QuestBridge kids taking half the spots at top schools, and it’s unfair

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: At DD’s top private school, the number of acceptances of rich, mediocre kids - with parents who are on the Board of various top 20 schools - is staggering. Don’t blame the QB kids please! Makes no sense.

This!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm sorry to see so much hate for this program.

We are white UMC. My kids attend a very diverse mixed-income high school, one that DCUM sneers at. They have friends who are wealthy and friends who rely on SNAP to get dinner on the table.

DC applied ED to a very selective college, obviously a reach. His friend matched through QB to this same school. DC's application was deferred, friend is committed there. DC's grades are better, has more academic awards and leadership in ECs (but friend has held a part time job consistently since he was old enough to work, which DC hasn't done), and SAT was 200 pts above the friend. But ... the friend is really bright and incredibly hard working. DC's awards and ECs were supported by us parents, while the friend did everything on his own. The friend missed quite a bit of school last year for family reasons, which impacted his grades; DC only missed school when he was really sick with strep throat.

DC will do well wherever he lands. He really hopes the deferral turns into an acceptance, but even if it doesn't, he'll be fine elsewhere. He has lots of targets and safeties that we can afford.

If the friend weren't accepted through QB, he'd graduate high school and turn his part time restaurant job into full time. No college.

None of us are the least bit upset about his friend going to DC's dream school, even if DC doesn't. DC is just happy for his friend.

Legacies, OTOH .... those should be done away with.

Love all of this. Thank you for posting.

Agree thank you for posting - making it so clear what these lower income deal w that umc kids - mine included - never face

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm sorry to see so much hate for this program.

We are white UMC. My kids attend a very diverse mixed-income high school, one that DCUM sneers at. They have friends who are wealthy and friends who rely on SNAP to get dinner on the table.

DC applied ED to a very selective college, obviously a reach. His friend matched through QB to this same school. DC's application was deferred, friend is committed there. DC's grades are better, has more academic awards and leadership in ECs (but friend has held a part time job consistently since he was old enough to work, which DC hasn't done), and SAT was 200 pts above the friend. But ... the friend is really bright and incredibly hard working. DC's awards and ECs were supported by us parents, while the friend did everything on his own. The friend missed quite a bit of school last year for family reasons, which impacted his grades; DC only missed school when he was really sick with strep throat.

DC will do well wherever he lands. He really hopes the deferral turns into an acceptance, but even if it doesn't, he'll be fine elsewhere. He has lots of targets and safeties that we can afford.

If the friend weren't accepted through QB, he'd graduate high school and turn his part time restaurant job into full time. No college.

None of us are the least bit upset about his friend going to DC's dream school, even if DC doesn't. DC is just happy for his friend.

Legacies, OTOH .... those should be done away with.

Love all of this. Thank you for posting.

Agree thank you for posting - making it so clear what these lower income deal w that umc kids - mine included - never face

Oh please. The QB kids don’t have to deal with the housekeeper, the cook, their overbearing SAHM, or multiple tutors. But most live comfortable, normal lives. Maybe they have to start dinner before a parent gets home or work a part time job. But majority are not slumming it and have a lot of public resources to utilize

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm sorry to see so much hate for this program.

We are white UMC. My kids attend a very diverse mixed-income high school, one that DCUM sneers at. They have friends who are wealthy and friends who rely on SNAP to get dinner on the table.

DC applied ED to a very selective college, obviously a reach. His friend matched through QB to this same school. DC's application was deferred, friend is committed there. DC's grades are better, has more academic awards and leadership in ECs (but friend has held a part time job consistently since he was old enough to work, which DC hasn't done), and SAT was 200 pts above the friend. But ... the friend is really bright and incredibly hard working. DC's awards and ECs were supported by us parents, while the friend did everything on his own. The friend missed quite a bit of school last year for family reasons, which impacted his grades; DC only missed school when he was really sick with strep throat.

DC will do well wherever he lands. He really hopes the deferral turns into an acceptance, but even if it doesn't, he'll be fine elsewhere. He has lots of targets and safeties that we can afford.

If the friend weren't accepted through QB, he'd graduate high school and turn his part time restaurant job into full time. No college.

