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Index of Frequently Asked QuestionsCollege Ranking Process
Required forms for the QuestBridge College Match
College Ranking Process1. What does it mean to finalize my college rankings?Finalizing your college rankings is different than filling out your preliminary college ranking. Your preliminary ranking form was submitted along with your application. These rankings were used by QuestBridge to determine which colleges to forward your application to; any college you ranked has received your application for review. Your final college rankings will be the list by which we will match you to colleges that are interested in you for their school admissions. Your final ranking form must be submitted online and your participation agreement must be faxed to QuestBridge by November 1st in order to participate in the College Match. Your final ranking list is binding. 2. What does it mean to have my decision be "binding?" When is my decision "binding?" Our QuestBridge Early Decision Binding Agreement takes effect after you have finalized your college ranking forms and submitted them to us. By submitting your final college ranking forms, you are thereby applying to our partner schools by the early decision admissions process and are subject to the early decision policy set forth by most colleges and universities. When you apply to a college or university for early decision (different than early action) you are "bound" to adhere to the following rules: 1) that you can only apply to one college early; 2) that you are "bound" to attend that college if it offers you admission; and 3) you can only decline the offer of admission if you are unable to afford to attend the college with the financial aid provided; if a student declines for any other reason many colleges share the student’s name with other colleges who can decline the student admission as well for breaking an agreement. Under QuestBridge, the early decision application policy is a bit different. It's the same in every way except that you are allowed to apply to multiple colleges (within the College Match), not just one. If you are accepted by one of those colleges, you are bound to attend that college. In the case of the College Match, students are provided with full scholarship packages such that they can no longer decline a “match” based on an insufficient scholarship package. 3. How many colleges can I rank? You can rank up to ten partner colleges. Note that some colleges have special requirements, such as gender for Wellesley and Scripps, which are women’s colleges or religion for Wheaton which is a Christian college. All colleges also have their own standardized test requirements. 4. Which Colleges are part of the Match and how do I get more information on them? A full list of our college partners as well as links to their profiles is available under our Partner Schools section. 5. What is the Tyng Scholarship? How is it different from a College Match scholarship at Williams? The Tyng Scholarship at Williams is now offered as a sixteenth choice on the final ranking form. There are several differences between the Tyng Scholarship at Williams and the Williams College Match scholarship. The most significant difference is that the Tyng Scholarship offers financial assistance for undergraduate education at Williams as well as three years of graduate school at the student’s chosen university. You can learn more specific information about these scholarship awards by viewing the 2006 College Match Scholarship Packages. You may select the Tyng Scholarship without selecting the Williams College Match, or the Williams College Match without selecting the Tyng. You may also select both options. If you select both options, you will not be able to win both awards. 6. Can I change my mind about my rankings later? You may change your mind about your college rankings at any time before you submit your final ranking form (due November 1st). 7. Can I drop out of the College Match program if I am no longer interested in it? You may choose to opt-out of the College Match at any time before you submit your final ranking form. At the point at which you have submitted your finalized college rankings, you are no longer able to withdraw from the College Match. 8. What if I don't get matched to any of the College Match partners? What if I have opted out of the College Match but wish to apply regular decision to the QuestBridge College Partners? If you do not match with any of our partner colleges or you decided to opt-out of the College Match at the closing of the College Match program, then your application will considered for regular admission review by the colleges you selected on your QuestBridge application. Please see our timeline and additional information for the Regular Admission Process. 9. Parts of my application still say "in progress" or "not started" for materials I submitted via fax or mail. Can I still be considered for the match? If you have been notified that you are a finalist, then you are eligible to participate in the Match Process. In order to actually participate, you must submit your final ranking forms, fax in a signed Match Paticipation Agreement and fill out required forms for Columbia, Princeton, Stanford and Wheaton (if you ranked then in your final ranking form). Please visit our Finalist Information page for details. 10. Do I have to resend all of my recommendation letters to Stanford, Princeton, and Columbia since I am required to fill out their application? You do need to resend recommendation letters for the Columbia and Stanford application. (For Columbia, you can simply fax in the QuestBridge recommendation letter using the Columbia's fax cover sheet). You may ask the same recommenders from your QuestBridge application to complete your Stanford and Columbia recommendations. Their written response can also be the same. You do not need to resend recommendation letter for your Princeton application. They will use the letters supplied to them through the QuestBridge application. 