Growing up in a single-parent home, Miriam Kwietniewska ’13 had to act as a caretaker for her younger brother and work a job, in addition to keeping her grades up and balancing extracurricular activities—including swimming, track and serving as her school class president.
“I didn’t come home, do homework and have dinner ready,” Kwietniewska said.
Kwietniewska and 34 other freshmen at Wesleyan overcame financial obstacles with the help of the QuestBridge program, which matches high-achieving, low-income students with elite four-year colleges. The QuestBridge Scholars at Wesleyan this year are the first; the University became a partner with QuestBridge last year.
QuestBridge, a non-profit organization that partners with 27 of the most selective colleges across the country, gives academic and scholarship opportunities to high-achieving, low-income students. Through its College Prep Scholarship program, QuestBridge offers awards to high school juniors to allow them to attend college visits and informational conferences, as well as to receive mentoring services. If students are admitted as finalists into QuestBridge’s National College Match program, they can receive admission and generous financial aid—including full financial aid for all four years of college—to one of QuestBridge’s partner colleges.
“QuestBridge is amazing,” said Kaya Ceci ’13, who was matched with Wesleyan through QuestBridge. “They have given me the opportunity to succeed in a way that would otherwise have remained a distant dream.”
The University joined QuestBridge last year after Nancy Meislahn, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, spoke with staff from Amherst, Williams and Pomona, who attested to the talent of the QuestBridge Scholars at their institutions.
“We joined the QuestBridge partnership because we were so impressed with their outreach to low income and first-generation college students who are high-achieving, but not typically applying to elite colleges like Wesleyan,” Meislahn said.
QuestBridge ensures its scholars’ talent through a selective admissions process for finalists. Last year, 50 percent of applicants were chosen to participate in the college-student matching process. Only five percent of these finalists received a full four-year scholarship package matching them to a partner college.
“Everyone from QuestBridge has been through something,” Kwietniewska said. “The students are good people who have always had to work for what they have. QuestBridge students were able to do everything despite their obstacles.”
Ceci praised QuestBridge for giving her the chance to overcome these obstacles and attend a top college despite her financial impediments.
“QuestBridge allows us to break free of our economical chains and achieve our full potential,” Ceci said. “I had never thought [going to Wesleyan] was possible.”
Meislahn plans to continue the University’s partnership with Questbridge.
“Colleagues [at other schools] confirmed that QuestBridge had encouraged students to apply and enroll…[students] who they did not see in their usual application pools and were excellent candidates for admission,” Meislahn said. “And, with one year of experience under our belt, I absolutely agree!”
Although Kwietniewska had to go through a rigorous application process to get to Wesleyan, QuestBridge has enabled her to realize her dreams of higher education. Kwietniewska recalls the December day when QuestBridge called to tell her that she had been matched with Wesleyan.
“It was the best phone call of my life,” she said. “QuestBridge helped secure my future. It is a life-changing program.”