<p>'Tis RD notification season, and probably millions of kids and parents are frantic about all the college decisions.</p>
<p>I'm a Questbridge RD applicant, and I am waitlisted for UChicago, waitlisted for MIT, and a rejection from Northwestern (I DON'T UNDERSTAND THESE RESULTS WHEN COMPARED TO EACH OTHER.....).</p>
<p>30% of RD QB applicants get accepted to at least one of the partner colleges, and I'm worried because the other schools I applied to are all Ivy Leagues.</p>
<p>It may have been a stupid decision on my part to solely depend on QB, but I do have strong statistics (top 2% graduating class, ACT score of 35, 3.9 GPA), resume that really shows my passion for certain activities, and I'm a low-income student.</p>
<p>Is there a high chance that I won't get in to any of the last 8 schools?? That I will end up not going to college? :(
<em>All the mentioned schools are Questbridge partner colleges</em></p>
<p>Thank you for taking to time to read my problem! :) :) </p>
<p>My D is in exactly the same boat and with similar stats/circumstances. Her results to date are the same, with no QB acceptances yet… and with 6 decisions to come on Thursday… and another on Saturday. To date, she only has two acceptances to safeties here in FL. This week, she decided to apply to New College of FL in Sarasota, FL (it’s the FL Honors College) because they have a later deadline… allowing you to apply until April 15th. But I think that you need to apply by April 1st to qualify for all scholarships. With your stats, that is one extra quality college that you could apply to late. It was the only one that she could locate that met her parameters and also had a late deadline or rolling admissions. </p>
<p>You needed to have safeties in your application list. An application list consisting only of super-selective schools has a high risk of resulting in a shut out.</p>
<p>Looks like your choices if in the likely event you are shut out are:</p>
<ul>
<li>See if there is a four year school still accepting applications and which will offer enough scholarships or financial aid for you. However, most such schools are low selectivity schools which may not have much financial aid and scholarship budget, and may not want to offer it to application stragglers.</li>
<li>Start at community college, then transfer to a (probably state) university to complete your bachelor’s degree. This is a better choice if you live in a place like California (with good in-state financial aid, good community colleges, and well documented transfer pathways) than if you live in some other places.</li>
<li>Do something other than attend any college for a year and retry with a new list of schools that includes some automatic full ride safeties.</li>
</ul>
<p>@ucbalumnus @bodangles I see past year statistics of RD QB applicants, though, and my academics are far better than the median, even though I’m in the same financial situation as the median. That means I’m definitely better than 50+% of RD QB applicants, right?</p>
<p>I have no idea, but isn’t this program more about overcoming obstacles than about “financial situation” or stats?</p>
<p>In the face of some evidence to the contrary, you seem to be clinging to this idea. If I were you, I’d be looking for an affordable school you can still apply to. Of course you have a decent chance of receiving an acceptance, but it was unwise to think that you don’t need safeties even though everyone else does.</p>
<p><em>Correction</em> " That I will end up not going to [A QUESTBRIDGE] college?" Boy, was that misleading, I apologize. @2018dad Yes I was admitted to UVa and W&M; I only received a likely letter from W&M, no other schools (WHICH IS A BAD SIGN), and received my RD acceptance early (around 2-3 weeks ago) as a James Monroe Scholar.</p>
<p>James Monroe scholar at W&M is FANTASTIC!!! Congratulations!
Perhaps one of the other schools on the list will come through for you but that acceptance is already excellent. And of course UVA is as excellent in a different way (different setting, different vibe). So, really, you have awesome choices already. Anything else is cherry on the cake. Do let us know how it turns out and what you decide to do.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with UVA and W&M, assuming that they are affordable – why did you omit mention of being admitted to them in the first post here?</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I made the correction on my previous reply; didn’t realize the huge misunderstanding that I created :P</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Thank you! I AM grateful (I probably sound really ungrateful saying this, however), but I applied via QB in the first place to get accepted into the private, pricey Ivys.</p>
<p>I got accepted into UVa and W&M without Questbridge… Applying to schools via QB takes a ton more effort. I mean, I had to write a lot of supplements for the QB app by 9/28, and I’m just hoping that my efforts and time won’t be a waste…</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus I intended to make the post as concise as possible so that people will actually try to read about my problem, but I didn’t realize that I left out a major point. Sorry again!</p>
<p>It is unrealistic to think that just because you apply to a bunch of reach schools that one will accept you. It is good that you have other options, whew (it was very misleading to say you solely depended in QB colleges.) You seem to think that you are owed something because you took advantage of QB program. That’s a headshaker. All you did is throw your hat in the ring like everyone else, just the same as if you applied RD. But you get a bit of extra attention as a QB finalist, and the opportunity to tell them more about yourself through the QB longer application. People can hang themselves that way too.</p>
<p>So far, your results are not unexpected at all. I don’t see what you don’t understand, unless it is the fundamental difficulty of getting admissions at these colleges, and that each colleges makes independent decisions based on their own criteria and the applicant pool at hand.</p>
<p>So you applied to all 8 Ivies? I’m sure you’ll get into at least one with those stats. However, you made no mention of ECs in your post besides being dedicated to them so I don’t know how to take that. </p>
<p>For example, last year, the number 2 person in the graduating class at my school participated only in MUN but did so extensively and got rejected by all her reach schools (Brown, Harvard, Princeton, and I think Notre Dame). However, the number 8 person in our class dedicated himself to a handful of clubs extensively and did community service weekly and held a job and got accepted into all his safeties (except for UF) and MIT, UChicago, and Duke.</p>
<p>You applied to colleges with very similar selectivity yet with very different “fits”.You didn’t include a variety of selectivities and similar fits. I’m sure people from QB told you your list wasn’t balanced, though… this shouldn’t be a total surprise.
For instance, applying to all 8 Ivies is a dead tip off that you haven’t thought “fit” through since they’re all so different and I can’t imagine nobody at QB told you your strategy should be altered.</p>
<p>Seems to me like Questbridge gave you the chance to reach for the stars in terms of where you apply. IMO it is never a waste to work hard and aim high. If you get in to an Ivy/Ivy equivalent great…if not you still have wonderful choices. </p>
Do let us know how it turns out and what you decide to do.</p>