Elsa was nominated by a friend who graduated Beacon last year for a Posse Scholarship. The Posse Foundation is one which identifies solid students who might not have quite the grades or test scores for admittance into top schools. For each participating school, ten finalists are selected from a bigger pool by the schools and offered an opportunity to attend each school and their tuition is paid. Recipients still pay room and board.
Here is a quote from the Posse Foundation web site:
The Posse Foundation identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential who may be overlooked by traditional college selection processes. Posse’s partner colleges and universities award Posse Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships. These Scholars graduate at a rate of 90 percent and make a visible difference on campus and throughout their professional careers.
The following schools accept New York City Posse scholars: Babson, Brandeis, Colby, DePauw, Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Lafayette, LAwrence, Middlebury, Trinity, Vanderbuilt, and Wheaton. Some of these schools are already on Elsa's list, making this possibility very exciting.
The rub is that Posse recipients agree to weekly two hour meetings with fellow Posse scholars, beginning right after acceptance in December (like early decision.) These meetings continue throughout the four years of undergraduate study. That's a big comittment! Also, Posse recipients do not ever learn if they would have been accepted at their other choice schools.
Elsa survived the first of three rounds of interviews. The second is next week. If she survives that round, we will have some serious decision making to do!
For more information about The Posse Foundation, go to: www.possefoundation.org.
