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Take a look at the National College Match Flowchart.
Before You Apply
- Review our Selection Criteria to make sure you are eligible to apply.
- Research our Partner Colleges. QuestBridge works exclusively with our 35 partner colleges. Because the National College Match is a binding process, you should make sure you are interested in attending our partner colleges before applying. "Binding" means that if you are selected for a scholarship through the College Match, you will be required to attend the college you were matched with. (There are 4 exceptions to this rule: MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale. If you are matched with any of these 4 colleges, you are not required to attend.) Read our early application policy to learn more about the binding process.
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- Review our Application Components. In addition to our online application, you will be required to submit a transcript, standardized test score reports, two teacher recommendations and one Secondary School Report (counselor recommendation). More information on what to submit can be found on our Application Components page. You will also want to submit a School Profile, which is recommended but not required, and collect your parents' tax forms to use for reference when completing the application. Additionally, each of our partner colleges has specific requirements that you will need to submit if you become a finalist, such as the CSS PROFILE, official test score reports, and school-specific application supplements. Please review these requirements for each of the partner colleges you are interested in ranking. Please also look ahead to see what test scores are required by each of our partner colleges.
The Application
1. Sign up for a QuestBridge Account.
To access the 2012 National College Match application, go to the Apply page.
Important information about signing up for your QuestBridge account:
- E-mail address: Think carefully about the e-mail address you will be using to create your account with us. Make sure it is an e-mail address you access frequently, as this is the only e-mail address we will use to contact you, and once you begin your account with us, you will continue to receive important notifications from us at the e-mail address you use to register with us. Also, this is the e-mail address we will share with our partner colleges, so make sure it is something professional. Furthermore, due to security reasons, we are only able to release application-specific information to students who write to us using the e-mail address they currently have registered with us. If you write to us using a different e-mail address to ask about your application or to receive scholarship notification information, we will ask you to write to us again using the correct e-mail address.
- Password: Once you sign up for an account, the system will prompt you to create a password. Make sure you keep this secure and private.
- QuestBridge ID: when you sign up for a QuestBridge account you will be assigned a QuestBridge-specific ID located in the upper right corner of each page of your application. Please include this number when contacting us about your application.
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Once you've signed up for your QuestBridge account, familiarize yourself with the application. Look over the questions via the links in the left bar so you can plan ahead to make sure you give yourself enough time to complete every section. You can navigate through the application using the links on the left side, even if you haven't completed the prior page.
2. Register Your Recommenders.
Your College Match application is not complete without two teacher recommendations. The teacher recommendation section is toward the bottom of the list of links in the application, but this does not mean you should do this last. In fact, you should register your recommenders (as well as your counselor for the Secondary School Report; see below) as soon as possible in order to give them enough time to complete the recommendation for you by the application deadline. When you register them, they will receive an e-mail with a link to your recommendation form.
Important: before you register your recommenders, make sure you have their most current e-mail addresses. If you enter the wrong e-mail address for them, they will not be able to access your online recommendation form.
Register your recommenders as soon as you are able to (preferably during the first week of school) so that they have enough time to complete and submit your recommendations by the deadline.
3. Register Your Counselor / School Official for your Secondary School Report
You must also submit a Secondary School Report (counselor recommendation) as part of your application. In the Academic section of the application, you will be asked to register a school official -- this should be your counselor -- whereupon your counselor will receive an e-mail with a link to the proper form. Please refer to the information in #2, above, for details on registering your recommenders.
4. Submit Your High School Transcript and Test Score Reports.
Ask your high school counselor to submit a copy of your academic transcript and test scores to QuestBridge via upload or fax. He/she will be able to do this from the online Secondary School Report form. You also have the option of uploading or faxing these materials yourself. Please follow the instructions within the application. We prefer that the transcript be official if possible, but an unofficial transcript is sufficient. Also, please do NOT send us your official score reports directly from the testing organization. You can scan the mailed score report you received or submit a copy of your online score report.
Please note we cannot accept any materials sent through the postal mail.
5. Complete the QuestBridge Application.
Keep in mind that the application includes essay questions, short answer questions, and detailed questions about your academic performance and financial background, so leave yourself plenty of time to complete the best application you are able to.
6. Submit the QuestBridge Application by September 28.
The National College Match application deadline is September 28, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. All of the application components are also due on September 28, including:
- Two teacher recommendations
- Secondary School Report (counselor recommendation)
- Transcript
- Test score reports
- School profile (recommended but not required)
After the Application Deadline
1. Submit your College Match Rankings by October 15. After the application deadline, it will be time to choose which of our Partner Colleges you want to rank for the College Match. You may choose up to 8 colleges, or you may also choose not to rank any colleges (this will make you eligible to apply to our Partner Colleges for Regular Decision only). For more information on this, please see the Regular Decision Process page). Your rankings should be in order of preference, with your first college choice as number 1.
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Important: with the exception of 4 schools (MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale), the match process is binding. You should only rank colleges you would want to attend if selected for a scholarship. "Binding" means that if you are admitted to a college through the College Match, you will be required to attend that school. Learn more about our early application policy.
Your rankings must be submitted through your Application Management page by October 15, 2012, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.
2. Submit your Match Agreement Form by October 15. Your rankings will not be considered official without your Match Agreement Form. The form states that you understand the terms of the College Match process, and colleges will not consider you for the Match unless this form is submitted. The Match Agreement Form will be available on your Application Management page after your rankings have been submitted. The form must be signed by you, your high school counselor, and a parent or guardian, and then either scanned and uploaded or faxed to QuestBridge.
3. Look for your finalist notification e-mail on October 22. QuestBridge notifies applicants via e-mail of their finalist status by the end of the day Pacific Time on October 22. You will receive an e-mail from us regardless of whether or not you are a finalist.
If You Become a Finalist
1. Submit all College Match Requirements for Finalists by November 1. Each of our partner colleges has additional requirements you must submit in order to be considered for the College Match scholarship. See College Match Requirements for Finalists for more information.
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2. Re-arrange rankings by November 5 (if necessary). If the order of your college rankings preferences has changed, you may re-arrange the order of your college rankings by November 5 if you wish to do so. You will not be able to add any new schools to your rankings at this point, but you may re-order your list of colleges or remove colleges. If you choose to change your rankings, you must also submit a new Match Agreement Form by November 5.
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More about the "match" process. QuestBridge sends the applications of students selected as finalists to our partner colleges for their review. Partner colleges ultimately make the final selection of scholarship recipients from among the finalists. Partner colleges select the students they would like to admit with College Match scholarships, and QuestBridge then matches those selected students with the highest-ranked college on their list that has also admitted them. A student will only be matched with one college. When a match is made between a finalist and a college, the agreement is binding (with the exception of MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale, which are not binding). Matched students must withdraw any other college applications that they have submitted.
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3. Look for your notification e-mail on November 30. QuestBridge notifies all finalists who ranked colleges of their College Match status on November 30. Because our partner colleges only offer a limited number of College Match awards, not all finalists will be matched. It is important to remember that not being matched is NOT the same as being rejected by the schools on your rankings list! Every year, many students are admitted through Regular Decision at schools where they did not match.
4. Finalists who are not matched are encouraged to apply to our partner colleges through the QuestBridge Regular Decision Process. QuestBridge finalists who do not receive College Match scholarships may also be automatically considered in the Early Decision/Early Action or Regular Decision rounds at some of our partner colleges. Please see Regular Decision Requirements for more information.
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