For many seniors, there is a rising anxiety surrounding college as graduation approaches. Whether it be where to go or how to pay, many have their minds completely overwhelmed by the topic of college. However, some lucky students already have all their plans set. In this group falls the three North Atlanta seniors who were granted the Posse Scholarship.
Posse is an elite scholarship program that looks for leadership traits in students. The foundation partners with colleges to provide excellent student leaders with a full-ride scholarship. The process is long and grueling, with initial interviews containing up to 200 hopeful students. With nominations for the scholarship starting in the spring of junior year and results not being announced until November, the whole process can certainly start to seem futile. Shelby Terry, Brandeis bound Posse recipient, said, “My biggest advice is to stand out because everyone there is talented, so you have to be noticeable.”
For those who decide to take the risk and apply for the scholarship, there are three rounds of interviews that the scholars must go through. The first round is a general interview with the largest pool of students. This interview looks for qualities that make each candidate stand out. The second round asks students to rank the college that they would like to receive the scholarship from out of ten. This is the only round where candidates meet one-on-one with the interviewers. The final round is with one of the colleges that has an interest in a student, for this round, students speak with admissions counselors and scholarship counselors at their respective schools. Each partner school then chooses ten students to receive the scholarship from them. Adriana Claudio, a senior who will attend Brandeis in the fall, said, “The interviews are really fast-paced, but everyone there is nice and easy to talk to.”
From an initial interview pool of over 200 to a cohort of ten, the process is most definitely competitive for the full-ride scholarship at stake. For the students who end up being awarded the scholarship, the excitement is overwhelming as their college search process officially comes to a close. Each applicant is notified that they are receiving the scholarship through a phone call from admissions counselors from the school they have been chosen for. Luke McCullough, a senior who will attend Boston University in the fall, said, “I ran around the room screaming when I found out. I was overwhelmed in the best way.”
While the process of applying for the scholarship was certainly daunting for these three scholars, it was well worth their time. To get both accepted to a college early and be awarded a full-ride scholarship is certainly a weight off these stellar seniors’ shoulders. Students did have to wait a couple of months before sharing the exciting news with friends, however, the wait was worth it to be able to be celebrated by those close to them.
