QuestBridge

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QuestBridge

Founded	1987; 34 years ago (1987) (as Stanford Medical Youth Science Program) 1994 (1994) (as QuestBridge)
Founders	Michael McCullough Ana Rowena McCullough
Location	Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Method	Links students with educational and scholarship opportunities at top colleges and universities.
Website	www.questbridge.org

QuestBridge is a national nonprofit based in Palo Alto, California that connects students from low-income backgrounds with higher education opportunities. By working with these students—beginning in high school through college, into their early career—QuestBridge's goals are to help its students attend college and provide support in their respective careers and communities.

History[]

QuestBridge started in 1987 as the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP). It evolved into the QuestBridge Program in 2004 after founder Michael McCullough began using the Internet to recruit students.^[1] Amherst College, Rice University, Grinnell College, Wheaton College, and Trinity College joined as the first QuestBridge partner schools.^[1] By 2016, the pool of partner schools had increased to 42 universities and liberal arts colleges. Since 2014, more than 7,500 students have been admitted and offered financial aid to these partner schools.^[2]

Programs[]

College Prep Scholarship[]

The College Prep Scholarship is a pre-college scholarship program offered by QuestBridge for qualifying high school juniors. The application is a condensed version of the National College Match application, and also asks students to list their interest in each of the partner schools. In 2012, 3,098 students were named College Prep Scholars for winning one or more of the above awards. 74% of these students were among the first generation in their family to attend college, and 85% ranked in the top 10% of their class.^[3]

National College Match[]

The National College Match is an alternative, generally binding, and free application process for high-school seniors. It helps students apply to and be selected for admission at partner colleges with full four-year scholarships.^[4][5][6] Students may also use the program's application materials to apply for admission through partner colleges' regular decision processes.

Process[]

The National College Match application generally opens up in August. Students fill out the QuestBridge application, which is a counterpart to the Common Application and includes several 35-word short-answer questions and two full-length essays. The application is catered towards highlighting the specific needs and backgrounds of low-income, first-generation students.^{[citation needed]} The application is due late September.^[7]

Students can rank their school preferences, up to 12 colleges, if they want to continue with the National College Match process. Each partner school asks for different materials, such as the Common Application, particular financial aid documents, or college supplements. QuestBridge Finalists are announced and students find out if they are eligible for the National College Match process.^{[7][non-primary source needed]}

Through the month of November, each partner college receives applications from QuestBridge finalists who ranked them for the National College Match. The partner schools choose among their applicants and send a list of desired students to QuestBridge, who then matches the colleges' rankings with the students' rankings. Students are matched to the top school on their list that also matched them. Around late November to early December, QuestBridge announces whether or not the students receive a College Match Scholarship, which covers at the minimum the full cost of tuition, room, and board, and student fees.^[8] If the student receives a College Match Scholarship to a binding school, they are prohibited from applying to any other college.^{[citation needed]}

Students who do not receive the College Match Scholarship move onto QuestBridge Regular Decision, the Early Decision II, or Early Action offered at various schools.^{[citation needed]}

Students who were not named QuestBridge Finalists can still receive free applications from a variety of partner colleges, and they are eligible to forward their National Match Application to schools that will accept it for QuestBridge Regular Decision.^{[citation needed]}

The National College Match is a restrictive early process; students may not apply to any other early decision or action program until Match results come out.^{[9][non-primary source needed]} As a result, students can choose to not rank any schools at all. They can still be named QuestBridge Finalists, which means eligibility for Questbridge Regular Decision, and they can apply to any early process they desire.

While international students and undocumented students may apply to the National Match, they are not considered by every partner college.^{[10][non-primary source needed]}

Partner colleges[]

As of 2021, the National College Match officially has 45 partner colleges, a mix of research universities and liberal arts colleges:^[11]

QuestBridge Regular Decision[]

Finalists who applied to the National College Match, but did not rank schools, and finalists who ranked schools, but did not receive a binding College Match Scholarship, are eligible to apply through QuestBridge Regular Decision. The biggest benefit of the process is free applications to all 42 partner colleges and the opportunity to forward the Questbridge Application in lieu of the Common Application for some schools.^[12]

Students have until mid-December to check off all the schools they would like QuestBridge to forward their applications to.^[8] They must submit all particular application requirements for the colleges they are interested in by the colleges' regular decision deadline.

Acceptance rates[]

The number of students applying for the National College Match Application has increased each year, from 6,647 students in 2010, to 7,821 students in 2011, to 9,577 students in 2012, and to 13,264 in 2015.^[13] For the class of 2015, 4,895 (37%) of the applicants were named QuestBridge finalists, and 657 (13%) received a College Match Scholarship. In addition, 2,257 finalists (46.1%) were offered acceptance and financial aid to a partner college, either through the National Match or through Regular Decision.^{[citation needed]}

Of the 4,895 QuestBridge Finalists, 71% were first generation to attend college and 89% were in the top 10% of their class. 92% came from families with an income of $65,000 or less. The median income was $33,177 and 79% were eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch.^[14]

Of the 383 students who received a College Match Scholarship in 2012, 76% were first generation to attend college, 29% were valedictorians, and 84% were in the top 5% of their class. 96% came from families with an income of $60,000 or less.^[15]

Quest for Excellence Awards[]

QuestBridge began offering individuals and organizations the chance to create personalized awards where students would complete some of their college application process at the same time as applying for an award, scholarship, or prize (e.g. a laptop computer). The Quest For Excellence Program offers awards once for juniors coupled with their College Prep Scholarship and then again in the fall for seniors in conjunction with their National College Match and regular decision process.^[16]

Quest Scholars Network[]

All QuestBridge finalists who enroll in a partner college become Quest Scholars. Quest Scholars come to represent the Quest Scholars Network (QSN), a branch of QuestBridge formed in 2009 which seeks to link Quest Scholars across the country with each other and with leadership and service opportunities.^[17] Each QuestBridge partner college has a Quest Scholars Network chapter, composed of all the QuestBridge Finalists enrolled in that particular school.

The QSN nominates a liaison for each chapter every year, whose primary duty is to serve as the intermediary between the national organization and the school's chapter.^[18]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website