Anonymous wrote:So far, so good - DS got into Pitt, which is his top choice.

Mazel Tov.

My kid did too. Didn't you love that sweet admissions video they sent?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today is Questbridge notification day.

I looked into this and it seemed like a colossal waste of time. Was I missing the supposed benefit?

*Many schools consider it a hook- Yale tripled the number of QB students it admitted last year
*Full scholarship if you're matched
*You can apply to up to 12 schools early, and none of them will reject you outright. If you don't get 'matched', your remaining options are numerous: you can apply ED to most places or you can move onto RD
*Free applications to the nation's best universities and LACs
*Application that is specifically designed to highlight the experience and background of a low income student. Testing is not as emphasized and most of the schools are willing to bypass lower scores for highly qualified QB students
*You get an alumni network and community at the school to which you matriculate
*Many graduate schools give automatic fee waivers to students who are QuestBridge finalists, including MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Yale, and Columbia
*Emails throughout the admission cycle for timelines and advice in putting forward the best application
*Partner schools send out invitations and vouches for students to visit their campus
*There's a program for juniors which gives out all-expense paid summer programs, telephone individual mentoring, essay coaching, testing preparation, and invitation to a conference where all of the 39 colleges come to speak to students and to teach them about the admissions process

Not a colossal waste of time at all- one of the biggest sources of inspiration towards helping low-income students go to college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today is Questbridge notification day.

I looked into this and it seemed like a colossal waste of time. Was I missing the supposed benefit?

Early admission with a full scholarship is a significant benefit for some.

Yep, I'm the poster who mentioned niece upthread with Chicago as first choice. She is a finalist for QB and eagerly waiting to hear today.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today is Questbridge notification day.

I looked into this and it seemed like a colossal waste of time. Was I missing the supposed benefit?

Early admission with a full scholarship is a significant benefit for some.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today is Questbridge notification day.

I looked into this and it seemed like a colossal waste of time. Was I missing the supposed benefit?

Elite colleges trust Questbridge, and a minimum QB finalists will get a more thorough look than a similar student applying on their own.

They don't necessarily get their finalists in at a great rate in ED/EA but the match rate for RD is very high.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Today is Questbridge notification day.

I looked into this and it seemed like a colossal waste of time. Was I missing the supposed benefit?

It's very worthwhile. Ivies take a lot of Questbridge kids but you have to hit the low-income requirements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QuestBridge

Anonymous wrote:Today is Questbridge notification day.

I looked into this and it seemed like a colossal waste of time. Was I missing the supposed benefit?

Quite a few ED's notify on 12/1. I've been following Tulane on CC as my DC applied there EA. It seems like the number of ED applications were way up and a bunch of kids were accepted for the Spring semester instead of the Fall. (It becomes non-binding at that point.) It sounds like many didn't even know that was an option, but reaction seems mostly positive. Evidently, Tulane has a fall semester in France or Italy which you can choose to participate in to help ease the pain.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far, so good - DS got into Pitt, which is his top choice.

My alma mater! Congrats to your son - it's a fantastic school.

My niece as well. But her top choice is Chicago.

Anonymous wrote:So far, so good - DS got into Pitt, which is his top choice.

My alma mater! Congrats to your son - it's a fantastic school.

So far, so good - DS got into Pitt, which is his top choice.

Today is Questbridge notification day.

Rolling in? I thought all the elites have ED/EA notification dates of ~12/15?

it's only going to get worse this year. So many colleges have reported their ED applications are up by a whopping percent - and I don't just mean slightly -- like 30%.

As EA and ED decisions are starting to roll in, I'm curious to hear everyone's take as the admission's season progresses - how is it this cycle? Last year sounded brutal. From what I could gather anecdotally, at least 2/3 thirds of my DS's class who went ED were deferred or outright rejected. Probably around 95% of the class did not end up at any one of the top 5 choices. I heard of one ED so far to a top 25 university by a student who reportedly was being talked out of applying by the assigned college counselor because it was too much of a stretch. So my DD is now going through the process. Her scores are slightly better than my DS's, but I'm worried that her gender may tip the scales against her as she's focused on SLACs. Anyway, please share your experiences on admissions results.