By Sayellor Taylor, Tempe Prep student reporter
Admission into Princeton, for many students, is a dream. With lots of work from her end, it is senior Borislava Panayotova’s reality. Using QuestBridge, a scholarship program dedicated to giving students opportunities for education, she was accepted at this prestigious college and will be attending Princeton next year on a full-ride scholarship.
With coverage of her entire tuition, room, and board for four years, this adds up to over $320,000. QuestBridge is a program that partners with 52 colleges and universities and works towards offering an affordable higher education to high achieving low and middle income students. Applicants must send their information and essays in to be reviewed.
Here, one of two things can happen: applicants may be deferred to regular decision or deemed finalists, the latter of which Borislava qualified for. For finalists, supplemental essays are sent in to one’s top choices for schools, which for Borislava were Princeton and Stanford. If matched with one of the QuestBridge partner schools, it is a binding application to attend. If not matched, application fees to all colleges selected are waived, meaning it i a win-win either way.
QuestBridge is unique in that it offers all matched applicants a full-ride scholarship to their
school depending on their income, which is radical for thousands of students across the U.S. who may not be able to afford an expensive higher education to a highly distinguished school. Borislava qualified for this scholarship, meaning she will only have to pay for books and other things to supplement her education. Room and board, as well as every cent of tuition, is covered. Over the summer, Borislava worked with QuestBridge College Prep Scholars to help her every step of the way with applications. This can be beneficial for those less familiar with the application process, as many resources are offered. Borislava highly recommends this program.
Not only does it reduce the stress of applying to colleges, but it also gives her the ability to attend the school of her dreams, which might not have been possible otherwise. Alongside the summer program, Borislava suggests for students to get involved in the variety of activities offered at their school. At Tempe Prep for example, Borislava was active
on the school newspaper staff and the school’s Classics Club. All students at Tempe Prep take Latin in grades 7 and 8.
They can also continue with a classical languages track in high school that includes both Latin and Greek. With her strong background in Great Books literature from the Tempe Prep curriculum, and enthusiasm for her classes in Latin and Greek, Borislava was also a board member of the Arizona Junior Classical League.
“If I had not written Tempe Prep Humane Letters class essays or joined the TPA Classics Club or the Newspaper Club, I never would have been able to write the essays the application required of me,” she says. Fortunately, Borislava took advantage of the opportunities at Tempe Prep and now has an amazing academic future–with probably a lot more essays–ahead!