11. If I am not matched with a scholarship, can I still get a scholarship through regular decision? All of our partner schools offer very generous financial aid. If you are low-income and get accepted to one of our partner schools through the regular admission process, you will likely receive a generous financial aid package. 12. If I am matched, can I transfer the scholarship to another school? No. The College Match Scholarship package that you receive is directly from that school. It is not transferrable to another school. 13. If I am not matched, but I am accepted regular decision to one of the partner colleges, can I expect to receive a full four-year scholarship? Can I transfer that scholarship to another school? If accepted to one of our partner schools through the regular admission process, you can expect to receive a generous financial aid package if you are low income. You will have to re-apply for financial aid every year, however, your financial aid package should not change substantially if your income does not change. Financial aid packages are offered by each school and are school-specific. They are not transferable. 14. Am I bound to attend a school that I am not matched with, but get accepted to through regular decision? No. You are only bound to attend a school if get matched in the Match Process. 15. Can I resubmit an application to a school for regular decision if I am not matched? Yes. Please visit our Regular Admissions Process page for detail on how to go about using your QuestBridge application for Regular Admissions. 16. Can I apply to Multiple Choice Early Action or Interim Decision programs to schools outside of the QuestBridge partner colleges? You may not apply to any Multiple Choice Early Action, Single Choice Early Action, or Early Decision programs. You may apply to Interim Decision programs, but keep in mind that for our partner colleges that have an Interim Decision program (Rice University), you are NOT applying through their Interim Decision program. If you apply for an Interim Decision program and you match, you must immediately withdraw all outstanding applications from consideration. 17. Can I apply to schools outside of the QuestBridge partner colleges for regular decision before I find out if I am matched? Yes, you can apply for regular decision (but not Early Decision or Single Choice Early Action) before you find out if you match. If you match, however, you are required to withdraw all of your applications from consideration. 18. The partner colleges’ websites give me a different deadline for submitting applications or financial documents. Whose deadlines do I follow? You must follow QuestBridge's timelines for applications and financial documents if you want to be considered for the Match. For the Regular Admissions Process, the college partner website deadlines (where there is a discrepancy) should be followed. 19. What happens if I do not submit my final ranking form? Will QuestBridge accept my preliminary ranking form as my final ranking? No, QuestBridge will not accept your preliminary rank as your final ranking. If you do not submit a final ranking form, you will not participate in the Match Process. 20. Does being a finalist mean that I will get matched with at least one of my schools on my list? No. 21. At what time on December 1 can I expect to hear if I am matched? All students will be notified of their status by 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time (PST). Please do not contact us before that time to find out your status. If you do not hear from us after that time, please let us know. 22. How will students be notified? All students will be notified by email. 23. If I become matched with a school, but I change my mind and decide not to attend, what will happen? If you break the binding agreement, you may be unable to attend any college, as many schools share admission information and do not look positively upon students who break binding agreements with other colleges. 24. Can I apply to the School of Engineering for Columbia through QuestBridge? Yes, please mark the "Engineering School" option on the Columbia application when you apply. 25. How long does the binding agreement apply? Does the binding agreement mean that I will have to attend the school I get matched with for all four years? If you want to keep your full four-year scholarship, you must attend your matched school for the four years. You can, however, transfer at any point, but you will not be able to transfer your scholarship to any other school. 26. I have already submitting my school-specific application to a partner school (ANY partner school) under Early Decision/Early Action. Is this okay? No. If you are accepted Early Decision/Early Action to one of our partner colleges, you run the risk of not receiving a full four-year scholarship under the QuestBridge College Match. If you have already submitted an ED/EA application to one of our partner colleges, please contact them as soon as possible and ask that your application be made for Regular Decision. Alternatively, if you would like to keep your application for ED/EA to a particular school, you can simply opt-out of the College Match. Required forms for the QuestBridge College Match1. Where do I fax my signed Match Participation Agreement?We ask that all Match Participation forms be faxed to 650-653-2516 by November 1, 2006. If you do not have access to a fax machine at home, you may wish to see if faxing from your school is an option. Family