<p>I'm confused as to why so many more students get into partner schools regular decision versus through the match. The only difference I see between the two is that the match offers a full ride, but since we are all low income we're basically getting something extremely close to a full ride anyway. I just find it weird that a college would reject someone through match but end up accepting that same person through RD.</p>
<p>I’m gonna guess that it is because the EA/ED pools of the partner colleges are usually filled with self-selecting applicants. That means that the quality of the applications in the early pools are consistently much higher than the RD pool (in terms of scores and objective stats).
Also, if one gets deferred from the Match to RD, the college can have more data about the applicant (Mid-year report). Since the Match is a (most of the time) binding Full Ride, colleges only give them out to the most stellar applicants (in terms of their personal stories). The college can only benefit by deferring a lot of Match participants and then deciding to accept them RD.
Basically, deferring someone to RD will only help the college learn more about the applicant and in the end pick people who are really a good fit for their school. There’s no harm in making an applicant wait a couple months before being admitted. :)</p>
<p>The accepting RD schools might be different from the ranked schools. In so many words, the schools might accept students that did not rank them in the first round. Also, schools might have missed their objectives in the CM round as only the highest ranked school lands the student. </p>
<p>The higher number of students in the latter rounds is logical. </p>
<p>@peace1231, we’ve been told there are several reasons that match is so selective. First, it’s a guaranteed four year full ride. That means that even if a student or family’s finances change/improves during that time, the FA package is never re-evaluated. So the colleges want to make sure that they are choosing recipients who have a history of financial hardship and the challenges that come along with that. It’s a big investment in each student that combines need and merit based criteria; making the four year guarantee is a big deal. The colleges also pay QB for each matched student so that gets weighed in as well. The students have to be not only good – someone they would accept during RD – but really special enough that they are going to commit to invest at least 250K plus pay QB the equivalent of a finders fee. The QB scholarship is supposed to be something special. Many of the match packages do exceed the FA students will receive from that college during RD, covering books, supplies, travel, personal expenses, health insurance etc. Although some of the larger and more prestigious uni’s give pretty much the same FA for match and RD, many others and most of the LACs have a more generous package for match…more than just whatever FA the college grants for that income level.</p>
<p>Many QB partner schools are slowly increasing the number of matched students as Questies prove so successful on campus. This year, match went up from 440 -501students despite a smaller pool of finalists. This year Yale made a public statement saying they were deliberately increasing the number of QB students accepted across all admissions cycles. They accepted 40 students for match today ( compared to approx 25 in past years) and plan to accept 75-80 total. It also really depends on the school. UChicago matched 57 students this year while UVA matched only 9. </p>
<p>Lastly, no one is rejected during the match process. A few select students are matched in December (usually about 10% of finalists) and the rest automatically go into the next rounds (RD or ED II) where they might be accepted with a robust FA package. For whatever reason – financial or academic or something else - those students accepted during RD were not strong enough in the eyes of the college to deserve the full guaranteed match package. Just like with any elite scholarship at any college, just because you’re strong enough to be accepted doesn’t mean you qualify for a scholarship or special FA package. Hope that helps clear it up 
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<p>Feeling blessed to be one of the nine UVA scholars!! Absolutely amazing feeling (:</p>
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<p>Where did you get such idea? </p>
<p>@LyricalLacuna, check the terms of the scholarship for each college. There is a QB page for that.
