Hi! upcoming senior here, and I need help deciding on how to apply to colleges next year. My family’s income is low enough to qualify for Questbridge and decent financial aid. They offered to contribute 10k a year for college tuition and I have to support myself in other aspects, or if i get a full ride they can support me in food, living expenses, etc. My ultimate dream school is Penn, but I’ve heard that if you ED to a school you might not get as much financial aid as you need. However, Questbridge will cover everything but is more competitive. I’ve also heard that if you don’t match to Questbridge in the first round you can move your applications to the colleges in regular decision. I like the schools offered through Questbridge and would go if I were matched. Would it be better to ED to Penn and risk not having a good financial package or apply through Questbridge where it’s more competitive but if I were matched I would get a full ride? Note: I’ll still apply to more schools through common app but I would want to go to a T20 with good financial aid
What is your unweighted GPA in core courses only?
Test scores?
Get estimated FAFSA EFC here: https://fafsa.ed.gov/spa/fafsa4c/?locale=en_US#/landing
Lastly, what does UPenn’s NPC estimate for your COA: https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/upenn
It is is not true that you get less financial aid when you apply ED You usually get more. Some schools that do not guarantee to meet full need will do so for ED candidates. The coffers are full and ED’s purpose is to get commitments. You are more likely to get closer to what you need in the ED round than RD. You can also discuss your package without the hordes all appealing their aid packages when you get an early package. If you can’t make it work, you are released from your ED contract.
The downside is that you can’t compare and there are merit awards that may not be available in the early season. ED is often a wake up call and rude awakening to those thinking they qualify for more need than college calculators’ numbers.
You should run your family numbers through some NPCs and estimate your FAFSA EFC to see what sort of aid you can realistically expect. Quest ridge scholarships tend to cater to zero EFC students so you may not be in the running for those awards. However, IMO the program is an excellent one and is overall the best chance to get into a high.y selective college especially if you are without xperienced and dedicated support in the process.
My opinion is that this is generally not accurate for a meets full need school, and that goes double for a school as competitive as Penn, which is what OP is asking about. For these schools, the numbers reported on financial aid forms get run through the same school algorithm, no matter which application process the applicant has chosen.
If you have factual evidence that goes against my opinion, please provide a link. I’m not asking about what may have happened to your cousin’s best friend’s son.
QuestBridge National College Match is like a ranked ED application to up to 12 colleges. UPenn is in the list of colleges you can apply to through QBNCM, so you can rank it first in your list.
thankyou
my issue has been solved