Six Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts seniors received full-ride scholarship offers in the 2024 QuestBridge National College Match Program.
The students who received matches include:
- Jaime Hernandez Perez of Decatur, Brown University;
- Hailey Judkins of Benton, College of the Holy Cross;
- Sarah Pham of Hot Springs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT);
- Katherine Quintanilla of Nashville, University of Pennsylvania;
- Ezekiel Summers of Paragould, Johns Hopkins University; and
- Plinio Tola of Little Rock, Wesleyan University.
QuestBridge is a nonprofit organization that connects exceptional low-income youth with leading institutions of higher education. QuestBridge works with top universities across the country to offer four-year, full scholarships to deserving students who may otherwise be unable to afford to attend those institutions. The organization partnered this year with 52 colleges and universities to offer scholarships at institutions such as Duke University, Columbia University, Yale and others.
Students apply for the scholarships through QuestBridge’s free National College Match application. They may list up to 15 of the partner schools at which they would like to be considered for admission.
Match Scholarship recipients are granted early admission to one of QuestBridge's college partners with a full four-year scholarship, worth more than $200,000. The Match Scholarship is offered as part of a generous financial aid package provided by the college that covers the cost of attendance, including tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and travel expenses. All Match Scholarship packages have no parental contribution or student loans.
This year’s Match Scholarship recipients were chosen from more than 25,500 applicants, including 7,288 Finalists, according to a QuestBridge release. From the Finalists, 2,627 were matched with college partners, the largest number in QuestBridge’s history, the release said.
The ASMSA students said the QuestBridge scholarships will allow them attend college debt-free. Some said they were unsure if they would have been able to attend college without such a scholarship.
“I don’t think I have truly processed how much receiving the Match Scholarship means yet, but I am definitely grateful for it,” said Hernandez Perez, who is interested in studying genomics through a concertation in biology. “In terms of my future career, the Match Scholarship facilitates many opportunities such as research and access to institution-specific benefits at a great university.”
Hernandez Perez said he has dreamed of attending Brown in Providence, R.I., since he discovered the school during his Sophomores Transitions class at ASMSA. “Knowing that the school has an open curriculum and allows for cross-registration at (Rhode Island School of Design), a renowned art institution, I knew I wanted it to be first on my list. Providence is a beautiful city,” he said.
Hernandez Perez said he opened up the email notifying him about his selection in the physics lab after class. “I immediately screamed when I saw the university I matched with. I had not really expected it,” he said.
Judkins said matching with Holy Cross, located in Worcester, Mass., “means that I can explore a world outside of the place I’ve lived my whole life while also pursuing a career at a school that has amazing programs in my field.”
She plans to major in behavioral and cognitive psychology and work with adolescents. Judkins said that about 16 percent of Holy Cross’ student population are psychology students. “I intend to focus my studies on mental disabilities and research the methods that are best for helping them overcome tendencies based on their behaviors. With roughly 500 students learning what I would be learning in some form or fashion, I knew that I would have a group of individuals to share my passion with,” she said.
Judkins said she was in the digital arts lab on campus when she received notice that her application had been updated. She called Olivia, her twin sister who also attends ASMSA, to let her know. Olivia ran to the lab to open the notice with Hailey and a few of Hailey’s friends. She didn’t know what to expect.
“I was shocked at first because I had my doubts about matching and was even more surprised to see that I was going to be moving to Massachusetts,” Judkins said. She then called her dad to let him know.
Pham said she was sitting on the floor of the closet in her room, the same place she sat when she opened the notice telling her that she was a QuestBridge Finalist, “since it was comforting and no one saw me. As soon as I saw the result, I cried for a solid two minutes. Then I called my family who were also waiting.”
She plans to study mathematics at MIT, one of the top schools on her list because of its reputation for her intended major. Pham had visited the Boston, Mass., campus to attend MIT’s fly-in program, where potential students visit the school. Her host was a familiar face, Nasya Choy, a 2024 ASMSA graduate.
“(Choy) took me to one of her dance practices, and I loved the studio so much. I’m not good with cold weather, but as long as I don’t freeze to death in Boston, I think I’ll be fine,” she said, adding that it is reassuring that she won’t have to worry about financial burdens both during and after attending college.
Quintanilla, who plans to major in political science with a minor in psychology and East Asian Studies with a focus in Japanese, said matching with Penn was a dream come true. “Never did it cross my mind that I could have the opportunity to go to college debt-free, let alone at an Ivy (League institution). I will be the first person in my entire family to go to college on a full-ride and at an Ivy. I’m breaking barriers and making my family proud. Having the privilege of matching to Penn is a relief,” she said.
“Penn was one of those schools I just couldn’t stop thinking about. Since the start, I had a good feeling about Penn, and their political science program is one of the best in the country. The campus is beautiful and in a city (Philadelphia) with such a rich history. I also love how close it is to Washington, D.C., as I plan to work in politics in the future.”
Quintanilla said she was sitting in the Academic Building lobby waiting for her next class to begin after getting out of her previous class early. She had been anxious all day about the match announcements and decided to check her QuestBridge portal. She was surprised to see an application update already posted.
“I was fully prepared not to match and already had a Plan B, but when I opened it, I screamed. It took me a minute to read the letter, and I screamed again when I saw I matched to Penn,” she said.
She immediately went to see Bret Vallun, ASMSA’s associate dean for college counseling. “I ran as quickly as possible to his office. He was a crucial part of my college application process, and I’m so grateful for his help along the way,” she said.
For Summers, you could say that he was reaching for the stars in his match with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He plans to study some form of plant sciences, such as mycology, that could possibly serve as the basis for an ecosystem on another planet.
“There were a lot of factors that went into me deciding on what college to go to, from having astronomy to having astrobiology and a strong biology program, and even further to being located near a NASA base,” Summers said. Johns Hopkins’ location and research opportunities offered enough advantages that he placed it as his No. 1 choice on his list.
Summers was in his room when he checked the match page while on a phone call with his mother. He waited until she was available so they could check it together.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. It had to have been a dream, but it wasn’t, and I cried, a lot. A match means that I can study what I want without having to care about the cost. I most likely couldn’t have afforded college otherwise. I get to set on my path of going into space with this scholarship,” he said.