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How to Apply to the Questbridge College Prep Scholars Program

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We’re huge fans of QuestBridge—the organization offers incredible opportunities to incredibly deserving students. And we’ve already written a guide to writing the QuestBridge Scholarship essays here, so head there if that’s what you’re looking for. In this post, we’ll be talking about QuestBridge College Prep Scholars Program: what it is, who’s eligible, and how to apply and write the essay, with sample essays and analysis.

What is the College Prep Scholars Program?

The goal of the program is to equip high-achieving high school juniors from low-income backgrounds with the knowledge, confidence, and resources to apply to top colleges. Probably the biggest draw of the program is that QB College Prep Scholars are almost six times more likely than other applicants to receive full four-year scholarships through QB’s National College Match. In 2023, the Scholars program received over 15,000 applications and, from those, selected 3,518 students.

The 2024 deadline is Wednesday, March 2oth (we’re bolding that cause it’s important—if you just found this on, say, March 15th, start diving in). It’s free to apply, and you can start doing so here. Applicants are notified of decisions around mid-April.

Who’s eligible for the Questbridge college prep scholars program?

Any high school junior, regardless of citizenship, currently attending high school in the United States is eligible to apply. Or, for students living abroad, you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. International students living outside the United States aren’t eligible to apply.

Applicants must be high school juniors who are planning to apply to college during the fall of their senior year.

The program is generally looking for students with a history of strong academic achievement. While these aren’t strict cut-offs (meaning if you fall outside of these, it’s probably still worth applying), past students have tended to be in the top 5-10% of their classes and have taken rigorous course loads.

And College Prep Scholars tend to come from families earning $65k or less for a family of four, and who have minimal assets. Again, not strict cut-offs/requirements, but the program’s overall mission is to help students who need it most.

For greater detail on what they take into account, head here. And if you’d like to review profiles of the ’23 class, check that link.

What the QB College Prep Scholars Program provides

Let’s break this down into the big picture, then details.

Big picture: 

The program offers a way to demonstrate to QB’s college partners that you’re a competitive candidate for admission. And the app automatically carries over to the National College Match program in the fall. And we mentioned this up top, but it’s worth repeating: One of the biggest benefits of the program is that Prep Scholars are nearly five times more likely to receive four-year scholarships through College Match.

Details (from QB’s site):

What’s required to apply

You’ll have to provide:

  • Information on your academics, activities, household, and financial background

  • One longer essay and some short answer responses

  • One recommendation from a teacher in a core academic subject (English, History, Math, Science, or Foreign Language), ideally during your sophomore or junior year 

  • A current high school transcript (unofficial transcripts are okay!)

  • Any standardized test score reports to date (if taken). PSAT, PreACT, ACT Aspire, SAT, ACT, or AP test scores (unofficial test score reports are okay!)

  • School Profile is optional, but recommended

Access to 2023 tax returns, W-2(s), or other financial documents is highly recommended to complete the application accurately.

How to write the QuestBridge College Prep Scholars program essays


Important note: the 2024 writing section has changed pretty significantly. (Also, please note their warning to write/edit your responses in a different program and paste them in, rather than writing directly in the application, to avoid losing your work.)

Here are the new writing exercises:

writing exercise 1 (2024)

In an effort to make sure we are learning about you and providing space for you to decide how to share your story, please tell us: What question would you want us to ask you? Enter only the question itself. (25 words)

[then, after you’ve entered the question]

Why do you think the question you entered above is a good question for our application to ask? (75 words)

How would you answer this question? (200 words)

Writing exercise 2 (2024)

Please select one of the four below prompts and answer the questions that follow. Your answers may generate additional guidance. There are no right or wrong answers—this section is designed to help us better understand you and your story, and to create space for you to reflect upon how you want to share your story within an application.

Select one of the following prompts:

  • Tell us about a time you learned something new and were excited to uncover more information about that topic.

  • Our behavior is often shaped by our values. Tell us about a value you hold.

  • Tell us about a time when your perspective was different from someone else’s.

  • Imagine you’re planning a celebration. Tell us about it.

Why did you select this prompt? (75 words)

How would you answer this prompt? (200 words)

additional information 2024

A full picture of who you are can strengthen your application. In this section, we encourage you to include any additional information or context that will complete your story and help us get to know you better. This could include details you were not able to include elsewhere, such as your relationship with a non-custodial parent, extra medical expenses, or other special circumstances.

