<p>Do most QB applicants talk about financial challenges in their essays? Is finalist status unlikely if we don't discuss some of the financial challenges we've faced?</p>
<p>I think your essays should be about whatever topic you want to write on that best reveals who you are as a person. It could be that topic is associated with financial hardship. For most applicants, my purely unscientific hunch is that is it not. You enter information about your family’s income and resources as part of the application. Financial hardships might be something that comes up in your biographical essay or one of the other essays, but I wouldn’t feel like you must specifically address them. Use your essays to best show who you are.</p>
<p>Ok, I looked on the QB website, and I can’t find it now but I know when I was applying last year they had some sample essays you could read. If I remember right, only one or two of the samples (out of around 5) focused on the student’s financial situation. So basically, I agree with 2blue, just write about what you feel will show you off the best.</p>
<p>Also, QB gives these tips ([QuestBridge:</a> Applying to College](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/resources/applying/writing_essays.html]QuestBridge:”>http://www.questbridge.org/resources/applying/writing_essays.html)) which I think are really helpful considering these are the people who will read your essays.</p>