None of us are the least bit upset about his friend going to DC's dream school, even if DC doesn't. DC is just happy for his friend.

Legacies, OTOH .... those should be done away with.

Love all of this. Thank you for posting.

Agree thank you for posting - making it so clear what these lower income deal w that umc kids - mine included - never face

Oh please. The QB kids don’t have to deal with the housekeeper, the cook, their overbearing SAHM, or multiple tutors. But most live comfortable, normal lives. Maybe they have to start dinner before a parent gets home or work a part time job. But majority are not slumming it and have a lot of public resources to utilize

Something tells me this isn’t your lived experience. As someone who was a super low income FG kid, there’s so much inequity you’ll never understand. I was fortunate to have access to lots of resources but that didn’t make my life easy and I faced a ton of struggles even when I went to college.

Thankfully I went to UVA and my life changed completely. I am now a senior level exec with a solid income, a homeowner and sending my kid off to college.

It took 1 generation to break out of poverty. My kid has never experienced it and will start life off with advantages others take for granted.

These QB kids are more than deserving of these opportunities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm sorry to see so much hate for this program.

We are white UMC. My kids attend a very diverse mixed-income high school, one that DCUM sneers at. They have friends who are wealthy and friends who rely on SNAP to get dinner on the table.

DC applied ED to a very selective college, obviously a reach. His friend matched through QB to this same school. DC's application was deferred, friend is committed there. DC's grades are better, has more academic awards and leadership in ECs (but friend has held a part time job consistently since he was old enough to work, which DC hasn't done), and SAT was 200 pts above the friend. But ... the friend is really bright and incredibly hard working. DC's awards and ECs were supported by us parents, while the friend did everything on his own. The friend missed quite a bit of school last year for family reasons, which impacted his grades; DC only missed school when he was really sick with strep throat.

DC will do well wherever he lands. He really hopes the deferral turns into an acceptance, but even if it doesn't, he'll be fine elsewhere. He has lots of targets and safeties that we can afford.

If the friend weren't accepted through QB, he'd graduate high school and turn his part time restaurant job into full time. No college.

None of us are the least bit upset about his friend going to DC's dream school, even if DC doesn't. DC is just happy for his friend.

Legacies, OTOH .... those should be done away with.

Love all of this. Thank you for posting.

Agree thank you for posting - making it so clear what these lower income deal w that umc kids - mine included - never face

Oh please. The QB kids don’t have to deal with the housekeeper, the cook, their overbearing SAHM, or multiple tutors. But most live comfortable, normal lives. Maybe they have to start dinner before a parent gets home or work a part time job. But majority are not slumming it and have a lot of public resources to utilize

You really don’t know what you are talking about. I grew up very, very low income and dealt with food insecurity, evictions, multiple moves, and a host of other poor people issues. I went to college with assistance of the Pell grant and now live an UMC lifestyle. Programs like QB and others are life-changing. However, there will always be folks that take advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is so much disinformation here, it's nauseating. Thanks to the few who have accurate info, who have clarified the competitiveness and difficulty of becoming a QB finalist.

I work with a CBO. Here are a few clarifying details.

Many students can be financially eligible for QB (up to 70k), but many QB schools look for students with an EFC of 0. Those are students with real need.

It is a rigorous application. Students need stats, recs, ECs and effective writing to make finalist. They write an 800 word essay + another 500 word essay just for the app..Plus short answer. They also do supplements for the schools on their list.

Only about 30% of finalists match. Odds for some schools are equivalent to RD.

QB scholarship does not eliminate the student contribution. Schools vet the finances after they submit to QB and make finalist. Schools use same process for vetting as any other applicant. This can be very hard for disadvantaged students who essentially have to adult here. Bit they do it,in addition to all the other app stuff.

Many QB scholarship are valedictorian or equivalent at non ranking schools.

Schools only take 20-100 students via QB

This is such an arduous process for students already disadvantaged. They are truly phenomenal.

Stop denigrating QB students. I can only think those people are either horribly misinformed or are just vicious trolls. If you are too self-interested, miserly or mean to celebrate their hard earned succeses, just leave these kids alone.

In case people missed the facts because of all the anti-immigrant propaganda swirling on this thread.

