Raise your hand if you’ve been tearing up over scholarship award videos this week. (I know it’s not just me!) On Dec. 1, QuestBridge, a national nonprofit supporting high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds, announced its list of scholarship recipients for its National College Match program, and since then, videos of students finding out they got into dream schools — with scholarships — have been making the rounds on the internet, with viewers sharing in the celebrations. But if you’re wondering how you can experience this kind of joy firsthand, here’s what to know about how to apply to the QuestBridge National College Match program.
If you’re not familiar, QuestBridge has been around since 1994, founded by two students at Stanford University. It started as a summer program for high school juniors, and over time, it’s grown into a major national org that has helped more than 100,000 students. The National College Match program kicked off in 2004, with three schools participating: Amherst College, Grinnell College, and Rice University. Today, there are 55 college partners in the program, including some of the most sought-after schools in the country, such as Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Smith, Cornell, Penn, Duke, Yale, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and more.
How does the QuestBridge National College Match work?
Through the program, high school students can apply early admission to colleges for free (meaning any application fees are waived). Those who are accepted will get a full four-year scholarship. Further, those who are part of the program will also be part of the alumni program, which offers networking and support opportunities.
Who Is Eligible For the QuestBridge National College Match?
The program is open to any high school senior currently attending high school in the U.S., as well as U.S. citizens and permanent residents currently living abroad. Current undergrads cannot apply, but QuestBridge alums who are planning to go to grad school can apply to QuestBridge’s Graduate School Match.
QuestBridge evaluates applicants based on criteria including grades, curriculum, standardized test scores, financial need, teacher recommendations, counselor recommendations, activities, personal life, and written responses in the application.
How to apply for the QuestBridge National College Match
High school juniors, listen up! Those who are eligible should submit their National College Match application in the summer before your senior year begins. The application is free to fill out, but since it’s a pretty extensive application, this isn’t something you’re going to want to wait until the last minute to get started on! You’ll need to gather materials such as recommendation letters, financial documents, your transcript, test scores, and more.
Once you gather all your materials and submit your application, you’ll be asked to rank up to 15 colleges that participate in the program in order to be considered for early admission and the scholarship. Finalists will then be notified that fall, and all Matches will get their official acceptance notices in early December. Then, it’s time to celebrate!