<a href=“QuestBridge | Scholarship Details”>http://www.questbridge.org/for-students/ncm-scholarship-details</a></p>
<p>For instance at Yale</p>
<ul>
<li>they will only match students with 0 EFC</li>
<li>you do need to reapply each year for aid and changes in family income and assets will be evaluated </li>
<li>there is a summer earnings expectation and work study</li>
</ul>
<p><a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/yale-financial-aid”>http://www.questbridge.org/yale-financial-aid</a></p>
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How is that any different than a well-qualified fullpay student being deferred in ED but being admitted in RD?</p>
<p>@xiggi and @BrownParent, you do need to fill out FAFSA every year of course for federal funding etc. but there are only 5 schools that re-evaluate the match package. They are Haverford, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Yale and I can’t remember the last one. The other QB partner colleges give a guaranteed four year full ride. I am currently a matched student and my older brother was a Quest liaison and worked as an intern in their Palo Alto offices. You can feel free to check this with Questbridge if you want but I am 1000% certain that the match package is guaranteed for four years with the exception of the 5 colleges mentioned above. This is what makes the match packages better than an ordinary FA package from QB partner schools - because most all Questies qualify for close to a full ride at most QB schools anyway. </p>
<p>edit: in fact, Questbridge focuses so much on the “guaranteed four year full ride” that many kids don’t know that there are the few schools which do re-evaluate their FA each year. QB did mention it in a Questcast this year without naming the 5 schools but it is not written anywhere on the website except on each college’s scholarship details page. However because the majority of matched students fall under 40K for family income, there are rarely adjustments to the match package. </p>
<p>Columbia is the other college that re-evaluates the match award. </p>
<p>LyricalLacuna, there is a difference between the financial aid packages being kept at the same level during the four years and claiming that they are NEVER re-evaluated. Inasmuch as there is “some” leeway in how financial aid is disbursed, there are more limitations stemming from filing the FAFSA and CSS forms. Limitations that include limitations on exceeding the COA through financial assistance that eliminates the federal EFC. </p>
<p>For all intents and purposes, the QB system works in delivering among the lowest cost of attending college possible --just eclipsed by the impact of the Gates scholarship on the last dollars required-- but it is misleading to state that the scholarships given by the benefactors of the school are cast in stone and not subject to verification. Only schools that are avoiding federal finaid could make such claim. </p>
<p>No need to check this with Questbridge. </p>
<p>When it comes to financial aid, the devil is in the details. </p>
<p>Before claiming 1000% certainty, you might want to check each school “detail” list. For instance, here is what Chicago says:</p>
<p>t
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<p>What do you think that demonstrated need … actually means? </p>
<p>@peace1231 , “rejection” is not what’s happening at all. The main purpose of the Match is to give peace of mind to low-income students who wouldn’t apply Early Decision any other way.</p>
<p>Among the low income group are some “shoo-in” acceptable students, the ones the college wishes they could get that binding “Early” commitment from, but without Questbridge, very few would apply before Regular Decision.</p>
<p>Something like 8 out of 9 finalists don’t get a match. That’s a very large number of top students applying at Regular Decision time, and I think that’s the main reason why a lot more more Questies get admitted RD than get matched.</p>
<p>Why only 1 of 9 get a Match? The primary reason would vary from school to school, but some plausible guesses might be:</p>
<p>a) Maybe one school prefers to wait until RD to promise a majority of their financial aid dollars. Many applicants with major financial need aren’t Questbridge finalists.</p>
<p>b) Another school’s admission team might want to try to formulate their Match List largely on the basis of how the Questbridge Match Applicants stack up against the rest of the Early Decision pool academically, rather than trying to factor in the varying challenges and positive character traits of the Questies at this stage of the process. They would find some spots for Questbridge finalists who stand out in those important areas at regular decision time.</p>
<p>c) Conversely, a third school might want to focus their Questbridge Match List on the students who overcame the greatest challenges, but still find room for Questbridge academic standouts at regular decision.</p>
<p>A school thinking a, b, or c would need to limit the number of Match scholarships they are willing to award.</p>
<p>For these or other reasons, about 8 out of 9 highly qualified Finalists end up thinking about Regular Decision, have the opportunity to apply with waived fees to any or all Partner schools, and in many cases will apply RD to several schools who are already familiar with the Finalist. It all adds up to a lot of Regular Decision acceptances by the Partner Colleges.</p>
<p>@LyricalLacuna , are you sure you wanted to include Haverford as one of those five? Here’s the link to Haverford’s match info, but I’d say the two main points to notice are, if costs go up, the Match Scholars don’t have to worry… and if a Match Scholar’s financial resources increase, they will still get the package as originally awarded, unless they no longer qualify for need-based aid. True, it is necessary to apply for financial aid every year, and true, if the family has such a lottery-like windfall that they don’t even qualify for need based aid, then the award does change (as it should).</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/haverford-financial-aid”>http://www.questbridge.org/haverford-financial-aid</a></p>