Meet Ashley Carranza-Zayas and Emmanuel George. Ashley and Emmanuel are seniors at Baltimore City College. Through the QuestBridge Match Scholarship, Ashley will attend Washington University, and Emmanuel will attend the Ivy League school Yale University in Fall 2026.
This Progress Report story is the second in a series profiling students receiving a full four-year scholarship, worth over $325,000, through the QuestBridge National College Match.
Read about Ashley and Emmanuel's QuestBridge stories.
My name is Ashley. During the college application process, I knew I needed to find a place that would fulfill my priorities, especially my desired major of public health. I looked at school newspapers and Reddit threads that expressed authentic student opinions of the school because I knew I wanted a school that allowed all students to express themselves openly and was diverse in terms of interests. Ultimately, staying true to my authenticity and needs allowed me to develop a concise list of colleges.
Throughout the college application process, I had different areas of support, such as my school counselor and after-school program, Adelante Latina. Having multiple people believe in me and reassure me was a great advantage and was what kept me motivated. Without their help, navigating steps such as the FAFSA, CSS Profile, QuestBridge, and even the Common App itself would have been difficult to do alone, since my parents found these applications just as unfamiliar as I did.
Being able to earn the QuestBridge Scholarship has been a huge weight lifted off me and my family's shoulders. Coming from a low-income family, the idea of college was always followed by the question of cost. My parents understood how important furthering my education would be for my future, but it almost seemed like a locked dream I wouldn't have access to. However, receiving my acceptance letter allowed me to see that all my efforts throughout my high school years and the passions I carry with me have been recognized beyond just my family, but by the school that I have been accepted into.
My aspirations for college are to become a more expressive version of myself. Through high school, I’ve been met with many responsibilities outside of school. In college, I want to find my own personal hobbies that I will be able to share with others, such as continuing my hiking trips, cooking new cultural dishes, or pursuing a new form of art style that doesn’t match my late-night drawing.
In college, I plan to study a combination of Public Health and Latin American Studies to approach healthcare with a concentrated focus on Latin American communities and the multiple disparities that cause high rates of chronic disease or premature death. With this new understanding, I hope to contribute meaningful research and participate in study abroad programs to address disparities such as low health literacy within the Latinx community, which has a far greater impact than is often recognized.
My name is Emmanuel. For the college application process, I felt unprepared since I didn't know what applying to college was like. I just wanted to go to a good college, cost-free, and succeed there. I'm grateful for the support of the college advising office at my school for updating me on the many opportunities that I have access to.
I think what made me a good candidate for the QuestBridge scholarship was that I had a strong will to succeed, as shown through excelling in academic courses, my college application essays, and standardized test scores.
My success is attributed to personal determination and my teachers at City, who were very supportive and helpful while preparing me for my future. They would consistently respond to my emails, stay after school for coach class, and answer every question I had. They genuinely believed in me.
At Yale, I plan on majoring in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. I intend to become a dermatologist. I hope my college experience will advance my career goal, develop a professional network, and help me learn more about myself.