is with QB, ED, anything that gives an edge. With schools like NW, with such low acceptance rates, no one can assume acceptance.
There is no telling why you were not accepted. Yes, your GPA is on the low side for those highly selective schools. Clearly, your research and professor involved does not have the clout to get you into NW. These days so many college applicants have research, internships, are published, thst these things don’t carry the weight they might have when these things were truly rare in a high school kid’s resume.
You are in the same situation as so many excellent students applying to highly selective colleges. Most of you will get rejected. That’s why it is strongly advised, to vary the aelectivities ones choices And include safeties. Often the safety is where one ends up. Even if one gets accepted, the financial aid package may not be adequate in some cases.
We are rooting for you here, as many of us rooted for our own kids’, their peers and so many on this forum. But it’s a tough go.
So, onward with the next steps. ED for NWU since it’s your first choice. You are giving it all you got. RDs to the rest, and you have your instate safety schools. Make sure you don’t drop the ball with them—stay up on developments and requirements. Your safeties are many students’ reach schools and with a full ride in the picture, you are in a good place. Good luck, and and keep it going!
@MYOS1634’s suggestion of having your GC call (not email) your NU admissions rep to feel things out makes a lot of sense.
Maybe call your GC first thing tmr morning, or be in their office at 7:30am if possible and discuss how to handle NU and whether your GC is willing to have a conversation with the AO.
@PepperJo I hate UChicago.
I applied ED1 there as the only guy who did so at my school (which is a feeder school for it - we have our own designated Admissions Officer).
Sorry to be so hateful and salty, but I will say that some acceptances were pretty questionable (connections and etc).
UChicago just seems to be playing the numbers games more and more - wanting to have that “Ivy League” status - they’re a great school nonetheless, and I’m sure all other colleges are doing so.
But they seem not genuine. They say they are pro-DACA but in the end considers them internationals - in fact, many of the elite universities like T10 schools say they’re “Pro-Daca” but none of them signed that statement to the court (Supreme court was it?) - Kudos to Pomona and all the other schools that did though.
@Mwfan1921 Yeah that sounds like a plan - except my school no longer allows visitors without having a pre-scheduled appointment due to the recent school shootings on the news. Hopefully, there can be an exception or they can call him or something.
Also, how might I bring this up? I never felt good about asking my GC to call the AO’s to scout out some information (idk especially with the recent college scandals) as it felt like I was doing something prohibited or something.
I’m also on the Questbridge Discord (I’m an admin there), and we have a match results threads, and it’s just, I’m not sure, confusing what kids with [a real stat] 29 ACTS, an income of 60k for a family of 4, sub 600 scores for SAT II, and no AP/IB classes or scores, had that I didn’t, to get into UChicago through Questbridge. Was I naive to think that the poorest of the poor would be prioritized by QB Partner schools?
I know it’s wrong to think this way since “Who knows, they may have had a great essay”, but it’s making me delusional - even more so thinking back to my Berea College rejection which I thought would be an option I’d have last year. Sigh and now I’m getting a little ignorant/arrogant but when you see these numbers getting “Matched to Yale”, “Matched to Rice”, “Matched to Brown”, it’s just mind-boggling - and it doesn’t help that many of them are URMs especially with how controversial affirmative action is. I need to get that out of my head but 
I don’t see any point in speculating/agonizing at this point about whether not matching implies that ED is futile. First of all, it doesn’t; and second of all, it’s too late for EDI at any schools you didn’t rank.
So, the only ED1 options you’ll be passing up, to ED Northwestern, are other schools that you ranked - UPenn and Rice seem to be the only other ones that really catch your eye for this cycle. Both have ED acceptance rates around 18%, compared to Northwestern’s 26%. Plus you do have the personal connections and recommendations at NU. (I’d personally love to see you end up at Rice, but I think your chances there would be better if you’d attended SOAR.)
I agree that there’s no point in applying to schools that you know you wouldn’t attend over UIUC, especially since you should have that acceptance nailed down weeks before the RD deadline. I think, “Would I realistically choose to go here over UIUC” is an appropriate first filter.
Re: Swarthmore vs. Bowdoin - you can take a quick train ride into Philadelphia from Swarthmore, whereas Bowdoin is a 2.5 hour drive from Boston. This could be a pretty significant difference when it comes to looking at premed volunteering/shadowing opportunities, not to mention just getting to campus from the airport. Also, if you like Swat, don’t overlook Haverford - also a QB Partner, and also in the Quaker Consortium. It does sound as if Swarthmore resonates with you and could be a terrific EDII choice. Their ED acceptance rate is 3x their RD rate (and double the ED acceptance rate at Pomona) so it’s a smart choice numbers-wise as well as seeming to strike a “fit” chord with you. WashU could also be a good EDII target.
Again, don’t think of not matching as being rejected by the school. What you’re doing with Questbridge is applying for a highly competitive scholarship. Not getting the scholarship isn’t a rejection from the school; it just means they prioritized a different candidate when awarding the scholarship. For all you know, Northwestern Admissions could have you on radar and be confident that you’d be likely to attend if accepted RD, so they used their binding match slots to lock in candidates they weren’t as sure of. Really, you will never know and there’s no point trying to psych them out. They wouldn’t have to offer the convert-to-ED option at all if they didn’t want to - not all of the schools do - so why would they give that option if they were viewing it as a rejection?
That is a good way to think of it - especially the last part when you talked about locking in uncertain applicants. I hope that is the case. However, I believe all non-match finalists are offered that convert-to-ED option no?
Oh, I just mean generally - NU lets all match applicants convert to ED, whereas some of the QB partners don’t offer that option. It must take some extra effort on their part, to roll QB-Match applicants into the ED1 cycle, a month past the deadline and only a couple of weeks before decisions are released. If they didn’t want to consider such applicants seriously, they wouldn’t bother.
Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t see a response to your question regarding whether you would have to withdraw your EA applications if you apply to NU ED. You would not need to withdraw any EA or other applications unless and until you are accepted ED to NU.
Then you need to call and ask for an appointment with your GC. Waltzing in unannounced is not the way to do things during a busy admissions season anyways. Your GC might not feel comfortable calling, may demur. If that’s the case, so be it.
You have chose a trail that involves undergoing a gauntlet of rejections , because of the selectivity of the schools you have chosen. Part of the process.
As for URM status, yes, that is often a very strong hook. Surely, you knew and know this. Schools want a diversified community, so absolutely coming from a culture, bringing a perspective , being part of an ethnic group or race thst is underrepresented are all going to give such applicants advantages. Also, applying to UCh and NWU, and, yes, Wash U puts you into a highly competitive pool. There are going to be A LOT of students, the cream of the crop from area schools applying to these area schools. You lose any bit of geographic diversity applying locally. These schools do want a wide range of areas in the YS attending them. They are not state schools which will give you a home state advantage. You do realize that you are getting a bit of a hook with QB, and having SES challenges. Much deserved, IMO, but, yes, it’s there. Athletes, development, celebrity, alumni, friends-of, all have hooks too.
You could give yourself a bit more of an advantage by focusing on out of area LACs, for example. Hamilton , Middlebury , Haverford .