Out of over 25,500 applicants, two Santa Fe students received QuestBridge’s scholarship opportunity.
QuestBridge is a scholarship program for high-achieving, low-income high school students. They match students from low-income backgrounds, with full four-year scholarships from 50+ of the nation’s best colleges.
To qualify for the scholarship, you need to live in a household earning less than $65,000 per year for a household of four, be a junior in high school in the U.S., meet specific GPA requirements and according to Questbridge, “demonstrate strong writing skills, intellectual curiosity, resilience, integrity, and motivation to succeed.”
Alizeh Qazi’s parents immigrated from Pakistan and opened a restaurant, Sizzle N
Spice Kebab Grill. Since they could not hire, she became a big part of the restaurant.
She spent most of her time working in the restaurant after school. Before she got the QuestBridge scholarship, she had a full-ride scholarship to OU. She would go to OU but they don’t have a program for neuroscience.
“My dream career is to be a double board-certified neurosurgeon and psychiatrist,” Qazi said.
Madison Hayes is originally from California and moves frequently. She recently came back to Oklahoma in late March of her junior year. She has also faced challenges adjusting to new schools.
Her mom and younger brother helped her grow comfortable during the frequent moves. Growing up in a single-parent household her family has always struggled. Being the eldest she had to take on more responsibility and is something she is continuing to uphold. Like Qazi, she also wants to major in neuroscience.
“I plan on going to school to double major in neuroscience and journalism,” Hayes said. “I’ll eventually go to medical school.”
The recipients of the scholarship agree that one of the most important parts of the application process is putting personality into the writing sections.
“I had to formulate everything significant I’ve done in my life cohesively and choose what was most important, what really represented my values, goals, and personality,” Qazi said.
Students must do many things for the application process, including a writing section, providing two teacher recommendations, any standardized test scores, your current high school transcript, additional transcripts and a school report from your current high school counselor.
This article was updated 1/16/2025 to correct spellings of names and recipients of the award.