Watch the Additional Information QuestTips video to learn more about what to include. (400 words)

Examples of past QB essays

Because we don’t have examples for the new prompts, but we at least want to give you some concrete examples of writing + analysis that have worked well for QB before, here’s last year’s (2023) prompt + example essays and analysis (notice that this year’s prompts and word counts are considerably different):

Prompt: We are interested in learning more about the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your successes. Please describe how the most influential factors and challenges in your life have shaped you into the person you are today. (650 words)

An important note here is that QB really wants to understand how a low-income background has possibly shaped a student (what they refer to as the “low-income lens”). We’re pointing this out here because many students can be hesitant to write about such things, but here, QB directly encourages you to do so. They want to know how financial difficulties and other obstacles have shaped who you are and what you value. Have you had to take on significant responsibilities for your household? Take on a job to help pay for expenses? Experienced homelessness or other difficulties with housing?

One big thing is to focus mostly on how those challenges have shaped you—probably only about a third of your essay will describe the challenges themselves and their effects on you. The remaining two-thirds can focus on what you’ve done to work through those challenges, and what you’ve learned about yourself and about the world from your experiences. Emphasizing these things can be a nice way to demonstrate your growth and emotional maturity to your readers.

To that end, Narrative Structure can be a great option for any kind of personal statement (not just for QuestBridge) that focuses on a significant challenge you’ve faced and how it’s shaped you. That structure can fit this prompt particularly well. For a more detailed guide on how to brainstorm the content for and write a Narrative Structure essay, check out this expansive guide. QuestBridge also has its own handy brainstorming worksheet with a flowchart and advice you may find useful.

And to clarify, they aren’t saying they require you to write about these kinds of challenges and obstacles. So if you really prefer to write about something else that you feel communicates your story, you totally can. And if that’s the case, you have another great option: Montage Structure, a dynamic approach that allows you to explore multiple sides of yourself. 

We liken montage to a beaded bracelet, with the beads representing key aspects of your personality/experiences/values/talents + a thematic thread that ties it all together. For an in-depth discussion of Montage Structure, head here. (Note: A hybrid of both is also possible—check out the “Much Ado About Nothing” essay at the end of this post for an example that starts with a challenge—in its case a low-stakes one—but then shifts into a montage of moments, experiences, and reflections.)

Sample Essays + Analysis

Note that the sample essays below were written for the QuestBridge Scholarship, but the prompt is virtually identical. The word count was slightly different.

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors helped you to grow? (797/800-word limit)

“Mama, ¡por favor! Don’t go!” I cried, gently tugging on her brown leather jacket. Raindrops pummeled my bare face, making me squint to see her silhouette in the darkness of the cold night. One by one, she began reluctantly loading her belongings onto our old grey minivan. 

“I’ll see you soon, mijito,” my mother despairingly said as she wiped the tears trickling down her cheeks. She pulled me into her arms, and I tightly held her, knowing this might be the last time I ever could. Seconds later, she got into the driver’s seat, and the engine roared to life. Before I could say goodbye, the old grey minivan began driving out of sight. 

My mind raced with questions. Why was my mother leaving? Why couldn’t I go with her? Flashbacks to towers of late rent bills and the rumble of my sisters’ empty stomachs made one thing clear: she had to. 

Ever since I was born, LA’s high rent prices pushed our family onto the brink of homelessness. We lived our life on a coin toss—heads or tails deciding whether we’d pay our monthly rent or groceries. This life meant the roof above my head changed faster than the clothes on my body. It meant doing multiplication tables on the cold pavement while waiting for a bed at the shelter. It meant having to watch a childhood slip away as my parents’ struggles slowly materialized into my own. That rainy night, my mother finally reached her limit and moved to Utah in pursuit of a better life. 

With my mother gone, my home felt scattered beyond physical confines. However, the emotional sanctuary I yearned for, I discovered in my second home: school. Here, I raced through kinematics problems and sneaked into the computer lab, my hands flying over the keyboards. This home I found in the flickering, fluorescent-lighted hallways and weary, purple-colored walls gave me a sense of belonging. However, the small source of stability I was beginning to gather became intercepted by a looming decision: Do I stay in LA with my father or leave for Utah to be reunited with my mother?

I chose LA.    

After months of watery eyes and harrowing headaches produced by images of my sisters’ childhoods without me, LA’s charm finally shone through. The allure was in the spontaneous dance parties sparked by the neighborhood abuelitas’ cumbias—in the rewarding taste of Tommy’s world-famous chili burgers and Ocha’s “seven seas” soup. Aside from the cultural respite I gained in Los Angeles, there was a glaringly obvious gift in my stay: LA welcomed my curiosity with open arms, preserving my interest in political science through an ACLU program, and fostering my passion for CS through LACCD courses.  

