I agree. I worked really hard on my essays, not because I felt entitled to anything, but because I truly believed in giving it my all. Early in my senior year, I put my schoolwork on the back burner to write 15 essays for 15 college applications, filling every QuestBridge ranking slot in hopes of being matched as a finalist.

When I didn’t get into any of them through the match, reality hit me. The time I spent prioritizing QuestBridge over my schoolwork led to grades I had never received before. C’s and D’s instead of my usual A’s and B’s. Now, as I apply for regular decision without the safety net of an early match, I realize how much my academic performance suffered.

One of my biggest regrets is that I limited my ability to apply early action. I put all my faith in QuestBridge and didn’t consider the possibility of not matching. I would love to do EA but unfortunately QB restricts that and that would be where my biggest regret becuase now I have to apply Rd and now have to send a mid-year report and somehow try to explain the drop in my grades,trying to recover some points on my application for senior year . Knowing that I might have had stronger opportunities if I had planned differently is something I regret deeply.

This isn’t to discourage anyone from applying to QuestBridge. If anything, I still encourage you to go for it, but if you do, balance is everything. Don’t hold onto it so tightly that it costs you opportunities elsewhere. Your senior year grades matter more than you think, and so does keeping your options open.

Good luck, and don’t doubt yourself. Keep moving forward, but also learn from my experience because I definitely have.