National College Match

College Prep Scholarship

Student Resource Center

Refer A Student

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“Columbia University and New York City seemed far off and inaccessible to me growing up in Oklahoma. My QuestBridge College Prep Scholarship made it possible for me to visit Columbia's campus and get a feel for the students and the academic environment. I came back home feeling confident that I could fit in and thrive at a selective university.”


David Cabrera

Pauls Valley, OK

2008 College Prep Scholarship recipient

2008 National College Match Scholar
Columbia University, Class of 2013


All-Expense-Paid Campus Visits

Many of QuestBridge's partner colleges will use the College Prep Scholarship application to identify candidates for all-expense-paid visits to their campuses. These visits offer students a chance to spend several days experiencing life at a partner college to find out if it offers the right fit and atmosphere for them.

Last year, over 200 College Prep Scholarship applicants were invited by our partner colleges for all-expense-paid campus visits. The total number of QuestBridge applicants invited this year is again expected to exceed 200.

Award Benefits


Campus visits enable students to discover colleges in a way that is not possible from promotional brochures or a college website. For example, a campus visit may offer opportunities to:

  • fly across the country to visit a college campus far from home.

  • take a student-guided campus tour.

  • explore the campus and witness college life in motion.

  • get a sense of the weather, location, and campus traditions.

  • sit in on a class you might like to take in college and see what the professor and students have to say.

  • meet college students and ask them about their experiences attending the college.

  • eat in the college dining hall and stay in a dormitory where lights burn into the night as students study and relax.

Award Specifics


A minimum of 100 students will have the opportunity to visit a QuestBridge partner college and the actual number is expected to exceed 200 as mentioned above. Awards will cover travel expenses and room & board. Most visits will take place in the autumn.

Pomona College, Claremont, California

Many of the campus visits will be awarded by the colleges based on a separate application. A limited number of College Prep Scholarship applicants will be nominated by QuestBridge for this award. Partner colleges will then offer selected nominees the opportunity to complete and submit applications for the campus visits. These applications will be sent to students in late summer.