(Left to right) Back: Jorge Hernandez, Fatima Ayala, Nelly Mercado, Erick Aguirre, Katherin Arriaza, Alejandra Larraga, and Mercedes Alvarez.
Front: Ileana Martinez, Viviana Vallejo, Karyme Suarez, and Giselle Vazquez.
May, 2023
By Nelly Mercado, News & Commentary Editor
With our largest acceptance number KAC has ever seen, 11 juniors from the Class of 2024 were accepted as a part of the QuestBridge College Prep Scholars. QuestBridge is a prestigious non-profit organization that partners low-income, first-generation college students with 50 of the most competitive schools in the country. It has two programs, one for juniors and one for seniors. As a part of a new initiate at Collegiate, if your junior year your GPA is ranked in the top 30, it is a requirement to apply to QuestBridge.
This year, 3,518 high school students were selected out of the 15,000 juniors that applied. With the acceptance of QuestBridge, juniors become College Prep Scholars, which gives them recognition from their college partners and makes them appear as competitive applicants. You also have the opportunity to apply for fully funded summer college programs and even earn awards that allow you to earn money or win a computer.
From the moment it was announced that QuestBridge decisions were out, I had a feeling that I had not been accepted, and for that reason, I made the decision to open the email until the very last day possible. In being accepted to QuestBridge as a college-prep scholar is what I assume college acceptance feels like. I remember jumping up and down when I saw my acceptance.
In interviews with other College Prep Scholars Vivianna Valllejo and Alejandra Larraga, I got to hear about their viewpoints on getting accepted to this program!
Nelly Mercado: “What was your reaction when you read the acceptance email?”
Viviana Vallejo: “I was excited, happy, and surprised at the same time.”
Alejandra Larraga: “I was anxious to open the email, but when I did, I was very excited. And I was accepted as a college prep scholar.”
NM: “Did you believe you would get accepted?”
VV: “I didn’t believe I was going to get accepted there just because I didn’t feel my short answers were as good as they could have been.”
AL: “No, just because of how competitive the QuestBridge program is and I know a lot of people apply, but I was very excited when I got accepted.”
And when asked what advice they would give to juniors applying next year, this is what they had to say:
VV: “I would say to really focus on your short answers and really develop what you want to be administered to understand from what you saw in your story.”
AL: “I want to tell them not to procrastinate because you need to make your short answer really represent who you are and if you procrastinate, it becomes harder to do.”
The Cardinal Post 