QuestBridge

QuestBridge started in 1987 as the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP). It evolved into the QuestBridge Program in 2004 after the founder of QuestBridge, Michael McCullough, realized that the Internet was a great tool to recruit promising low-income students.[1] Amherst College, Rice University, Grinnell College, Wheaton College, and Trinity College joined as the first QuestBridge partner schools.[1] Twelve years later, the pool of partner schools has increased to 42 of the nation's leading universities and liberal arts colleges. In the last seven years, over 7500 low-income students have been admitted and offered financial aid to these partner schools.[2]

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.

The awards offered by the College Prep Scholarship include:[3]

• 40 full scholarships to the Brandeis University High School Summer College Program for Fein Fellows, Emory University Pre-College Program, Harvard University Secondary School Program, University of Notre Dame Pre-College Programs, University of Pennsylvania: Leadership in the Business World Summer Program, University of Pennsylvania: Management & Technology Summer Institute, University of Pennsylvania: Summer Academy in Applied Science & Technology, University of Pennsylvania: Wharton Sports Business Academy, Stanford University High School Summer College Program, and Yale University Summer Session.
• 60 individualized college admissions counseling awards, in which a current QuestBridge staff member or college student mentors a student through all stages of the college admission process
• 2000 invitations to QuestBridge's College Admissions Conferences,
• All-expense-paid trips to visit QuestBridge partner colleges
• 300 telementoring awards with Amherst College, which will pair low-income and first-generation Amherst students to the award winners. The students will answer questions about the college process and provide support and encouragement
• Quest For Excellence Awards, offered in a variety of categories, which offer promising students laptops, iPads, or all-expense-paid trips to the partner colleges

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.[4]

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.[5][6][7] Students may also use the program's application materials to apply for admission through partner colleges' regular decision processes.

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.[13]

Students have until mid-December to check off all the schools they would like QuestBridge to forward their applications to.[9] They must submit all particular application requirements for the colleges they are interested in (listed on QuestBridge's website) by the colleges' regular decision deadline.

Several partner colleges allow students to apply to their binding Early Decision processes; these include Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, Davidson, Emory, Grinnell, Northwestern, Oberlin, Pomona, Rice, Scripps, Swarthmore, Trinity, Tufts, Vassar, Washington and Lee, Wesleyan, and Williams. Students who ranked the University of Chicago, University of Virginia, or MIT, and were not matched to a binding school, will receive a non-binding Early Action admissions decision.[14]

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.[15] 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.

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.[16]

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.[17]

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.[18]

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.[19] 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.[20] The QSN Liaison for each school attends training in Palo Alto, California, home to the Quest Scholars Headquarters.

Other leadership opportunities offered by the QSN include:[21]

• Quest Ambassadors, who spread the word about opportunities like QuestBridge
• Quest Group Leaders, who represent their schools in the QuestBridge College Conferences
• Quest College Counselors, who guide College Prep Scholars through the college process
• Quest Bloggers, who write monthly posts featured on the QSN website
• Quest Mentoring, in which sophomore, junior, and senior Quest Scholars provide guidance and support for incoming Quest Scholars
• Quest Internships, offered by both the Quest Scholars Network and QuestBridge on a variety of topics related to non-profit work
• Quest Summer Service Grants, which provide funding for service projects undertaken by Quest Scholars
• Quest Alumni Association, which seeks to create a network of Quest Scholar alumni from all over the country

• QuestBridge web site