Two Governor Mifflin High School students are among a small and highly selective pool of students who had their collegiate dreams come true this December: admission to an Ivy League university on a full scholarship, thanks to the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship.
Seniors Seth Toal and Nox Clemmens learned on December 1 that they were among the 2,550 high school seniors that had been awarded the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship, which connects high-achieving high school seniors with less financial means to pursue higher education with full four-year scholarships to the nation’s top colleges via an early decision matching system.
Among those colleges partnered with QuestBridge are Yale University and Cornell University, which Clemmens and Toal have matched with and will be attending respectively.
With more than 25,000 applicants vying for the award, 7,026 of which were named finalists, receiving the notice of their selection was simultaneously an honor and a shock for the students.
“I was so certain I was not going to get it that I didn’t even tell my mom or my grandmother what it was until I was reading the email,” said Clemmens.
“I was at work when I saw the email,” said Toal, “I was so excited that I had to immediately get on the employee radio and tell everybody that I was going to college.”
While acceptance to an Ivy league on a full ride would be exhilarating for any student, this news means more for Clemmens and Toal who will both be the first in their family to pursue higher education. However, with financial roadblocks standing in the way, that title was not always a given.
“If I had to pay for college, I wasn’t going to college,” said Toal, “I wasn’t willing to start my life with what would basically be a mortgage. If I couldn’t get a full ride, I planned to enter the workforce, work hard, and wait until I could find a way to go for free.”
“I probably still would have gone to college; my mom has always supported the idea and said I should try to go if I can,” said Clemmens, “but I would have been in immense debt. I am incredibly relieved to not have to worry about that.”
When selecting winners for the highly competitive prize, QuestBridge focuses on a myriad of factors. While financial need is a factor, with about 89% of applicants which come from households earning less than $65,000 annually and 60% of applicants actively contributing to their household financially, recipients of the award must also be high achieving, well-rounded individuals.
According to QuestBridge, the 2025 finalist pool had an average unweighted GPA of 3.9, an SAT score of 1290-1460 or ACT score of 27-33, and almost all finalists took part in advanced placement coursework. Outside of the classroom, approximately 91% held a leadership role in an extracurricular activity, 66% held a part time job, and over 60% actively gave back to their community through volunteerism.
Once you have met the requirements of the scholarship, however, you must also match to a partnered college or university which, Toal and Clemmens explain, each have their own unique requirements and attributes they are seeking in a prospective student.
For Toal, he believes that his rigorous academic courses and a 1520 SAT score were instrumental in getting his foot in the door. However, he believes that his character, which he exemplified through his essays, was what set him apart.
Clemmens believes that it is rigorous academic schedule as well as a wide range of interests and unique experiences which propelled them to the forefront. In addition to a schedule packed with advanced placement courses, Clemmens completed an internship in sustainable fashion and worked with Alvernia University’s Total Experience Learning on a research project based in sustainable design and upcycling.
Toal and Clemmens will join a network of over 11,000 current Quest Bridge recipients and an alumni network of over 20,000. Both say that they are already making connections in these networks as well as with their future classmates at Cornell and Yale.
