***Jacie Hinton is a participant of The Kewanee Voice Student Journalism Program, funded by the Harry Anderson Memorial Trust.
When the sound of a school bell rings, it means it’s time for class to start. It also means that it is time for seniors to start applying to colleges and scholarships.
But William Ly, a senior at Kewanee High School, is already ahead of the game.
During Ly’s junior year, he discovered a scholarship program called QuestBridge. QuestBridge is a scholarship organization that matches students with 52 different top universities around the country.
Ly was ahead of the game and applied for QuestBridge’s junior-level program. When Ly was accepted to this branch of QuestBridge, it increased his odds of succeeding with QuestBridge’s competition for seniors.
“I knew I wanted to apply for the top colleges, and this program seemed like an opportunity to get an upper-hand while applying,” Ly said.
Ly said that the application process is “rigorous.” It consisted of seven short-answer questions, a short essay, and a long essay that is similar to the Common Application essay expected by most American colleges and universities.
Ly said what helped him most through the process was “remembering the purpose of my application,” which was ultimately obtaining a National College Match Scholarship.
Eventually, Ly received word that he was in fact a finalist, and the next step was to complete the college of his choice’s supplemental requirements, which in most cases included three to five essays.
Ly chose and matched with Northwestern University. He was among 2,627 finalists who received admission to one of the 52 institutions associated with QuestBridge. He was one of 90 who matched with Northwestern University.
“I wanted a place where I could be near my family while getting a top tier education. Northwestern checked all the boxes,” Ly said.
Questbridge itself does not pay for tuition but the schools students match with will cover 98-100 percent of the cost. That leaves matched students to only have to pay 25 percent of their own assets.
Ly mentioned that he will only have to pay $1,000-$2000 per year.
“This scholarship allows me to go to college without worrying about the costs,” Ly said.
Ly plans to study biomedical engineering and possibly add a major in music. He also wishes to minor in project management.
Ly believes by doing so he will be able to expand his opportunities for future jobs.
Ly shared some advice for students in the future who wish to seek out this scholarship.
“Try your best, when applying for programs like this, no one is guaranteed to get in. Just do your best and have faith in your application,” he said.
Ly also shared advice on the college application process in general.
“Whether it is Questbridge, CommonApp, or Coalition, the college application process is stressful. Sometimes things don’t happen the way you want, but make sure to keep pushing and everything will play out as it should,” Ly said.
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