I got nominated for Posse by another Posse scholar who I know through her sister. I know that Posse is a merit-based scholarship that does not take into consideration income or race, but I wanted to know how much those two factors play. I am an Asian and in the upper-middle class.
I do not qualify for financial aid, but it’s hard for my parents to pay since they are also taking care of my grandparents. Too many people think my parents can just write a check because they work super hard, but my mom said they’ll need to earn an additional $100,000 a year to pay for tuition.
Will my chances of getting a Posse scholarship be lower because I am Asian and not poor? Many of the scholars on the Posse website are lower-income, first generation, or African-American/Hispanic. For example, if they had to pick between me or a first-generation, would they pick the first-generation over me?
actually, Posse is a leadership scholarship. No one her can assess you chances because we do not know you an we do not know how you interact with others
I know that, but would there still be a slight bias towards minorities. Most of the Posse Scholars I know are either black or low-income.
You need to ask the Posse administration about this. They are the only ones who can anaswer your question with any accuracy.
The Posse Scholarship is neither race nor income based. However, their goal is to help get promising kids through college who might not otherwise make it to graduation (or even start college at all). If you’re a first generation college student, that may help. While college may be a financial struggle for your family, you’ve probably got other advantages such as a network of highly functioning supporters (parents, teachers, counselors) who can help you narrow a list of colleges, take you on tours, access resources such as tutors and free or low cost test prep, help with applications, proofread your essays, etc.
I am also Asian and upper middle class lol and I am a new Posse scholar (will be attending Middlebury in a couple days lol)! In my opinion, the Posse Foundation is amazing at seeing the different sides to everyone and how people will mesh and provide different perspectives to each other. The mantra I remember seeing when I researched Posse is that they “identify students who would be overlooked by the traditional college application process but possess qualities that will make them leaders and bring them success in the future” (this is not an exact quote at all btw haha). So that can come in many forms! Some students are looked over because of race or income, but there are many other reasons too, and you just have to trust the process because honestly Posse has done amazing at matching kids they deem fit w/ schools. Best of luck with the interview process!
Wow @BellRenjoji , black and poor are not synonymous. How do you know the financial background of the posses featured on the website?