An Unofficial Guide to QuestBridge
If you are a low income, high-achieving high school student, QuestBridge should definitely be on your radar. The organization aids students in disadvantaged circumstances during the college admissions process through their two programs: the College Prep Scholars program and the National College Match program.
Eligibility
QuestBridge’s programs are focused on recognizing the potential of low-income students and connecting them to resources that will enable them to apply for college.
Understandably, the differences between the two programs can be little confusing. The most discernible characteristic that separates the College Prep Scholars program from the National College Match program is that the College Prep Scholars program is for high school juniors (eligibility requirements here), and that the National College Match program is for high school seniors (eligibility requirements here).
However, you should keep in mind that your situation might not fit exactly into the requirements listed on QuestBridge’s website. Because every situation is unique, many personal factors not mentioned on their site may have an increased impact on your ability to afford and attend college — Please inquire about whether you qualify before moving forward!
College Prep Scholars
This program awards select students with the distinction of being a College Prep Scholar. Along with this, it provides students with the opportunity to attend national college conferences to learn about the 40 QuestBridge college partners, full scholarships to summer programs at prestigious universities, college application help, awards, and access to a community of scholars through a Facebook group. Many of the College Prep Scholars also receive the College Match Finalist distinction when they apply in the fall!
Amongst the summer programs available to apply for include pre-college programs from Emory, Stanford, UChicago, UPenn, and Yale, removing the barriers blocking low-income students from studying at elite universities. Additionally, the Quest for Excellence distinctions, awarded to select eligible students that complete the corresponding supplements on the application, come with resources from a new laptop to reimbursement for college visits.
The free application takes quite a bit of preparation, so keep an eye on the deadline (late March). Some of the requirements are short answer essays, a biographical essay, a teacher recommendation (should be requested at least 2–3 weeks ahead of time), and a transcript. Make sure that you don’t procrastinate in order to submit your application in time!
The National College Match
Similar to the College Prep Scholars application, the National College Match application is a selective process that recognizes students as College Match Finalists, recognizing academic success despite financial and personal circumstance. However, where these processes differ is in how the National College Match allows students to apply for a full scholarship at up to twelve out of forty college partners through the QuestBridge application (that’s including schools like Yale, Caltech, and Pomona!)
Some of the requirements for the application, due in late September, include: two letters of recommendation (request them at least 3 weeks in advance as a courtesy for your teachers), a school report from your counselor, transcripts, and test scores.
About two weeks after submitting your application, you will be able to rank up to twelve partners for admission. All schools are binding decisions (except for MIT, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford), meaning if you are matched, you are required to attend that school. During the Match process, your application is sent to all of the schools that you ranked.
If you are selected by one of the colleges, you will attend (“are matched to”) the school that is ranked the highest on your list. Additionally, you may also opt out of the Match and just apply solely for the Finalist distinction; this will allow you to apply to many other schools in their early decision and early action rounds, because you may not apply to these cycles until after December 3 with the Match (there are a few exceptions here).
You will be notified if you gained the National College Match Finalist distinction in mid-October, meaning that you will continue in the process and are required to complete the remaining application materials required for each school by November 1st. However, if you are not selected as a Finalist, you can then move on independently to apply to schools both in and out of the QuestBridge network via the regular decision and early decision/action rounds.
To continue with the Match, some schools require you to complete additional written supplements, while others require you to submit an additional application through the Common Application or Coalition websites. All schools will require you to submit financial information via the FAFSA and IDOC as well. A helpful tip is to join the College Match Finalist Facebook group(s); there’s a community of students across the country that are going through the same process as you, and oftentimes, support and advice about applications are shared in that group!
In early December, QuestBridge will notify Finalists of their Match decision; as previously mentioned, if Matched, the Finalist will attend that school with a full scholarship and join the QuestBridge Scholar Network.
If the Finalist is not Matched, they are able to continue into the early decision, early action, and regular decision rounds. Many of the college partners allow Finalists to “rollover” their National College Match applications with the QuestBridge Regular Decision Form for free, but Finalists are free to submit new applications to both QuestBridge partners and non-QuestBridge partners through the other platforms, like the Common Application and Coalition. Many non-Matched Finalists are also accepted into their ranked schools in the later rounds of the application cycles with comparable financial aid packages, thus joining the QuestBridge Scholar Network, so don’t give up hope!
Having gone through the college application process with QuestBridge as both a College Prep Scholar and a College Match Finalist, I hope that some of the information above will help future students. If you are currently a high school student, kudos for taking steps toward getting a college education; that already is an accomplishment in itself! If I had to give one piece of advice for those going through the next application round, it would be to plan ahead and avoid procrastination… You don’t want to be scrambling for letters of recommendation and writing essays five minutes before the deadline. Good luck!
