By Lindsay Newfeld

This year three outstanding Tempe Prep seniors were named QuestBridge national finalists: Emma Moriarty, Rachel Dinh, and Olek Piechaczek. Questbridge is a non-profit program that links high-achieving students with educational and scholarship opportunities at leading U.S. colleges and universities.

Eligible students apply for the program and after their applications are reviewed, a select group of finalists are chosen. These finalists then have their applications reviewed by schools that partner with QuestBridge and those schools ultimately decide which students to admit and provide scholarships to those students. Thirty-nine of the country’s top-ranked universities partner with QuestBridge, including Stanford, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Tufts, Notre Dame, and USC.

One of our national finalists, Emma Moriarty, received a College Match Scholarship from Princeton University. After reviewing her application, Princeton granted Emma admission with a full, four-year scholarship. Emma learned about QuestBridge from Ms. Moffitt and says, “At first I didn’t take it seriously because I thought I didn’t have much of a chance. But then as I learned more about what an amazing opportunity it provided, I put lots of work in my essays and was then named a finalist.”

Emma also applied to Notre Dame, University of Chicago, and Yale through Questbridge but is extremely happy that she was matched with Princeton. She calls it “as close as you can get to a perfect college.”

When asked what the single best piece of advice she has heard about the college application process is, her answer was simple. “Be yourself. You don’t want to put on a façade just to get selected because then it’s not really you who they accepted.”

Rachel Dinh, another finalist, was not matched to a college through QuestBridge but was recently accepted to Notre Dame, her top school. Even though she will not receive the College Match Scholarship, Rachel says, “I am still glad I applied to QuestBridge. It taught me a lot about myself.” She is currently planning to attend Notre Dame because “it’s a strong Catholic community and the alumni from TPA who go to Notre Dame now really enjoy it.”

Rachel’s best piece of advice about applying to college is also simple, but profound. “In the end, it doesn’t really matter what college you go to because it’s what you do in college that counts, not the college itself.”

Olek Piechaczek, our last finalist, also did not receive a college match through QuestBridge and is awaiting decisions from MIT and USC, among other schools. While many seniors spend hours stressing about which college they will wind up at, Olek’s philosophy is “Whatever happens, happens. I am just excited to move on to this next phase in my life and will simply try to make the best of my college experience, no matter where I end up.”

Each of these students has made significant contributions to the Tempe Prep community throughout their years at our school and I am sure they will do the same at their respective colleges!