r/QuestBridge

For CPS, did everyone get personalized support? I got college application guidance with Matriculate but I heard other people getting SAT/ACT prep or College Essay support. Did anyone not get anything?

I’m a CPS with really good stats (reasearch w/ a med school, national awards, etc). My sat rn is low 1400. I’m scared that’s going to hold me back if I apply through NCM since some of the colleges I want to go to have medians in mid 1500s. Should I just apply test optional to Emory ED1 or stick with NCM for the potential of matching to top colleges? Also, does applying through questbridge make it a little easier to get into some of the higher tier colleges with lower stats? (SAI of -1500 since some ivys and top colleges don’t accept people with less than that)

for those of you who are overthinking and who are probably disappointed in not getting CPS.

i completed the CPS application my junior year of high school and i got rejected. i thought this was the end of it and i was just flat out disappointed buttttt i ended up locking in for NCM applications and ended up becoming a finalist! i was reading the posts for CPS and i can’t help but notice those who are in a similar position to that of me last year.

don’t comprare your stats to those who DID get in. that won’t help you or the other person. just think through now up until september when NCM comes out, that is what truly matters now that you aren’t in CPS.

i did not end up matching at the end with NCM but i did end up getting accepted into a top 10 questbridge school through RD!

if anyone has any questions on CPS and NCM, do not hesitate to reach out :)

I got into the virtual one and people told me that apparently whether you get in-person or not is based off of location but my friend who also got into CPS got into the emory conference, does that mean my application wasn't as strong 😭

This is what I've been told by some other people who got accepted into CPS with me, but I can't find a source for this

So I heard that alot of people didn't match because of the specific schools' contribution policies having to be absolutely 0. Is that true? (Maybe not THAT extreme but ig very low...) I also heard that these NPC aren't rlly accurate...

Hey did anyone join the meeting today? I couldn't join due to sport would that matter later on? What'd u guys talk about in the meeting?

throwaway cuz irls and personal info

I got rejected from CPS, ngl my essay was really not that great but for the NCM I should have more assistance with my essays from my school and programs, but I was wondering if maybe it was my financials that got me rejected and if I should even try to apply again for NCM.

Income - ~120k per year in NYC

Household size - 9

Assets - 800k house with ~600k mortgage, Business with around 15k a year but also like 20k in loan debts

Additional info - not first gen but only my mom has a degree, non married parents, and we send money back home (~10k a year), some bills we have to pay for a surgery my grandma had

if anyone wants to get more details I'm happy to answer but like truly idk if im fried for NCM cuz we make more on paper than it really feels like lmaoo

I wanted to check because from what I know Gates only covers undergrad. However I was told from another finalist if you’re a QB full ride they cover your master degree. Is this true?

Hey guys, does anyone know how the National College Match process work? Some people said you will match to the first school that accept you, but some others said it depends on your ranking and you will match with the highest rank school that accept you. Please let me know, thank you!

I just wanted to ask about the activities section of the NCM. Apparently I’ve heard that it’s like a bulleted list format, and you can list a maximum of 5 extracurriculars. Is there a word count for each entry? I know after that there’s a 400 word prompt asking for which commitment was the most meaningful to us. And is there a separate section for home responsibilities? or is that part of additional information? Is that also a bulleted list? I just need the word count for each entry. any extra info would also be very helpful.

Hey!

Has anyone not been able to get into the discord, I submitted the application to get into it but it still hasn’t been approved?

for anyone who has completed the pioneer research institute through QB, please give your opinion and experience with it! i’m wondering if it’s worth it. also, when listing it in your activity section, did you mention it was through pioneer or independent research? and how high ranked was it? do you believe it had an impact on ur apps? where are you attending now? how fun was the actual experience?

As BDD (Yale’s admitted student event) wraps up, I realize I didn’t feel anything special toward my uni. I met loads of new people but everything felt so cliquey.

I look around at all the other prefrosh and they’re smiling and following groups, but I find a new group of frosh to trail like every hour. I was prepared to be overwhelmed but this is crazy. The most fun I had, I’ve realized, was in small events that hardly anyone goes to. I genuinely might have crashed out already if not for those.

Anyway, I’m really hoping this gets better. For some reason I had this preconceived notion that because I matched with my #1 school, we were perfectly compatible.

I know this probably sounds ungrateful (and I definitely didn’t hate BDD) but most of the time I felt out of place and quite alone.

hi!! i just got into CPS but questioned if it was worth applying to the NCM because my stats are lower than average ☹️ i wanted to check over here because i couldn’t find good info on QB

Gender: Female

Ethnicity: Jamaican / Mexican

Home State: IL

Type of School: Public

Hooks: Low income

Intended major(s): English, Journalism, or Public Policy

Academics:

ACT: 27 on Pre-ACT, waiting on real ACT scores. (17 Math, 30 English, 35 Reading, 27 Sci.)