However, life in LA is not always sweet. While walking home one night, an ominous car crept up beside me. My blood ran cold as I noticed the gun’s glisten. My life flashed before my eyes, and I braced myself until . . . CLICK. The gun jammed. I ran with every jot of energy left in my sore body. I ran for my life. In South L.A, it sometimes feels like I’m always running—unable to escape the candles on every street corner, reminding me of those who weren’t as lucky. Amidst this sea of chaos, I resort to my outlet: computers. 

Although my only access to technology is a recreational center 30 minutes away, I do everything in my capacity to explore this new home. Writing simple “Hello World!” programs transformed into graduate-level work developing neural networks and AI algorithms. Yet my CS journey still feels like a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece.

Although thankful for the opportunities, the missing piece is a dream. It’s the dream of blending my past with my future as a computer scientist and engineering a better world. That is why I eagerly await the opportunity to attend a university to finally fulfill this dream. And one day, using all the experiences and wisdom I gained from my college professors and peers, I will return to South Los Angeles not only to inspire future generations to pursue the wonders of CS, but to empower them with the tools needed to break through every socio-economic barrier standing in their way.

As I embark on my college journey, I will always remember the sight of that old grey minivan driving away. However, instead of viewing it and the many hardships I went through as moments of weakness, I see them now as defining moments of strength and inspiration. 

The next time my mother sees me, I won’t be on the ground, begging her, “Mama, don’t go!” Instead, I will be walking across the graduation stage, as the first in my family’s history to do so, calmly telling her, “Mama, we did it.”

— — —

Tips + Analysis

  1. Let structure work for you. This essay makes effective use of the Narrative Structure—an essay that focuses on a Challenge + Its Effects on You, What You Did About It, and What You Learned, in roughly equal parts—to directly address the prompt (“the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors helped you to grow?”).

    The hook, opening in a moment of high tension that also raises questions about what’s happening and why, pulls us in. The author then pulls back and puts that moment in context, offering the challenge the student and his family faced, and the various effects (brink of homelessness, rent or groceries, school work while waiting for a bed at the shelter, lack of sanctuary, the gun, etc.) that challenge had. But then fairly quickly, the author shifts into what he did about it: kinematics, home in the computer lab, the ACLU program, algorithms, etc.

    The author also intersperses details and reflections that show what he learned from these experiences by directly or indirectly linking to and reflecting on his values (like family, curiosity, culture, and many more). The ending does a nice job of bookending (calling back to the start of the essay), but reframing it to show how he’s grown, and what the experience means to him in the greater context of his life.

  2. Show and tell (rather than “show, don’t tell.”). It’s important to provide details and examples that illustrate your experiences, offering a way for the reader to connect and identify with you, to feel as though they understand a part of what you’ve experienced. But it’s also important and useful to directly name at least some of what these experiences mean to you, rather than assuming that the reader will think it means the same thing you do.

    Showing and telling strikes a nice balance between demonstrating your abilities as a writer and helping us connect emotionally, while also helping show you understand the importance of clarity.

  3. Flex your “voice.” “Find your voice” is advice that we’re not sure is all that useful, as what exactly the phrase means is often left unsaid. So here’s a more specific way to think about it, and something this author does well: Revise and rewrite until you’re discussing your experiences and reflections in a way that’s different from how someone with the same or similar experiences would discuss them. Really specific details (like this: “The allure was in the spontaneous dance parties sparked by the neighborhood abuelitas’ cumbias—in the rewarding taste of Tommy’s world-famous chili burgers and Ocha’s ‘seven seas’ soup.”) take things that many students reading this post may have experienced, but that still make them feel specific to this author in a way that helps us see who he is and what he values, and what he brings to a college community.

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors helped you to grow? (797/800-word limit)

(Used for both QuestBridge NCM and Common App)

A typical day in the ice cream truck begins with supplying the freezer. My dad and I cut open boxes, and any time we slice through some ice cream wrapper I get to have it. My dad probably knows this, but sometimes I slice through some of the most expensive and chocolatey ice cream cones just to have one for myself, even though everything in the truck is already free for me.

