To better understand how the National
College Match application cycle works, click on the section you
are interested in below:
Students complete and submit the QuestBridge online application, including two teacher recommendations and one counselor recommendation (Secondary School Report) by September 30.
Ranking: Students select up to 8 of QuestBridge's partner colleges for which they would like to be considered for admission and the College Match scholarship. Rankings must be submitted through the 'My Locker' page, by October 5.
It is important to note that students should only rank those colleges that they are certain they would want to attend if awarded admission and a full scholarship, as the College Match is a binding agreement.
Finalists will need to fax a Match Agreement by November 3 stating that they understand all of the terms of the College Match application. The Match Agreement will be available on the 'My Locker' page and must be signed by the student and counselor.
QuestBridge reviews applications and selects finalists, who are the students that will be considered by partner colleges for admission and the College Match scholarship.
QuestBridge notifies finalists via email of their status and forwards their applications to the appropriate colleges on October 24.
All finalists must submit additional required documents to the colleges that they have ranked by November 3. See College Specific Requirements for details.
Partner colleges select the students they would like to admit with full four-year College Match scholarships.
QuestBridge matches students with the highest-ranked college on their list that has also selected them.
When a match is made between a finalist and a college, the agreement is binding (with the exception of MIT, Notre Dame, Princeton, Stanford and Yale, which are not binding).
Because our partner colleges only offer a limited number of College Match awards, not all finalists will be matched. The remaining finalists are deferred to the Regular Decision process.
QuestBridge notifies College Match award recipients of their status by email on December 1.
Students who are not matched may request to have their QuestBridge applications forwarded for Regular Decision. Forwarding requests must be submitted through the 'My Locker' page by December 15.
QuestBridge will then forward students' applications to the requested partner colleges for consideration under regular decision admissions.
Our partner colleges will not charge an application fee for QuestBridge finalists who apply through Regular Decision, and many accept the QuestBridge application in lieu of their own application.
Click here to see a graphical
flowchart of the process.
Finalists who are not matched or who decided to opt out of the College Match are eligible to apply to additional colleges through the Regular Decision process. Last year, over 700 QuestBridge applicants were admitted by our partner colleges through the Regular Decision process and received financial aid packages worth a total of over $50 million. The Regular Decision process works as follows:
Students decide which QuestBridge partner colleges they would like to apply to for the Regular Decision cycle.
Students go to their 'My Locker' page and select the colleges that they want their applications forwarded to.
Students review the
Regular Decision Table and submit any additional materials that are required.
Colleges contact students directly to inform them of their admission and financial aid decisions.
National College Match application
becomes available online.
The National College Match application is due at 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time.
Final college rankings for the College Match process are due at 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time.
Applicants are notified of their finalist
standing.
Finalists are given instructions about how to proceed. Applicants not chosen as finalists
should proceed with their Early Decision, Early Action and/or
Regular Decision applications.
Finalists must submit required documents
to the colleges that they have ranked. See
College Specific Requirements for deadlines and details.
Match Agreements must be signed and faxed to QuestBridge by 11:59pm PT.
Finalists notified of College Match results.
Students who are not matched may apply to QuestBridge's partner colleges through the Regular Decision process. See the
Regular Decision
Process page.
Deadline for Regular Decision application forwarding requests.
Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms become available online and in your
counselor's office. This must be filled out according to particular
college requirements.
