Would I be a Suitable Questbridge Candidate?

Hello, everyone,

I’m very interested in Questbridge, but I keep having doubts about whether I would even be a suitably underprivileged candidate by their definition. I was wondering if others on this forum could elucidate this for me.

Currently, I’m a junior (white, male) at a public urban high school. Some classrooms do not have adequate HVAC systems. Otherwise, I think the school is generally pretty good (only public school in the city with “5 stars” from some school rating organization). I qualify for free lunch, but so does everyone else in the school system. My family is lower-middle class (~30k/yr for a family of 3). My neighborhood growing up was not exactly “ideal” (lots of drug addicts. I used to find hypodermic needles outside of my house as a kid), but it has gradually become more affluent and safer over time. I would say that finances have definitely been somewhat of a setback for me, but I do not believe my parents were ever unable to pay for necessities, like food, heating, insurance, etc. One of my parents has a bachelor’s degree, and the other has experienced some college.

Here’s the catch: I’ve been the beneficiary of several things that are inaccessible to most people, poor or not. I am a part of a special honors program at my high school that gives me access to additional resources and teachers due to being run by a non-profit organization. I also have a long-term research internship where I’m working in a lab at a local scientific institution, an opportunity provided by this program. Both of these aforementioned advantages were provided to me free-of-cost, based on academic achievement.

In summation: I’m a high-achieving student who has experienced some financial hardships and setbacks, but is not abjectly poor. Moreover, I have experienced some exclusive privileges that I know many other prospective QB applicants did not have access to.

Am I a viable QB applicant, assuming that all of my other credentials are sufficient? Or do they want to reserve scholarships and whatnot for more underprivileged people than me?

Thank you in advance for reading and (hopefully) answering this.

You qualify. Just because everyone in your school also has free lunch does not diminish your family’s income. The fact that you have had a chance at a great opportunity to work in a lab doesnt diminish that either.

Something I noticed you wrote was that you are lower middle class income. Your family is not middle class if your income is 30k for 3 people. Your family is low income.
I wish you good luck!

I was going to say the same thing as MamaBear2001. $30,000 a year for 3 people will definitely meet Questbridge’s strict cut-off. And you can explain that you didn’t have to pay for those opportunities in your application. Either way, it will be pretty obvious that your family couldn’t pay based on your income. Unless of course, $30k was a bit of an exaggeration. If so, I’d have a more in-depth conversation with your parents about their finances.

From what you have described, QB could be a good option for you.

Thank you so much! This helps a lot.