QuestBridge

1
QuestBridge

• www.questbridge.org

Katie Hale
2
Purpose

• QuestBridge is a non-profit program that links
  bright, motivated low-income students with
  educational and scholarship opportunities at some
  of the nation's best colleges. QuestBridge is the
  provider of the National College Match.

3
What does QuestBridge do?

• The National College Match connects
  high-achieving low-income students with admission
  and full four-year scholarships to 20 partner
  colleges. In the past year, over 600 students
  received admission and more than 55 million in
  scholarships through the National College Match.

4
Who are the 20 partner colleges?

• Amherst College
• Bowdoin
• University of Chicago
• Claremont McKenna College
• Columbia University
• Emory University
• University of Notre Dame
• Oberlin
• Pomona College
• Princeton University

• Rice University
• Scripps
• Stanford University
• Swarthmore College
• Trinity College
• Vassar
• Wellesley College
• Wheaton College (IL)
• Williams
• Yale

5
What does the scholarship include?

• The scholarship is a four-year scholarship that
  includes
• Full cost of tuition from 23,000 to 36,000,
  depending on the college.
• Full cost of room and board from 7,000 to
  11,000, depending on the college
• Most partner colleges also include the following
  in their scholarship packages
• Books and supplies
• Travel expenses
• Health insurance
• A work-study package to help cover personal and
  other expenses

6
How are the recipients chosen?

• The NCM is designed for high school seniors who
  have shown outstanding academic ability despite
  facing economic challenges. QuestBridge does not
  have fixed criteria for GPA, standardized test
  scores, or income. When selecting finalists, we
  try to answer the following questions
• "Does this student have the motivation and
  ability to thrive at one of our partner
  colleges?"
• "What obstacles has this student overcome,
  socioeconomic and otherwise?"
• QuestBridge selects finalists for our partner
  colleges to review but does not make the ultimate
  selection of College Match scholarship
  recipients. Rather, partner colleges choose
  scholarship recipients from among the finalists.
• All of the following are taken into account when
  considering an application
• Academic Criteria
• Financial Criteria
• Other Criteria
• Eligibility Requirements (including international
  student information)
• Go to www.questbridge.org for information about
  the previous scholarship recipients statistics.

7
Who is eligible for QuestBridge?

• Eligibility Requirements
• You must take the required standardized tests (on
  or before October 6 for SAT I or II, September 15
  for ACT) and send your scores to QuestBridge as
  well as the colleges you are interested in to
  qualify for the National College Match process.
  Any testing done after the October test date will
  only be considered in the Regular Admissions
  process.
• You must be a high school graduate during or
  before the spring/summer of 2008 and be planning
  to enroll as a freshman in college in the fall of
  2008.
• Only US Citizens and Permanent Residents are
  eligible to apply for National College Match
  Scholarship for all colleges except Princeton and
  Yale. Students who are not US Citizens or
  Permanent Residents can still use the QuestBridge
  application, be chosen as a QuestBridge Finalist,
  and participate in the Regular Admissions
  Process.

8
The National College Match Scholarship Selection
Process(for a step-by-step explanation, go to
http//www.questbridge.org/students/process.html)
9
Important Dates

• August 15, 2007
• National College Match application becomes
  available online.
• September 30, 2007
• The National College Match Application is due at
  1159 p.m., Pacific Time.
• October 6, 2007
• Final SAT test date for which scores can be
  submitted for the National College Match.
• October 26, 2007
• Applicants are notified of their finalist
  standing.Finalists are given instructions about
  how to proceed. Applicants not chosen as
  finalists should proceed with their Early
  Decision, Early Action and/or Regular Decision
  applications.
• November 1, 2007
• Finalists must submit required documents to the
  colleges that they have ranked. See College
  Specific Requirements for deadlines and details.
• November 30, 2007
• Finalists notified of College Match results.
• Students who are not matched may apply to
  QuestBridge's partner colleges through the
  Regular
• Decision process. See the Regular Decision
  Process page at www.questbridge.org.
• January 1, 2008
• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
  forms become available online and in your
  counselor's office. This must be filled out
  according to particular college requirements.

