To many students, college is a crucial stepping stone in their lives. Senior year can become stressful for many due to the pressure of completing college applications just in time before their expected deadlines. A big factor in the choice of school is one’s financial capability. Questbridge is a  national organization which matches various low-income students who meet the criteria of a high achieving student.  The organization offers multiple full- tuition scholarships and financial aid opportunities for students that are not financially capable to attend one of the top universities in the nation. Every year thousands of applicants apply and go through a substantial amount of steps in order to be eligible. This year at Coral Gables High senior Brianna Curran was selected for a Questbridge scholarship at Davidson College.

Curran applied to Questbridge in hopes of going to college without taking out any large loans. The college application process can become very complicated to handle when applying to multiples schools. However, Questbridge gave her help hand when going through the whole application process

“My first two years of high school, I was in like five clubs and played two sports and was very busy all the time. I was over-involved and it was not good for me. Over the years though, I’ve learned to let go of some of those commitments so I can better prioritize myself and prevent the feeling of burn-out,” senior Brianna Curran said.

The process begins in early September of senior year and the results of those who made it as finalists are released in October.  Applicants who move on as finalists have the option to match to a certain school. Curran first learned about Davidson when she attended a college tour prior to the beginning of her junior year. Since Gables is so large and diverse, Curran always thought that she wanted to attend a large urban university. However, Davidson College shed a new perspective on the type of campus environment she wanted to be part of. Curran fell in love with the idea of a small liberal campus that gives its students initial attention due to their small classroom environments.

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I learned that I like smaller schools, with a strong sense of community, and I especially loved Davidson because of how none of their classes are taught by teacher assistants and they remain small to give the student individual attention

— senior Brianna Curran

Her involvement in high school extracurricular opportunities consisted of five clubs and two sports. However, in her last years of high school, she learned to not overwhelm herself with multiple activities but only join a few extracurricular activities that are dear to her so she can become heavily focused on what she is part of.