By N'agelie Lazo, Senior This article will highlight two major scholarships offered to high school seniors planning to attend a four-year college or university. This article also contains a handy Senior Checklist for important upcoming dates. Happy Reading! The POSSE Foundation, located in our home city of Miami, Florida, is a college access and youth leadership development program that identifies public high school students with extraordinary academic and leadership potential, who may have been overlooked by the traditional college selection process. POSSE extends the opportunity to pursue personal and academic excellence by placing students in supportive, multicultural teams--Posses—of 10 students. POSSE partner colleges and universities award POSSE Scholars four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarships. The Miami POSSE universities: Davidson College in North Carolina, Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania, Hamilton College in New York, Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, Pomona College in California. In the past, some of our iPrep Alumni, who are POSSE recipients: Justin Madison, Hamilton College; Vanessa Ortega, Syracuse University; Jordy Pedroza, Pomona College; Kevin Gutierrez, Davidson College; Alexander Suarez, Davidson College; Barbara Marquez, Mount Holyoke I interviewed one of iPrep Academy’s outgoing students who is currently participating in the Posse Program, Senior, Nacey Fernandez. How did you hear about Posse/Questbridge? Nacey: When the class of 2016 was going through college applications, I didn’t know what Posse was, so I asked around and my group of friends from that grade had 2 posse nominees, but I hadn’t heard about Posse until I came to iPrep. How far along are you in the Posse/Questbridge process? Nacey: My DAP 2 Interview will be this upcoming Tuesday, October 17th. If all goes well, and I pass DAP 2, DAP 3 will probably be sometime in November and that means I’ll be a finalist. (*The Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP) recognizes talents students who may otherwise be missed by traditional academic identifiers, adds to the measures used by colleges and universities to recruit students, and broadens the pool of candidates from which top colleges and universities can choose successful students. ) Are you interested in any other scholarship programs aside from Posse/Questbridge? Nacey: I've applied to scholarships from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and the Cuban Heritage Foundation. That's about it for now, but if something else piques my interest in the field of digital media/films then I’ll apply. What does Posse/Questbridge mean to you? Nacey: Posse means post secondary education. The greatest thing about the Posse scholarship to me is that it's not merit or need based. When [compared to other students,] I’m not the smartest, and I’m not the neediest. Posse gives me an opportunity to [attend] a good college or university without drowning in debt in the future. Would you recommend programs such as Posse/Questbridge to any upcoming senior or fellow classmate? Nacey: Absolutely. The thing that people don't realize about Posse is that once you actually get the scholarship it's very time consuming. It takes a lot of dedication and effort but at the end of the day it's free tuition, so it's pretty worth it. The Questbridge Program is a nonprofit organization that matches deserving students with educational and scholarship opportunities at leading U.S. colleges and universities. By facilitating these exchanges, QuestBridge aims to increase the percentage of talented low-income students attending the nation's best universities and the ranks of national leadership itself. QuestBridge envisions a world where America's leadership encompasses thoughtful and broad-minded decision-makers drawn from every economic segment of society. This program is based off of “matching,” which gives the student the opportunity of choosing up to 12 schools, and the student will be matched with one of those. In the past, some of our iPrep Alumni, who are Questbridge recipients: Christopher Marrero and Abigail Hurtado, University of Chicago; Shawn Fredrick, Haverford College; Daphka Alius, Wesley College; Rubin Costanza, Williams College; Teiheim Edwards, Williams College; Patty Gutierrez, University of Notre Dame. I took the liberty of interviewing one of iPrep Academy’s promising students, who is currently participating in the Questbridge Program, Senior, Denisse Carranza. How did you hear about Posse/Questbridge? Denisse: My brother my applied to this program. He graduated from high school in 2013 and was accepted into Yale University. Ever since then I have been interested in the program. How far along are you in the Posse/Questbridge process? Denisse: College Rankings. Basically, you look through the college partners and choose up to 12 you would like to attend. Are you interested in any other scholarship programs aside from Posse/Questbridge? Denisse: Yes! Mostly separate scholarships, for example small ones of $1,000, etc. What does Posse/Questbridge mean to you? Denisse: It’s a way to further my education in what I aspire to be. The idea of this scholarship being a free ride to college makes me want to win even more haha! Would you recommend programs such as Posse/Questbridge to any upcoming senior or fellow classmate? Denisse: Yes, I would! If you have the grades, drive, and patience to go through the process then I say go for it! Warning: the essays...wow...they take awhile! But hey, it pays off in the end.
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N'agelie LazoA few things you may want to know about me are: I enjoy short walks to the fridge, and I’m probably the only person you’ll know that has every line of High School Musicalmemorized. Keep an eye out every month for my senior advice column that will provide helpful information to those struggling seniors out there! See you soon, or shall I say, “Toodles!” - Sharpay Evans |