Kamila Ramirez has been at Preuss for the past seven years. Her high school journey is soon coming to an end and a new journey is unveiling. Kamila will head off to Amherst College with a full ride through the QuestBridge College Match program in the fall of 2025, and will be majoring in Political Science.
QuestBridge is an organization that provides low income students with the opportunity to top colleges with a full ride scholarship. Over 25,500 students apply to QuestBridge every year, but only 7,000 students are selected as National College Finalists.
Kamila is the only QuestBridge finalist this year at Preuss for the class of 2025. Many Preuss students were knocked out in the first round, and those who survived round one did not survive phase two, except for Kamila.
Kamila was well prepared for her QuestBridge journey, as she received further preparation through QuestBridge Prep Scholar, aprogram sponsored by Questbridge that prepares Juniors who wish to apply for the Questbridge scholarship.
“What ultimately got me my scholarship was the prompts you could choose to answer,” states Ramirez (‘25).
The question Kamila answered was, “What is something meaningful someone has done for you and why does it matter to you?” In this prompt she wrote about her stuffed animal her father gave her. This stuffed animal represented growth and changes from her childhood to adulthood.
“What colleges mostly look for is to be able to envision you as an individual in their campus.You can have amazing grades but it will not do you any good if you are not involved with your community and you don’t like what you are doing,” adds Ramirez (‘25).
Kamila has demonstrated outstanding academic achievements with her weighted GPA being a 4.32. Additionally, she is a part of many clubs such as Model United Nations, Science Olympiad, Drama, ASB (Associated Student Body), all honor societies, and plays varsity lacrosse. On top of that, she holds a leadership position in almost every club she participates in. She is extremely involved in her school community and her neighborhood community, and she also likes to volunteer at her church.
Her dedication as a student and community member allowed Kamila to never fear or question being denied a full ride scholarship.
“I am very much a person of whatever happens is up to God,” mentions Ramirez.
Kamila is so grateful for the opportunity she has received. She is now off and proud to attend a four year college, fully paid for.
Kamila mostly took matters into her own hands, but she always checked in with her advisory Teacher Mr. Arias. When Mr. Arias heard Kamila was a finalist, he was proud of her like she was his own daughter.
“This is confirmation that the stuff we do at Preuss is working,” states Mr. Arias.
