Three Gainesville High students have been awarded the Questbridge National College Match Scholarship.
Joshua Hernandez, Kimberly Hernandez, and Andrew Cao all survived a rigorous application process that had a nationwide pool of more than 25,000 students apply.
“I was surprised and shocked to make it as far as I did (in the Match Scholarship process), but I’m super excited to match,” said Joshua Hernandez, who will attend Rice University where he intends to major in astronomy with a career goal of working at NASA.
Questbridge pared 25,500 applicants to 7,288 Match Scholarship finalists by evaluating a range of criteria from written responses in the application, grades, and curriculum studied. Socioeconomic status, teacher recommendations, and out-of-school responsibilities also are given weight in the application process, with the caveat that any school ranked had to be among its bevy of college partners.
Of the finalists, 2,627 students matched with the program’s 52 college partners, earning them Match Scholarships and also accounting for the highest number of scholarships awarded in the program’s 22-year history.
Each will receive early college admission and guaranteed four-year scholarships worth more than $325,000, a financial aid package provided by Questbridge’s college partners that covers the full cost of attendance, including tuition, housing and food, books and supplies, and travel expenses.
Cao will attend Penn State where he plans to major in English and Environmental Science.
Kimberly Hernandez will attend Emory University, “I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve had along the way and I’m excited to get to Emory and enjoy college life.” She plans to major in chemistry with the goal of going into dentistry.
The Class of 2025 Match Scholarship recipients have an average unweighted GPA of 3.94, 92% are in the top 10% of their graduating class, and 81% are the first in their family to attend a four-year U.S. college.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2025/1/1283318/trio-of-ghs-students-awarded-questbridge-scholarship