+1 to the last two posts. I’m horrified by the cynicism and antagonism running through this thread. Myopia, too. 😢

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm sorry to see so much hate for this program.

We are white UMC. My kids attend a very diverse mixed-income high school, one that DCUM sneers at. They have friends who are wealthy and friends who rely on SNAP to get dinner on the table.

DC applied ED to a very selective college, obviously a reach. His friend matched through QB to this same school. DC's application was deferred, friend is committed there. DC's grades are better, has more academic awards and leadership in ECs (but friend has held a part time job consistently since he was old enough to work, which DC hasn't done), and SAT was 200 pts above the friend. But ... the friend is really bright and incredibly hard working. DC's awards and ECs were supported by us parents, while the friend did everything on his own. The friend missed quite a bit of school last year for family reasons, which impacted his grades; DC only missed school when he was really sick with strep throat.

DC will do well wherever he lands. He really hopes the deferral turns into an acceptance, but even if it doesn't, he'll be fine elsewhere. He has lots of targets and safeties that we can afford.

If the friend weren't accepted through QB, he'd graduate high school and turn his part time restaurant job into full time. No college.

None of us are the least bit upset about his friend going to DC's dream school, even if DC doesn't. DC is just happy for his friend.

Legacies, OTOH .... those should be done away with.

Love all of this. Thank you for posting.

Agree thank you for posting - making it so clear what these lower income deal w that umc kids - mine included - never face

Oh please. The QB kids don’t have to deal with the housekeeper, the cook, their overbearing SAHM, or multiple tutors. But most live comfortable, normal lives. Maybe they have to start dinner before a parent gets home or work a part time job. But majority are not slumming it and have a lot of public resources to utilize

Something tells me this isn’t your lived experience. As someone who was a super low income FG kid, there’s so much inequity you’ll never understand. I was fortunate to have access to lots of resources but that didn’t make my life easy and I faced a ton of struggles even when I went to college.

Thankfully I went to UVA and my life changed completely. I am now a senior level exec with a solid income, a homeowner and sending my kid off to college.

It took 1 generation to break out of poverty. My kid has never experienced it and will start life off with advantages others take for granted.

These QB kids are more than deserving of these opportunities.

Yep, I agree. I was not super low income, but low enough to qualify for Pell grants and state grants for low income families, in addition to being first generation to go to college.

I had parents who cared about education and knew it was the way out of blue collar and lower paying jobs. They got me a library card when I was in kindergarten and took me to the library every week. They made it clear to me that school and college were important and that they expected me to work hard in school.

But they knew nothing about applying to colleges, choosing a college or about applying for financial aid. Luckily, my public school had a decent guidance department. My kids have had a completely different middle class life with parents who knew how to help them get ready for college- it is like night and day to how I went about college applications.

You all who grew up with parents who had gone to college have no idea how different life is for kids whose parents haven’t ever been to college.

[Anonymous]

Why are poors let into universities to begin with? Much better to have racial/ ethnic, gender, ideological diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that so many Questbridge Scholars have dual citizenship. It is actually a pretty high number. I think it is much, much easier to hide assets when you have international ties.

I suppose it is illegal but it seems like priority should go to students whose families who have experienced multi-generational poverty in the United States whatever your race/ethnicity.

So no Asians whose parents graduated college in Asia.

No Nigerians or Jamaicans whose parents graduated college abroad.

Many recent immigrants also have business where it is easier to hide assets.

I would love to know how many Questbridge student who match (only around 1/4 to 1/5 of students who are in Questbridge actually match and get into a top school), are actually from families who have lived in multi-generational poverty.

Where are you funding this information that they have dual citizenship?

Questbridge 2024 stats
U.S. Citizen: 72%
U.S. Citizen with Dual Citizenship: 16%
U.S. Permanent Resident: 5%
Non-Citizen: 5%
U.S. Asylee/Refugee: 1%

I will add I am not anti-immigrant at all. My parents are immigrants and I would have been eligible for Questbridge. But experience my husband's extended family where he was the first to go to college was an eye opener. They have lived in the US for multiple generations and to realize it seems like an endless cycle where the grandparents have dropped out of high school, their kids drop out or only graduate high school. No one owns a house, not all of them even have bank accounts. I would hope kid growing up in this environment would have some type of priority. If you can excel in that environment you deserve a spot in a top school. In contrast, so many immigrants are go getters to leave their country and start a new life.

