4 Culver students earn QuestBridge scholarships covering tuition, expenses

Culver Academies seniors Kareemat Adeagbo (Westfield, Indiana), Treyton Schumacher (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin), and Chloe and Carridee Raymundo (Salt Lake City, Utah) have been awarded QuestBridge full four-year scholarships.

Adeagbo will attend Boston University, Schumacher will study at The College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and the Raymundos will study at Northwestern University.

Culver has been participating in the QuestBridge program since 2010. Students from the boarding school have also attended Vanderbilt, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Dartmouth, the University of Chicago, Vassar, Washington & Lee, Carlton, Macalester, Claremont McKenna and Williams College. Students must apply for early decision to be considered. This year nine Culver students applied for QuestBridge scholarships.

QuestBridge reported that more than 25,550 students applied, 7,288 were selected as finalists and 2,627 were awarded scholarships. The four-year scholarships, which cover tuition, room and board and other expenses, are awarded to high-achieving seniors from low-income backgrounds.

“We are delighted to welcome this record-breaking number of QuestBridge scholars,” said Ana Rowena Mallari, cofounder and CEO of QuestBridge. “These scholars will contribute a rich diversity of perspectives and experiences to our college partners, enhancing the vibrancy of their campus communities.”

The scholars have an average unweighted GPA of 3.94 and 92 percent are in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.

Adeagbo, who attended Culver as a Roberts Scholar, spent last summer studying at Boston Architectural College, which gave her the opportunity to tour universities in Boston. She had studied at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, after her sophomore year.

“I wanted to see what Boston had to offer,” she said. “I saw how Boston University would be a good fit for me because of how diverse it is and because of its strong mechanical engineering program.”

Adeagbo, who was a Borlaug Scholar for her research on food insecurity, said she initially thought she might go into architecture but discovered she was most passionate about mechanical engineering. She is honoring in engineering at Culver and is interested in building hybrid robotics systems.

“Those are things that can fly. Things that can drive. Things that can be effective in automizing the world. Because that is what I am really interested in when it comes to mechanical engineering,” she said.

She was nominated as a finalist in the McCloskey New Venture Competition for creating Greencycle, which seeks to mitigate food waste and enhance nutrition by fostering a relationship between food providers and local farms. She also is founder of ProsperUp, which seeks to eliminate digital and financial illiteracy.

Adeagbo also is a member of Culver’s fencing team, vice president of the Black Student Union and is a student leader of the Islamic studies spiritual life service.

Shumacher, who plans to major in neuroscience, said he wanted to go to school on the East Coast and fell in love with Holy Cross while visiting schools in Massachusetts.

“The campus is really nice and I like the city of Worcester too,” he said.

Schumacher was defensive player of the year on the Culver Military Academy football team that finished 8-2, playing linebacker and wide receiver. He finished with 54 solo tackles, 74 tackles overall. Five tackles for loss and three interceptions. He also had 24 catches for 400 averaging 17 yards a catch, with eight touchdowns. He said he hopes to play either football or baseball for the Crusaders.

“The way the football coaches described academics it seemed like it was a good option because everyone is supportive of each other,” Schumacher said.

The Raymundos, who are twins, both chose Northwestern. Carridee, a Roberts Scholar, is interested in majoring in pre-law, possibly political science, philosophy or ethnic studies.

Chloe is interested in studying international relations, although she also is interested in looking into Northwestern’s film and media program. Chloe spent five weeks on the Northwestern campus this summer taking part in the university’s prestigious National High School Institute where she studied acting on camera.

“I liked it a lot. I met a lot of great people,” she said.

Chloe said one of the professors she studied under wrote her a letter of recommendation for her college application.

Carridee said she ranked Northwestern higher in her college selection process because Chloe was so enthusiastic about it.

“I think we both knew it was a phenomenal school and we’d both be happy to go there,” Chloe said.

They also had both visited the Northwestern campus when Culver went there for a Model U.N. conference their sophomore year. The Raymundos also were part of Culver’s Future Problem Solvers team that won the state championship last spring.

Chloe was a member of the Culver team that won the Indiana Ethics Bowl Championship in 2023, and is co-captain of this year’s team. Carridee was a member of another Ethics Bowl team from Culver. The Raymundos also were Borlaug Scholars for their research on food insecurity.

Chloe also is co-captain of Sin Fronteras, is vice president of the Thespian Troupe, is on the speech and debate team and is the Racial Equity in Policing Commissioner of Salt Lake City.

Carridee is captain of Sin Fronteras captain, a speech team captain, Global Studies Institute captain, Ethics Bowl Captain and diversity chair.

QuestBridge, a nationally recognized program, has facilitated the admission of over 40,000 students to top-tier colleges and universities, contributing more than $5 billion in scholarship funding since its inception in 1994. As stated in their mission, QuestBridge strives to "create a more equitable society where every student can dream big, reach their potential, contribute to the world, and build a life that they love."