all high school

Admissions Officer Insight: The Top Five Reasons to Apply for a Fly-in Program

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Tori Guen, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Colby College

If you are a rising senior in high school, now is the perfect time to apply for fly-in programs. Numerous QuestBridge college partners offer campus visit opportunities that are known colloquially as fly-in or overnight programs. A majority of these programs are focused on bringing underrepresented students to their campus, and travel grants are available to cover all costs of transportation, lodging, meals and programming. Take advantage of these opportunities — you may be able to visit an amazing school for free! If there is a specific college you are interested in, contact the admissions office to inquire about funded opportunities to visit campus. Here, I’ve listed the top five reasons why attending a fly-in program will benefit you during your college search. Continue reading →

Finding My Identity: QuestBridge Scholar Harpreet Singh’s Path to Emory

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Harpreet Singh, QuestBridge Scholar, Emory ’17

QuestBridge Scholar Harpreet Singh (Emory ’17) has come a long way since applying for the National College Match in 2012. Originally from New Jersey, Harpreet ended up finding his college fit with a school 800 miles away that he had hardly heard of before being accepted. But that’s just the beginning of Harpreet’s transformative journey…

Since starting the National College Match application, I would say a lot has changed about me. I would say my self-confidence has increased. I would say I no longer doubt who I am and what my potential is. I would say I take risks more often than before. I would say I am proud to be who I am: a first-generation low-income student at a top-tier college.

What truly catalyzed this transformation, you may ask? I would say QuestBridge.
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Dear QB: There are so many colleges out there. How do I find the “one” for me?

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DearQBWith thousands of four-year colleges in the United States, it can be intimidating to know how to find the college that is the right fit for you academically, financially, and socially. The good news is that QuestBridge’s college partners are all great options, and you can certainly find more than one that is a good fit. The key is to set goals, do your research, and stay organized. Let’s dive deeper into these three things…

Set Goals

Before you start searching for schools, take time to think about what you want to accomplish in college. You don’t have to know everything now, but thinking ahead will help when you start making college decisions. Continue reading →

Q&A with a College Prep Scholar & QuestBridge Scholar – Kim Rosa

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Kim-Rosa_Swarthmore (1)QuestBridge Scholars are known for their scholarship, leadership, and service, and Kim Rosa truly exemplifies each of these traits. Since becoming a College Prep Scholar in 2013, Kim has been a Quest Liaison, Quest Ambassador, Essay Coach, Group Leader, and — most recently — a Quest Intern! We sat down with Kim so she could pass along her advice to the next generation of QuestBridge Scholars:

Based on your experience applying to college through QuestBridge, do you have any advice for students heading into the National College Match?

Begin the National College Match application as soon as possible, even if you just log in to your application and read through the different prompts and requirements. Oftentimes it can be overwhelming to think about everything that needs to be completed, but if you begin early, you will have enough time to talk to your teachers about recommendations and you can begin to brainstorm your essay responses.

Do you have any tips for students who are just starting to research colleges?
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Time for a “Rematch”

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Sunpreet Singh, 2015 National College Match Finalist
Sunpreet Singh, 2015 National College Match Finalist

I was at Buffalo Wild Wings eating away my tears. I’d just opened my match results and, like thousands of other Finalists, I found out that I wasn’t matched. I cried. A lot. I put hours of work into not only my QuestBridge application, but also my supplements and I somewhat felt like I got rejected. However, this truly couldn’t be further from the truth.

What I’m trying to say is that this is not at all a time of grief or sorrow. We should be immensely proud of our peers who have been matched, and, likewise, they should also be very supportive for non-matched Finalists looking ahead to the Regular Decision and Early Action/Decision processes. Continue reading →

My Match Day

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Rosalyn Huff, 2015 National College Match Recipient and QuestBridge Blogger
Rosalyn Huff, 2015 National College Match Scholarship Recipient

Notifications still hadn’t been released when the bell rang, or when I sat on the bus on the way home, or even as I walked up to my front door. I refreshed the QB application portal one more time (sorry QB, I know that all of the refreshing crashed your homepage) as I stood on my front porch. I sighed as there was still no update, reminding myself of the promise that they would in fact be released by the end of the day as I dug into my jacket pocket for my house key. It wasn’t there. Puzzled, I performed a basic pat down on myself. It wasn’t in the other pocket, the pockets on my jeans, in my purse, or in my backpack. I scolded myself. How could I let this happen on such a day? And it was raining.
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When You Don’t Make the List (For Now)

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David Guirgis, 2015 Finalist and QuestBridge Blogger
David Guirgis, 2015 Finalist and QuestBridge Blogger

I cried like a child on December 1, but I wasn’t crying because I didn’t match; I cried because I was so happy for everyone. (Masculinity may be fragile but so are my emotions.) I’ve met a million wonderful people through QuestBridge, people I wish I’d met a million years before. And seeing their success—their hard work and the way they powered through lives that weren’t picture-perfect—pay off in such a grand fashion made me feel that much more special, because I’d become a part of their story the way they’d become a part of mine.
Continue reading →

Becoming a Champion

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Rosalyn Huff, 2015 National College Match Finalist and QuestBridge Blogger
Rosalyn Huff, 2015 National College Match Finalist and QuestBridge Blogger

Remember when we used to play with puzzles?

There was an entire shelf stacked with puzzles in my second grade classroom. The mental image of running over and grabbing a puzzle (preferably a Strawberry Shortcake puzzle), finding a seat on the bright red alphabet carpet, and spilling the dozens of cardboard pieces onto the space in front of me is vivid enough to have happened yesterday.

My teacher eventually caught onto the class hobby, and began purchasing puzzles in duplicates so that more than one person could work on the same puzzle at the same time. However, we took it in a direction that I doubt she ever anticipated: extreme puzzle races.
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How to Chill When I’ve Lost My Chill

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David Guirgis, 2015 Finalist and QuestBridge Blogger

Hello, it’s me. I’ve been wondering if after all these years of working towards college by freaking out over supplements and drowning in difficult coursework and extracurriculars, you’d like to talk about almost being done.

Adele aside, I think I’m speaking for most of us when I say that four years of staying up late to finish internship paperwork and study for eight midterms is finally taking its toll.
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