It just seems like an awfully high number of US citizens with dual citizenship. I wonder how are international students whose parents were traveling, studying, working in the US when they were born then went back to their home countries. It just seems like such a strange statistic to report. I would think there would be more US Permanent residents, asylum/refugee/non-citizens than dual citizens.

I would be very surprised if the percentage of Americans with dual citizenship exceeds 1%. Questbridge has an outreach problem, because tons of Americans are suffering from inter-generational poverty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I'm sorry to see so much hate for this program.

We are white UMC. My kids attend a very diverse mixed-income high school, one that DCUM sneers at. They have friends who are wealthy and friends who rely on SNAP to get dinner on the table.

DC applied ED to a very selective college, obviously a reach. His friend matched through QB to this same school. DC's application was deferred, friend is committed there. DC's grades are better, has more academic awards and leadership in ECs (but friend has held a part time job consistently since he was old enough to work, which DC hasn't done), and SAT was 200 pts above the friend. But ... the friend is really bright and incredibly hard working. DC's awards and ECs were supported by us parents, while the friend did everything on his own. The friend missed quite a bit of school last year for family reasons, which impacted his grades; DC only missed school when he was really sick with strep throat.

DC will do well wherever he lands. He really hopes the deferral turns into an acceptance, but even if it doesn't, he'll be fine elsewhere. He has lots of targets and safeties that we can afford.

If the friend weren't accepted through QB, he'd graduate high school and turn his part time restaurant job into full time. No college.

None of us are the least bit upset about his friend going to DC's dream school, even if DC doesn't. DC is just happy for his friend.

Legacies, OTOH .... those should be done away with.

Love all of this. Thank you for posting.

Agree thank you for posting - making it so clear what these lower income deal w that umc kids - mine included - never face

Oh please. The QB kids don’t have to deal with the housekeeper, the cook, their overbearing SAHM, or multiple tutors. But most live comfortable, normal lives. Maybe they have to start dinner before a parent gets home or work a part time job. But majority are not slumming it and have a lot of public resources to utilize

Something tells me this isn’t your lived experience. As someone who was a super low income FG kid, there’s so much inequity you’ll never understand. I was fortunate to have access to lots of resources but that didn’t make my life easy and I faced a ton of struggles even when I went to college.

Thankfully I went to UVA and my life changed completely. I am now a senior level exec with a solid income, a homeowner and sending my kid off to college.

It took 1 generation to break out of poverty. My kid has never experienced it and will start life off with advantages others take for granted.

These QB kids are more than deserving of these opportunities.

Yep, I agree. I was not super low income, but low enough to qualify for Pell grants and state grants for low income families, in addition to being first generation to go to college.

I had parents who cared about education and knew it was the way out of blue collar and lower paying jobs. They got me a library card when I was in kindergarten and took me to the library every week. They made it clear to me that school and college were important and that they expected me to work hard in school.

But they knew nothing about applying to colleges, choosing a college or about applying for financial aid. Luckily, my public school had a decent guidance department. My kids have had a completely different middle class life with parents who knew how to help them get ready for college- it is like night and day to how I went about college applications.

You all who grew up with parents who had gone to college have no idea how different life is for kids whose parents haven’t ever been to college.

Questbridge kids at elite boarding schools have better college advising than any working-class kid. So I take it you agree that elite boarding school attendees should not be benefitting from a Questbridge admissions boost, at the expense of poor non-boarding school kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since the Supreme Court ruling on admissions, now universities are looking at low to moderate income high achievers from QuestBridge to fill diversity slots. But what about minority kids who are high income? And everyone else? Are we all getting the shaft? My daughter is getting rejection after rejection even though she has high SAT scores and GPA. And I’m sure they chose a low income minority to fill that slot over us. The whole admissions game completely sucks. I’m tired of all these overkill programs leaning toward lower or moderate income. It needs to be a fair shot for all.

There is so much wrong with this post, as many PPs have addressed above.

