Bryana Castillo, a standout in Natomas High School’s rigorous AP Capstone diploma program, has been selected as a 2017 College Prep Scholar.
The award comes from QuestBridge, a nonprofit group partnering with more than three dozen top universities nationwide — including Yale, Duke, Notre Dame, and MIT — to identify outstanding low-income 11th-grade students for future college placement. Only 3% of more than 12,000 applicants were chosen as Prep Scholars.
Bryana, who is considering a career in medicine, is taking five AP classes and maintaining a 4.66 gpa this year. She is co-president of the Latinos Unidos Club, secretary of a campus women’s rights club, and has played varsity tennis for three years. She previously served as Freshman Class President and as an Associated Student Body (ASB) officer. The 17-year-old is considering a career in medicine.
College Prep Scholars are selected on the basis of academic excellence, leadership, and financial need. Questbridge touts recipients as “among the nation’s brightest high school juniors who have demonstrated academic excellence despite facing economic challenges.” The recognition identifies recipients as outstanding potential candidates to highly selective universities, including those partnering with QuestBridge. College Prep Scholars potentially can win scholarships or education-related awards, such as laptops or all-expenses-paid college visits, through the QuestBridge program.
Bryana said she is honored to be named a College Prep Scholar, and to cite that recognition on college admission applications she files. She is determined to earn a college degree, she said, explaining that her father currently works two jobs to support the family and “I want to make sure all his hard work pays off.”
Congratulations, Bryana!
