Discover QuestBridge at Carleton
Choosing a college is a big deal. It seems like everyone has a different idea of where you should go. Like many QuestBridge students who’ve come before you, you’ll have lots of great options. We’re here to help you learn why Carleton might be the right place for you.
Is Carleton the right place for you?
We think so! But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what some of our students had to say themselves…
Questions about QuestBridge at Carleton?
Learn about who should consider QuestBridge, the application timeline, who to contact, and much more on the QuestBridge Details page.
Deadlines for Applying to Carleton
Learn when to send in application materials for QuestBridge, Early Decision, and Regular Decision.
Financial Aid at Carleton
We’re committed to helping make Carleton affordable for every admitted student.
Hear from Past Scholars
Maya Rogers ’22
Maya Rogers knew she wanted to pursue higher education from an early age. She attended Booker T. Washington High School, a top-rated historically Black magnet school in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she completed the IB Diploma Program. She developed her interest in vaccination and public health while at Booker T., surrounded by supportive teachers and counselors.
In her sophomore year, one of these counselors sent her information on the Carleton Liberal Arts Experience, a week-long summer program designed for Black and African American students. She was accepted into the program and was able to experience the residential liberal arts college life for herself, taking interdisciplinary classes for a week with other motivated peers. Returning to Oklahoma for her junior year, she got even more serious about her college search and focused her efforts on liberal arts colleges. She applied to the College Prep Scholars Program through QuestBridge and attended a conference at Pomona College. Her senior year was spent applying to the National College Match and visiting other liberal arts colleges thanks to funded fly-in programs. The match decision came through when she was at a speech and debate conference at UT Austin. She got the news she’d been hoping for—she matched with her first choice, Carleton College.
Reflecting on her high school years, Maya credits her high school environment with supporting her education goals. “Even though I grew up in a one-income family, low income and disabled, thanks to my well-resourced high school I was able to access opportunities that I wouldn’t have been able to if I was at my neighborhood school.”
At Carleton, she was once again surrounded by supportive teachers and staff. “I used all of the resources that there were and felt no shame in asking for help,” she recalled. She was involved in TRIO, the Carleton QuestBridge Chapter, Carleton Student Association, and was a peer leader for three of her four years. During the weekdays, she was taking classes like the Sociology of Work and Measured Thinking, weekends were filled watching free movies through the Student Union Movie Organization (SUMO), and breaks were productively spent exploring career fields through externships and internships.
Throughout her four years, her goal of exploring public health was fine-tuned into an interest in social and health psychology with a vaccination focus. Knowing she wanted to apply to psychology grad programs, she got connected to the Carleton fellowships office and became a Mellon Graduate School Exploration Fellow. This allowed her to participate in research at Rutgers University, visit universities for free, and access fee waivers for the GRE and graduate school applications.
Maya landed at the University of Minnesota and is currently pursuing her PhD in Social Psychology, studying health behavior, decision-making, and communication around vaccinations. Her advice for future Questies is simple: “Ask for and utilize all the help that there is.” She also wants to bring more awareness to the fact that most PhD programs are fully funded and include stipends that could be life-changing. “My current income is more than 50% of my family’s income growing up,” she says, adding that she will be able to earn more than her parents and support herself after graduation. “I get to do what I am passionate about and feel fulfilled; right now my job is learning.”
Bee Candelaria ’24
In a small Georgia town nestled halfway between Atlanta, GA, and Chattanooga, TN, called Cartersville, Bee Candelaria grew up with big dreams of becoming a professor.
Before she even had the words to describe such, she dreamed of attending a prestigious college where she could allow her ideas to flourish. While neither her parents, nor grandparents had graduated high school, much less attended college, Bee’s mom was her biggest supporter and instilled in Bee the courage, curiosity, and confidence to achieve her dreams, with one small caveat – ‘You gotta get that scholarship.’
With that in mind, Bee approached school with rigor, but that prestigious institution beyond Georgia remained elusive. It wasn’t until Bee’s U.S. History teacher told her about this amazing College Prep Scholars program that Bee could see a clear path. Bee attended the conference at Vanderbilt University in 2019, with her mom in tow, and, in the swirl of information, received a folder of information from Carleton College, an idyllic-looking Minnesota school that Bee had never heard about. Once Bee had set out her “fit factors” and worked through all the then-42 college partners, Carleton’s support of student research in both STEM and the humanities, the intimate faculty-to-student ratio, and quirky traditions like Bubble Brigade and the Bald Spot ice rink made the school stand out.
Bee applied to the National College Match Program and ranked Carleton College first for these reasons. She spent November 30, 2019, pacing the lengths of her mom’s living room with clammy hands. When the time came, and one more refresh was accompanied with confetti and “Congratulations!”, the most exciting thing was that first sentence: Carleton College had accepted her!
Bee arrived at Carleton in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and saw the College, as well as the QuestBridge chapter, struggling with a new normal. After her first year, she knew she wanted to be on the QB Executive Board and was elected treasurer in her sophomore year, then served as President her junior year, and finally as the sage, senior Vice President. Nothing was more rewarding than putting on National Quest Day celebrations or cooking soup on a cold winter day for the Questies. QuestBridge wasn’t the only hat that Bee wore at Carleton. As one of two Classics majors, Bee promoted the inclusion of scholars like Questies, TRIO students, and other FGLI students to join the humanities. As a champion for the Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellow, Bee began to realize her journey toward the professoriate at Carleton and encouraged others to do the same. She graduated from Carleton in 2024 known as the Classics, Humanities, QuestBridge, Mellon-Mays Girl with an Iconic Pink Bike.
Bee is currently pursuing her PhD in ancient Greek and Roman economic and working class history in the Classics department at Cornell University. Looking back on her journey as a Carl and a Questie, Bee’s advice to those considering forging a new path is simple: “You set the standard wherever you go. You are the breath of fresh air needed in every room you enter. Recognize your excellence and remember where you came from.”