Senior Earns Full Scholarship to Princeton University

When Saul Flores '25 logged onto his QuestBridge student portal and saw digital confetti raining down his screen, he knew it was a good sign. "Based on my research, I knew that confetti meant you matched somewhere," said the University School of Milwaukee senior. But when he clicked on the "status update" link and read the words "Princeton University," he was stunned. "It took a little bit for the information to sink in."

The QuestBridge National College Match program pairs academically exceptional students from low-income families with 50 of America’s top colleges and universities. As a QuestBridge scholar, all of Flores' expenses at Princeton—including tuition, housing, food, books, and travel—are covered for four years. On match day, Dec. 2, 2024, when Flores learned he had been matched to Princeton, he joined a cohort of just over 2,000 other students from around the country who share the honor of receiving this scholarship to one of the QuestBridge Partner schools. Roughly 20,000 students apply each year to be a QuestBridge student. In 2024, Ethan Robledo-Perez '24 earned a full scholarship to Columbia University through QuestBridge.

When Flores came to USM from Bruce-Guadalupe Community School as a freshman in 2021, he had some catching up to do, academically speaking. He was not prepared for the jump in difficulty of his classes, he said, and he got a rude awakening on his first biology quiz. But his teacher let him retake the quiz, and he didn’t waste the opportunity. “I actually studied for it the second time, and I was much more prepared.” 

Flores took that lesson to heart, and committed to taking his rigorous school work seriously. “That’s something that has stayed true throughout my entire high school career. I definitely study a lot. Basically every day I study and do homework for multiple hours.” And Flores has taken incredibly challenging coursework—AP Calculus AB and AP Physics 2 his senior year, AP Computer Science, AP Statistics, and AP U.S. History his junior year, and Independent Science Research all four years. “I think what I’ve learned at USM—like how to study more effectively, how to stay on top of homework, doing reviews, and going in to ask for help when I need it—is going to be really helpful for me at Princeton.” He plans to major in computer science and wants to pursue a career in science or technology.

For Flores, who is among the first generation in his family to go to college, education has always been important. “It’s always been drilled into me to get an education, go to college, and get a good job,” he said. But it’s more than just a diploma. “For me, learning in general is fun. It’s always been something that motivates me. And it opens a lot of pathways and opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise have.”