It also seems fishy. OP - Your daughter has high stats but already has received “rejection after rejection” by mid-December? That sounds inconsistent to me given the schools that offer EA.

I get that she was likely rejected from her ED school. But which other schools have rejected her already? And what exactly are her stats?

good. Now they can join the angst of all the other UMC families who kids are held to a higher standard than FGLI because of their socioeconomic privilege. The URM UMC no longer gets a thumb on the scale for their skin color. And why should they?

They should not. However, the opposite is happening for UMC URM students. They now have a harder time than their peers with the same stats.

According to who? Are they worse applicants?

No. The same lawyer who brought the first SC cases is chomping at the bit to go back and accuse schools of violating the order. If they stick primarily to low income, first gen and athletes they’re safe. With full pay URM students, they have to be prepared to defend. So even with high stats not all students are admitted, if any race, but defending admissions of black students will cost big money and lots of time. UMC black students are being held to a higher standard.

so you are saying URM UMC students are being held to a higher standard than white and Asian UMC students? That is interesting. I doubt there is enough data yet post Supreme Court decision to make that statement. Of course they are being held to a higher standard than the poor URM students—and they should be due to their socioeconomic privilege.

Yes, I believe they (black students in particular) are being held to a higher standard than other UMC students. I believe that many of the top schools with lots of eyes on them are afraid to admit many black students who don’t check the other boxes.

Most are struggling to get black students so this makes no sense. Amherst had a 3% black population in its 2028 class, do you really think they care that much when their percentage dropped so quickly.

Do I believe they care about being sued? Yes I do. It’s very expensive. I think they are all trying to figure out how to keep diversity up while not being sued.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it interesting that so many Questbridge Scholars have dual citizenship. It is actually a pretty high number. I think it is much, much easier to hide assets when you have international ties.

I suppose it is illegal but it seems like priority should go to students whose families who have experienced multi-generational poverty in the United States whatever your race/ethnicity.

So no Asians whose parents graduated college in Asia.

No Nigerians or Jamaicans whose parents graduated college abroad.

Many recent immigrants also have business where it is easier to hide assets.

I would love to know how many Questbridge student who match (only around 1/4 to 1/5 of students who are in Questbridge actually match and get into a top school), are actually from families who have lived in multi-generational poverty.

jus sanguinis v jus soli.
Many acquire dual citizenship by virtue of one parent being a citizen of another country. Does not necessarily mean they are being stealthy with their money. If my kid qualified for QB, they'd be categorized as a dual citizen (American mom, Asian dad) despite the fact that the immigrant parent has been here for over 25 years.
Your xenophobia is showing.

[Anonymous]

I know a teacher's kid who got QB. Teacher was married to small church pastor, so I suspected that helped. However, teacher was top at her payscale as she graduated from Harvard. Her daughter went to Harvard.

[Anonymous]

The vitriol against Questbridge students is interesting. They are by and large exceptionally good students who grew up in challenging circumstances. And this is where the upper class moms are throwing their rage and resentment?

But not the middling "athletes" who are taking 40 percent of all spots at Williams and Amherst? Or the 25 percent of "athletes" at Dartmouth.

These are mediocre "athletes" who do not have what it takes to compete at a serious D1 school. And yet they are afforded all sorts of privileges at Ivy and D3 schools.

But the well to do moms are going to blame the poors for why little timmy didn't get into a good school.

Very suburban DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The vitriol against Questbridge students is interesting. They are by and large exceptionally good students who grew up in challenging circumstances. And this is where the upper class moms are throwing their rage and resentment?

But not the middling "athletes" who are taking 40 percent of all spots at Williams and Amherst? Or the 25 percent of "athletes" at Dartmouth.

These are mediocre "athletes" who do not have what it takes to compete at a serious D1 school. And yet they are afforded all sorts of privileges at Ivy and D3 schools.

But the well to do moms are going to blame the poors for why little timmy didn't get into a good school.

Very suburban DC.

People here will defend athlete admissions by posting the stats of their “elite-level” child whose SAT is slightly above their lac’s 25th percentile. I’ve given up on combatting it, because they don’t see the issue with a two tier admission system where the bottom of the class can all be athletes from very similar backgrounds.