Two Malverne High School seniors, Lorraine Akou and Dayami Guaman, have been chosen to receive the highly competitive 2025 QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship, offering them a chance to attend top-tier institutions through a full financial award.
The prestigious national scholarship program connects high-achieving students from across the country with full four-year scholarships to some of the nation’s most selective colleges and universities.
Akou and Guaman, both 17, were chosen from a pool of more than 20,800 applicants nationwide, with only 2,550 students earning finalist status and securing a Match Scholarship. They are the first students from the Malverne School District to have achieved such a distinction.
“These students have worked tirelessly throughout their high school careers,” Kesha Bascombe, the high school’s principal, said. “Their success reflects not only their hard work but also the commitment of our educators and the support of the Malverne community.”
The scholarship, which supports students with significant financial needs, covers the entire cost of attendance, including tuition, housing, meals, books, supplies and travel expenses, ensuring each student can fully pursue their academic goals without financial barriers.
“It’s a great opportunity for low-income, first-generation students like myself,” Akou said. “I applied for QuestBridge because it was a great opportunity for those who are maybe not as fortunate or don’t have as many resources as others, but want the same opportunities.”
While the QuestBridge scholarship program has existed since 2004, Malverne school counselors have been encouraging their students to apply for the past five years.
“Recognizing the financial needs that our students have, we as a department became more familiar with QuestBridge,” Rebecca Gottesman, Malverne’s director of school counseling, said. She estimates both Akou and Guaman will receive $400,000 in financial support from QuestBridge.
“As we become more comfortable with the application process, we’re sharing it with the kids as well,” school counselor Donna Bailey added.
The scholarship applications were due in late September, so counselors began sharing information about QuestBridge with students in their junior year, providing ample time for interested students to compile the required documents. Students submitted essays, information about their activities, and financial documents, as well as a high school transcript, two teacher recommendations and any available standardized test scores.
“I decided to apply for QuestBridge because I saw it as a great opportunity to gain a great resource,” Guaman said. “I also saw it as a way to really put myself out there and receive such an amazing opportunity, which is full tuition.”
After applying for the program, finalists were notified of their status in October. Finalists were then asked to choose the top colleges they wanted to be matched with and submit any supplemental documentation required by a specific school.
“I felt really proud of myself when I became a finalist,” Guaman said. “But when I actually matched, it was different because it means they actually gave me the scholarship. I was extremely happy. It was unreal.”
Finalists were selected by interested colleges and universities and matched with the highest choice on their list. Last month, they were notified about where they will be spending the next four years of their academic career.
“It was a feeling of complete and total shock,” Akou said. “My parents were so proud of me. My parents always told me that knowledge is the key to success, and I believe that I ultimately proved them right via QuestBridge.”
Akou matched with Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she intends to study neuroscience and behavioral biology on a pre-med track.
“The scholarship is honestly one of the best things that could have happened to me,” she said. “Being that I don’t have to worry financially about these next four years, I can just take every opportunity that is offered to me at Emory University.”
Guaman matched with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, where she plans to major in biology on a pre-med track.
“I think the scholarship is going to help me in many ways,” she said. “Not only am I going to gain a whole community of students that are high-achieving and low-income, it also helps me financially and with my future plans. Being able to go to Johns Hopkins on the pre-med track opens a plethora of opportunities I could have never imagined.”
“Lorraine and Dayami have significant achievements, both in and out of the classroom,” Melissa McGowan, the high school’s senior seminar teacher, said. “It has been a joy to help them showcase their many accomplishments to garner the national accolades they truly deserve.”
Both Akou and Guaman encourage other Malverne students to apply for the QuestBridge program in the future.