10
The application

• The application for the QuestBridge National
  College Match scholarships is online at
  http//www.questbridge.org/students/application_in
  formation.html. Directions and other guidelines
  can be found here as well.

11
FAQs

• What qualifies as "low-income?
• QuestBridge has no fixed limits on household
  income. We take many factors into consideration,
  including the size of a family, parents' level of
  education, and extenuating circumstances that
  affect a household's financial situation. If
  you are interested in the College Match, it is
  important to note that our partner colleges are
  specifically aiming to provide scholarships to
  students who would otherwise have a very
  difficult time affording college. Last year, the
  103 College Match Scholarship recipients had
  incomes ranging from 0 - 62,000 per year (gross
  income) but the range varies slightly from year
  to year. Like QuestBridge, our colleges take many
  factors into consideration when determining the
  financial needs of a student.

12
FAQs (contd)

• What do you consider ''outstanding'' or
  "high-achieving?
• QuestBridge seeks motivated students who
  challenge themselves by taking and excelling in
  their high school's most challenging courses. We,
  as well our partner colleges, look at many
  different factors when assessing a student's
  academics, including grades, class rank, high
  school courses taken, standardized test scores,
  teacher recommendations and other markers of
  talent and motivation.Students interested in
  applying to our partner colleges through the
  College Match can also visit our partner
  colleges' websites to learn more specifics
  regarding their academic standards. Last year,
  two-thirds of the students who received College
  Match scholarships were in the top 5 of their
  high school classes. To learn more, see our
  eligibility and selection criteria.

13
FAQs (contd)

• How many full scholarships are being offered this
  year?
• We hope to connect more than 125 students with
  full scholarships through the National College
  Match this year. Last year, 103 students received
  full scholarships via the College
  Match.QuestBridge's partner colleges are not
  obligated to accept any specific number of
  QuestBridge applicants. They evaluate QuestBridge
  applicants based on the same criteria that they
  use during the review of all other applicants.
  One way to assess your chances of acceptance by
  one of our partner colleges through the National
  College Match program is by looking at the
  results from last year located on our website.

14
FAQs (contd)

• If I apply to the National College Match, can I
  also apply to another school Early Decision or
  Early Action?
• If you choose to participate in the College
  Match, you cannot also apply to other colleges
  Early Decision or Early Action. Since the College
  Match is a binding early admission program,
  applying to both QuestBridge and another program
  early would violate the agreement with the other
  program. If you fill out an application but do
  not become a QuestBridge finalist (notification
  of finalist status is October 26, 2007), then you
  are released to apply to any college Early
  Decision or Early Action.Students are
  encouraged to apply to other colleges through the
  Regular Admissions process. However, if you are
  matched with one of our partner colleges, you
  will need to withdraw all of your regular
  applications. If you decide not to participate
  in the College Match process or if you are not
  selected as a finalist, you are still welcome to
  apply and utilize our application forwarding
  service for the Regular Admissions process.
  Please review the profiles of each of our partner
  colleges on our website for more information.

15
FAQs (contd)

• Is there a fee to apply to QuestBridge? Are there
  any other costs
• associated with the College Match?
• Applying to the National College Match, like all
  of QuestBridge's student services, is completely
  free of charge.If you are selected as a
  finalist for the College Match, you will need to
  file a financial aid form called the CSS PROFILE.
  This form is administered by the College Board
  and is required for students applying for
  scholarship and financial aid to private colleges
  whether they apply to through QuestBridge or
  through the normal admission process. This form
  costs 18 per college to submit it to the College
  Board. Please be aware that this fee is not paid
  to QuestBridge, but to the College Board, and is
  a fee you will have to pay no matter how you
  apply to college.
• When is the QuestBridge application due?
• QuestBridge applications must be submitted online
  by Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 1159pm PST.

16
Further information

• For more information on Questbridge National
  College Match program, go to www.questbridge.org.