Hello everybody!
You may have seen my post a few months ago, here is the link for reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/QuestBridge/s/vr61JFmdti
With CPS coming out a while ago and juniors starting to decide on whether or not to do the match, I want to now share a new perspective on how I went through with Questbridge in the regular round (since you often only hear about NCM stories, no QB RD ones), recovered from the experience of not matching, and refined my mindset to stop caring about how others view me + where I'm committed, so I would appreciate if you read through this entire post!
TLDR the link: I am a current high school senior and a NCM QB Finalist. I ended up not matching and was incredibly frustrated with Questbridge, the college decision process, and myself; I ended up heading into regular decision with little to no expectations nor hope. Now, I'm sharing my story up to today and where I'm headed for the next four years; hopefully this gives some insight into what happens if you don't match, and that it's not the end of the world.
Continuing off of my previous post, I mass applied to colleges after not matching because I was paranoid from what happened during the NCM. In total, I applied to 16 reaches, 1 target, 5 safeties with the mindset that I would just transfer if I ended up getting mass rejected (which almost happened).
I wanted to prove to myself that I was good enough; but more than anything, I wanted to prove to others around me I was good enough. The entirety of December, I poured my heart and soul into practically every single college, refining the essays until I believed they were good enough. Yet in the end, I was rejected from every single Questbridge college I applied to through QBRD, including the ivies. I was extremely disappointed in myself; I have always been a high achiever and go to a feeder school meaning I see at least a few kids who are going to HYPSM every class I’m in. Not getting in had me thinking my entire future was ruined.
The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized how much this mindset of “needing” to attend a t20/ivy screwed my mindset to the point that it was unhealthy. Not just for me, but I think a lot of kids nowadays view an ivy league as a golden ticket to success, when (and I can’t emphasize this enough) college and your career ultimately is what YOU make out of it. The SAT and AP scores you earned, the ECs you’ve spent countless hours on, your work ethic that you’ve build throughout your high school career—you will embody all of this no matter where you go, and that’s what matters most.
In the end, I was accepted into 2 of my reaches, waitlisted from my target, and accepted to all my safeties. I will not state which college I’m committed to now due to privacy reasons but it is a QB partner school (I applied common app). After committing, I met the group of students who matched originally and got to know all of them. They are all super welcoming and nice, and extremely down to earth!
But am I satisfied with my college decisions?
Of course, I can’t help being disappointed with my results, thinking “what if I did get in?” practically everyday. But I’ve learned that the world is not perfect, it will not always work out in your favor but that is PERFECTLY FINE. There is always luck in admissions, nothing is promised to you; likewise, why you should not compare yourself to others who get into those top tier schools. They are not all “perfect” in terms of stats, ecs, and essays. In the end, they are all still human, and so are you. I’m still trying to grow out of that “what if?” mindset as no one knows what could have happened, but as I step toward the future, I’m super excited for what my college experience will hold. I plan to hit the ground running and do just as much as I did in high school, if not more! To sum up this post, NOT ATTENDING A T20 IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, COMPARISON IS THE THIEF OF JOY AND YOU ARE JUST AS SMART AND AS TALENTED!!!!
P.S. Thank you so much to the Questbridge community for uplifting me and other applicants during the RD process. It really did work out for me in the end and I couldn’t have made it mentally without your guys’ support.
Thank you for listening, this will likely be my last post on this account. :) - Competitive Chip
I’m open to questions in the comments!