and friends are also great resources for help with faxing your forms to us. Students have also used copy centers such as Kinko's, and office supply stores such as Staples or other companies to fax us with this information. We are, unfortunately, unable to receive and process many forms received by mail. 2. How do I fill out my CSS Profile for the colleges? Please create an account with https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/index.jsp and complete your CSS profile there. When asked to select which colleges you want a copy of your CSS Profile sent to, please select each of the colleges you have ranked for the College Match. Based on information you enter in the CSS Profile, you may be eligible for up to 6 fee waivers, and will be notified by the College Board before you are asked for payment. Also, you may check with your guidance counselor to obtain this fee waiver information. 3. How and when do I submit tax forms and W-2's? Each school requires that you submit your parents'/guardians' tax forms and W-2's by November 1, 2006, in order to be eligible for the Match Process. (Non-custodial parents' tax forms and W-2's are required) Tax forms and W-2's must be faxed directly to each school that you rank. Do not fax this information to QuestBridge. Fax it directly to each school using the fax cover sheets provided. Please follow the instructions closely on each cover sheet. 4. What if I don't have my parent's tax forms or W-2's? Tax documents and W-2's are required to be eligible for the College Match (and for any kind of other financial aid offered by colleges). If there is no way for you obtain tax forms and/or W-2's, please contact that the financial aid office of each school and ask them what your options are. 5. When do I fill out the FAFSA for the colleges? If you receive a College Match Scholarship, you will be required to fill out the FAFSA after in becomes available on January 1, 2007. The FAFSA is available online for free at www.fafsa.ed.gov. 6. I do not have my 2006 Federal Tax Return. Should I still complete the CSS Profile and send in my financial documentation? Yes. Please use information from the 2005 Federal Tax Return for the CSS Profile, and also send a copy to the colleges. When your 2006 returns become available, the colleges will request that information. 7. I have already submitted my Stanford, Princeton, and/or Columbia applications to the schools under Early Decision/Action, but QuestBridge tells me to mark Regular Decision. What do I do? Please email the school (and copy us at questions@questbridge.org) letting them know that you checked Early Decision/Action, but want to be considered for the QuestBridge College Match. They will let you know how to proceed. 8. The CSS Profile asks me to write the amount of scholarships, grants, and/or fellowships I will be receiving from sources outside of the school. Do I put down the amount of money for attending that school for this area if I am a QuestBridge finalist? No. This question refers to scholarships from outside organizations. Since the scholarship you will be receiving through the College Match comes from the school, the amount does not apply to this question. Therefore, if you are matched, and you do not apply for any outside scholarships or grants, you can put down zero. 9. How do I obtain a fee waiver for the applications I have to submit directly to the schools (Stanford, Princeton, Columbia)? Stanford and Princeton gives fee waivers to all QuestBridge Finalists. You need to make them aware that you are a QuestBridge Finalist. They have the list of finalists, so will be able to verify. You can print out the fee waiver request form from their online application or include a cover letter stating that you are a QuestBridge applicant and send it to the schools. Columbia requires that you obtain a fee waiver form from you high school counselor. 10. I am not a US citizen or permanent resident (or I am an international applicant), so I cannot send schools the 2006 Federal Tax Return or W-2s because I do not have them. What should I send instead? Princeton is the only partner college that offers the match scholarship to international students. Therefore, please refer to the Princeton financial aid website to find out what you will need to send. 11. I cannot find a particular school on the CSS Profile application to send my financial application. Why does this happen? Princeton and Wheaton do not require the CSS Profile and, consequently, may not appear on the CSS Profile application. 12. How do I obtain a fee waiver for the CSS Profile? After you have filled in your financial information, the CSS Profile will automatically let you know before you pay if you qualify for a fee waiver. 13. How do I notify schools about my most recent SAT or ACT scores? Please use the College Board or ACT’s registration form to send your scores directly to each school. Also email update@questbridge.org with your new scores so that it will be in our system as well. 14. I am an emancipated minor or a ward of the state. How do I complete and submit my financial information? You will need to contact each school you rank for information on your special circumstance. 15. My non-custodial parent only pays child support and has explicitly stated that he/she will not contribute to my college education in any way. How will this affect my income status? What should I do? If your non-custodial parent has an income that is significant, but he/she is not willing to pay for your education past 18 years of age, you must contact each school you rank and ask what to do about your special circumstance. Your non-custodial parent’s income may negatively impact your chances of becoming a matched scholar.
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