Community News

Two Copiague Seniors Awarded QuestBridge Scholarships

Photos courtesy of Copiague School District

Two Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School seniors – Rebecca Alara and Mohamad Altenbakji – have been named QuestBridge Scholars.

QuestBridge’s National College Match is a college scholarship application process that helps outstanding high school seniors gain admission and full four-year scholarships to the nation’s most selective colleges. Alara has matched with Duke University and Altenbakji with Boston College.

Out of more than 20,800 applicants, QuestBridge selected 6,683 finalists to be considered for the QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship. This year, QuestBridge’s 50 college partners matched with 2,242 finalists, who are recognized as Match Scholarship Recipients. This is the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients to date for QuestBridge. The Match Scholarship is offered as part of a financial aid package provided by the college that covers the full cost of attendance, including tuition, room and board, books and supplies, and travel expenses.

Two Copiague Seniors Awarded QuestBridge Scholarships

Two Walter G. O’Connell Copiague High School seniors – Rebecca Alara and Mohamad Altenbakji– have been named QuestBridge Scholars. They matched to receive full scholarships to attend Duke University and Boston College next fall. They are pictured with Walter G. O’Connell High School Principal Joseph Agosta and college and career counselor Brianne Mattiace.

Altenbakji is ranked No. 17 in his graduating class with a GPA of 101.31. He is a Presidential Scholar nominee and a SUNY Farmingdale Smart Scholar. He is a student ambassador at the high school and has been a member of the science research program since ninth grade. Altenbakji plans to study neuroscience at Boston College.

Ranked No. 3 in the graduating class, Alara boasts a GPA of 104.25. Some of her science honors include first place at the SAWAA Science Research Competition, honors award at Long Island Science Congress Science Research Competition, and high honors at Long Island Science Congress Science Research Competition. Alara has participated in numerous summer academic programs including the STEM Prep Summer Institute at Brookhaven National Lab, Rising STEM Scholars Program at Brookhaven National Lab, High School Research Program and Internship at Brookhaven National Lab and CATALYST Academy at Cornell University. She plans to study mechanical engineering at Duke University.

Related Posts