Should I Apply for QuestBridge?

Paying for College
1

Hi everyone,

I’ve been thinking recently about applying for a QB match in the class of 2019, but I’m slightly above their income threshold. I have a family of 3, and an income (counting child support- I have a single mom) of roughly 75k, about 10k over their stated 65k or less cutoff. I don’t know my dad’s income, but I do know that all he pays is child support, even though we are in contact. Whatever he makes puts us way above the QB threshold, which is my primary concern. Our only asset is ownership of our primary residence, which is in a middle to upper-middle class neighborhood from when my dad lived with us.

At the risk of sounding self-important, I do very well in school. I’m 5th in my class of about 560, my ACT composite is 35, and my SAT is 1520. I’m taking 4 AP classes (current junior), and have previously taken 4 and scored 5’s on all those AP exams. I’m not a URM, but I am a minority female (Bengali mom, white dad; haven’t figured out yet if that helps me or hurts me in college admissions, but I’m guessing neither). My EC’s are pretty good- heavily involved in orchestra (section leader and head photographer), on a state (and hopefully nationals-)bound academic decathlon team (in TX, which is very competitive for AcDec), and I am a writer. I have a collection of poetry that I am currently seeking publication for, and I am writing a longer fiction work. However, because of my mom’s work schedule, I have to do a lot of this while caring for my younger sister, and my high school experience has been framed by the loss of my dad’s income, as he moved out the summer before my freshman year. Both my parents are college educated (my mom has a MA and my dad has a BS), but we are up to our eyeballs in student loans from my mom’s graduate degree. On my mom’s side, I am also a first-generation American citizen.

My apologies for the info dump, but I’m not really sure what kind of information would be helpful for you guys. Basically, I know that my financial circumstances are somewhat better than the average QB finalist, but I’m wondering if my achievement compared with the financial challenges I did face (the loss of my dad’s income, excluding child support, and the need to take care of my sister as my mom picked up an extra job) might still give me a chance through QuestBridge.

So, what do y’all think? To QB or not to QB?

2

EDIT: (because I don’t know how to do that) To clarify, my communication with my dad is somewhat minimal, and he doesn’t pay for much- I think I’m on his phone and health insurance plans because they’re free through his job, and he pays child support, but that’s about it. I go to dinner at his house maybe once every 2 or 3 weeks. QB says you don’t need to list a non-custodial parent has little or no contact, but I’m not sure what qualifies as little contact because we talk very rarely outside of those occasional dinner dates.

3

For Questbridge, they will count the income and assets of both of your parents meaning financially, you will not be eligible

4

If you see your father a couple times a month and he is supporting you (or contributing to your support) you can’t say he has little to no contact or communication with you.

5

We have some level of communication now, but he’s already said that he is not financially supporting my college at all, which is the only reason I’m looking into QB. Still doesn’t count though?

6

Nope, remember Questbridge does the vetting. The actual financial aid will come from the college. Based on what you wrote, the fact that your dad pays child support and you have contact, you will not be eligible for Questbridge because you are not eligible for a non-custodial waiver. ITT does not matter that your dad says he can’t or won’t pay. Be glad you know this now so that you can look at FAFSA only schools, schools that do not require noncustodial information and schools were you can get merit money

7

Your stats are great, look for schools that give generous merit aid.

8

Go read through the thread at the top of this forum on Automatic Full Tuition/Full Ride scholarships. That list is your friend. Take a long, hard look at the ones that you qualify for now with your stats. Your dad has already told you he’s not helping pay for college, and your mom probably can’t help you much with college costs as she’s paying off her own student loans.