Hey everyone,
I was wondering if I meet the financial requirements for Quest Bridge and whether I should bother applying.
I live with a family of 5.
Everyone is supported with my dad’s income of about 110,000.
However, we just started making that much this past year. Previously, my dad was attending grad school and we only had a small pension as income (about 30,000) to support the entire family.
I know some programs require information from the previous year. Is this the case? Should I apply?
Thanks so much everyone! I’d really appreciate any replies 
I would say no, they are dead set on the 65k mark, if you pass that then they wouldn’t consider you.
The 65k mark is for a family of 4, as stated on their website. However, 100k is still too high. I’m guessing they’d consider 75k/80k at most for a family of 5.
@Cookiegod @Lilliana330 thanks for the info! Do you think they would consider me since I was below the requirement for my freshman and sophomore years?
A year ago, you said you were a HS junior. Which means NOW you would be a HS senior. It’s a little late for you to be applying to Questbridge if you ew. HS senior.
You wrote:
02-11-2016 at 9:49 pm in What Are My Chances?
I’m currently a Junior- what are my chances of getting into an Ivy League school or northwestern?
So what year are you in HS??
I’m not even convinced QuestBridge is a good use of time for many low income students, let alone students who aren’t obviously low income. I don’t think it’ll be worth it for you. Takes a lot of time to apply and in the end, barely anyone actually gets the match (and those who do tend to be the poorest of the poor, which you are not).
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^ The match is kinda useless, since those students who do get it would have received the same amount in financial aid anyways. However, finalist status can put your app in separate admissions pile; not sure how helpful the edge is though.
OP, I don’t think they would consider you, since QB will likely want this year’s income, even if financial aid forms are using prior prior.
Every year I advise (independently) the QuestBridge kids who join the FB group (and want to listen). And every year, at the end of the process, there are about 1200 really salty kids who either didn’t make finalist at all, made finalist but got rejected from all the partner schools (or just felt like it didn’t really help at all), and like 2 match kids who are really happy.
Overall, at the end of each cycle, there’s overwhelming discontentment and a lot of regret that they spent so much time and energy (emotional energy, too) hoping that QuestBridge would come through somehow. Time and emotional energy that would’ve been better spent applying to some automatic merit options, too, and other outside scholarship programs instead.
Questbridge is a good use of time for HIGH ACHIEVING low income students, or moderate income with a large family. I think that is the issue that many people seem to misunderstand. Even if you are not selected as a finalist, you have started the process of “thinking” about your college applications/essays. Use it as a springboard to other applications such as for scholarships, fly-ins, etc. For those students with more moderate grades, it does not hurt to try. Work on your essays. My D gave me her essays to review and edit at the last minute so it could have been better for Questbridge, but by the time the actual common application was due (after the 8th or 9th draft), it became an awesome essay. Just tell your stories well. Use your school’s writing center if you have one, or ask a trusted friend–if your story is really private and you don’t want to share. Remember, being low income helps you get in the door, but it is not a free pass, you must also have the goods to go with it–perseverance, love of learning, hard work, intellectually curiosity, etc. I have helped many students apply for different scholarships. Some received only one out of 100s they sent out. However, receiving that one $1,000 scholarship, or many small scholarships that add up to this amount or more, for maybe 100 hours worth of time is not bad. Look at it this way, in this case, it is approximately $10.00 per hour, more than the minimum wage. Not bad I think. Finally, remember it comes down to your family’s adjusted gross income (AGI), not the full income. Stay positive and good luck.
Let me clarify, in the end, most scholarships for low income students is not asking for the gross income, but AGI since they ask for the parents income tax statements. Income tax statements list AGI. For Questbridge, they consider the family size as well but I do believe $65K is the true cut off. It doesn’t hurt to try though or contact them for clarification. I would messenger them on Facebook. They replied to all my inquiries when I did that.
@Cubbybear has NOT clarified what year he is in HS.
kinda obvious that he got the message that it wont work for him.