SAT: PSAT 1110

Class rank: Not considered

UW/W GPA: 3.84UW/4.48W

APS: AP Sem (Via Frosh. gifted program) (4), AP Psych (5), taking APUSH/ Lang, WILL TAKE APES, APLIT, AP GOV, + AP Macro

Coursework: Honors English + Science Frosh/Soph, Regular math, AP English Junior + Senior year, Regular physics junior year, Dual Credit Spanish, Art, + English electives

Awards: QuestBridge CPS, IJEA Best Audio Journalism Honorable Mention

Extracurriculars:

Competitive Speech: Chapter president, top point scorer on team, varsity since freshman year, will be captain for 2yrs, IHSA Sectionals finalist x2, IHSA Sectionals qualifier x5, IHSA Regionals finalist x6, Conference Champion x2, Conference top 6 x6

Journalism: Sports + radio, IHSA state qualifier x3, IHSA sectionals top 2 x3, a few statewide awards, broadcast editor — will be 2yrs senior year

Niche national organization— Event category champion, “Most Honorable Member of The Supreme Court”, Regional leader for a H.S. chapter of the program, will be attending junior year program (students are drafted into a team of college admissions counselors— vandy, rice, + dartmouth will be there, and i usually sweep this program b/c of my comp. speech background :))

Girl’s Swim & Dive, Water Polo

“MVP”— Frosh

“Most Spirited”— x3

“Most Improved”— Sophomore year

JV Swim— Soph/ Junior yr

Varsity Polo— Frosh—Senior yr

Varsity swim — maaaayyyybe senior yr?

Starting WOPO goalie— Junior—Senior yr

Honors Society

Art, Foreign Language, NHS, trying to go for Rho Kappa next year

HOSA

State Qualifier x2

Running for secretary / social media manager next fall

Musical— Literally just joined this year 😭 got one of the best support roles, though!! Doing Senior year

Service Club— Top 3 service hour earners

-DePaul High School J-Day Summer Camp

-Applying to EIU journalism camp

- Volunteering as a staff member for niche summer program (100+ hours)

LETTERS OF REC: the head coach of the speech team / dept. chair for english, or my APUSH teacher :)

ESSAY: About my grandmother always telling me “time is against us” in the middle of my hysterics when i was a toddler, but never listening to her lesson and hating the phrase. I didn’t realize how important it was until she passed when i was fourteen and i was just a few minutes away to say my final goodbyes, but i saw the watch on her wrist and knew it was a dying message. it encouraged me to do broadcast journalism + competitive speech (particularly radio speaking, where time is your major basis of ranking— must be 5min on the dot), and i allow every sign off to become the goodbyes i never got to give her, and she was my best teacher even in passing, etc.

QUESTIONS/ COMMENTS

EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES: Alcoholic father experiencing homelessness on + off, unsupportive mom who literally doesn’t gaf about college and is taking care of me on her own , and severe undiagnosed health complications related to a tumor that was discovered a few months ago.

I feel like I was rejected because of my weak ecs, but I feel like it also might be because of my income after reading some other posts. I don’t know if I should apply for NCM

CPS Status: Rejected

Assets: So my house is worth $50k and my parents own/work at a restaurant thats worth ⁠$100k. My dad also have $9k in extra income. Both properties are paid off. I’m not sure whether the house and business counts as assets, but just listing that here.

Household Members: 7

Income: ~$65k

First Generation: Yes

State: PA (U.S. Citizen)

GPA: 3.5 unweighted / 4.317 weighted

Class rank: 17/294

SAT: N/A (received 1260, did not submit)

ACT: N/A

AP Exams: AP World - 4

ECs: Youth ambassador, leading a project that encourages STEM initiatives, Key Club VP and 26-27 pres, student government treasurer > President

Interested major: education

CPS Status: Rejected

Assets: None ⁠

Household Members: 2, living with single mother

Income: ~50k, specified my mom has a commission-based job

First Generation

State: NV (U.S. Citizen)

GPA: 3.86 unweighted / 4.69 weighted

Class rank: 37/297

SAT: N/A (received 1140, did not submit)

ACT: N/A (received 26, did not submit)

AP Exams: AP Seminar - 4, APAAS - 5

ECs: Research Club, HOSA

Interested major: Psychology (want to go more on the research side)

A bunch of people were asking, so Ide decided to make a post about it. I emailed QuestBridge, and they said that YYGS has already contacted anyone who got in. Sadly, I didn't get in, but I might be doing research elsewhere, so it's fine. Congrats to those who got accepted!