Once we leave Mr. Charlies, the late namesake supplier, we make our rounds around construction sites where new apartment complexes are being built. Most of the customers are Hispanic migrant workers, and my dad understands Spanish enough to not only sell them ice   cream, but also gain their loyalty because of his over-the-top friendly personality when making a pitch for selling Gatorade, popsicles, or energy drinks. He yells “Como esta! Coma esta! Coma esta!” at the top of his lungs to attract customers, speaking a mix of both broken Spanish and broken English when they get there. His favorite part of bringing me to work is that it allows him to brag about me and my school accomplishments. His ability to say “Look! Look! This is my daughter. Say hi,” and probably something along the lines of “She makes straight A’s every year!…she wins so many competitions that she’s allowed me to meet the mayor! You know she’s learning Latin? …she’s the best part of my life, an African queen” really makes me feel on top of the world while sitting on a cooler ready to hand out a drink to a tired worker.

Yes, my dad loves to brag about the things that I’ve done. However, I know the struggle of having to defend our livelihood to people that probably think that we’re either homeless or extremely poor to be working in an ice cream truck day in and day out. Most days I don’t even have a seat to sit on, but a makeshift cardboard throne that I’m attached to with a rope seat belt and cushioned on by leftover plastic from the packs of water bottles. He tries to make me feel like a queen when I sit in the back of a truck, and nothing in my life ever makes me prouder. The feverish complimenting and appraisal from strangers are a sharp contrast to how I portray my life, or more realistically, hide it when I speak to my friends at school.

It may not seem it, but my grades, awards, and even wardrobe are things that I’ve had to work so much harder to earn than my peers. What maybe seems like me easily getting an A on a test, or a great science project in a science fair is actually the product of me studying for hours in the ice cream truck, with my head buried in a borrowed textbook as the repetitive ice cream jingle surrounds me and kids scream to ask for treats. I never feel sorry for myself, because this life is more than I ever could have wished for, with my dad by my side, some change in the register, and friends waiting for me at school. This seemingly double life that I live could not be any farther apart, with long homework hours and happy group projects on one hand, and difficult and long hours in the truck on the other, yet so similar as I put my everything into both tasks.

The day ends with us selling to the low-income housing area. Here, toddlers and teenagers alike beg for free ice cream. Footballs and frisbees fly at the windows as the kids here attempt to scare me in the window. Here, I duck my head in fear of seeing anyone from school who may reveal this side of me to my friends. It has taken me so long to come to terms with our lifestyle, how selling ice cream is our only way to get by, yet my praise and regalness from the apartment complexes have now turned to shame and me bowing my head. I know that these kids can’t see my father the way I do and that he also feels the embarrassment of subjecting me to this life, to this work. At home, even though I’m tired, I find time to finish all of my assignments and talk on the phone with my friends. The A/C is broken again, almost ironic compared to the ice-cold temperature of the freezer in which I stuck my head all day. Even though the work was hard and the pay-off was small, I still find myself ready to start up the next day of working with my dad, listening to his many stories while sitting on my cardboard throne.

— — —

Tips + Analysis

  1. Be vulnerable. One great thing about this essay: The student doesn’t tie it all up with a bow. Notice how she still ducks her head “in fear of seeing anyone from school.” Many students feel compelled to give their essays an “after-school special” ending, but … what if you’re still figuring it out? Or to use a musical metaphor, what if the chord is still unresolved? That’s okay! As long as your essay demonstrates well-earned insights, values, and your powers of reflection, the ending can be a little untidy. After all, you’re human, and life is messy. 

  2. Play with structure. This is a sort of “day-in-the-life” essay that charts the course of a typical workday from beginning to end, with the writer’s reflections woven seamlessly throughout. The writing is both expository and confessional, and the author manages to pack a lot into the container she’s created for herself: It’s about class and hard work, pride and shame, and at its center is the beautiful relationship she shares with her father—a relationship the student protects by concealing her shame and insecurities. This is mature, thoughtful, and deeply personal writing. 

  3. Use vivid details. This essay is packed with descriptive details: sights, sounds, flavors, sensations. Notice how this student creates a powerful sense of place. You get a vivid sense of what it’s like to work on that truck, and a clear picture of the communities the author and her father visit while selling ice cream. There’s a kinetic, propulsive quality to this kind of writing that—in the deft hands of this writer—manages not to overshadow or crowd out the reflections and insights at the core of the essay.




For more help, check out these resources:

Special thanks to Andy for contributing to this post.

Andrew has worked as an educator, consultant, and curriculum writer for the past 15 years, and earned degrees from Stanford in Political Science and Drama. He feels most at home on mountain tops and in oceans.

Top Values:  Insight/Growth | Truth | Integrity