In early January, 13 MCPS high school seniors received early college acceptances with the title of Posse Scholar. Recipients of the selective Posse Scholarship are granted full tuition for all four years of college. Two of the 13 scholarship winners are RM students: senior Glennis Sanchez Ogando, who will be attending Sewanee: The University of the South, and senior Kobina Asafu-Adjaye, who will be attending the University of Rochester. 

Other Posse Scholarship recipients in Montgomery County include students from Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Montgomery Blair, James Hubert Blake, Albert Einstein, Walter Johnson, Northwood, Paint Branch, Poolesville and Watkins Mill high schools. This year’s beneficiaries came from 10 high schools across the county and will be attending six different colleges.

According to the Posse website, the scholarship was founded in 1989 with the mission of granting diverse, exceptional U.S. students with significant leadership and academic potential the opportunity to attend university with a group of fellow scholarship winners and thereby fuel individual and community development. 

Every year, the Posse Foundation receives nominations from 20 cities in the U.S. and Puerto Rico and identifies 10 Posse Scholars for each partner university.  The Scholars on each campus receive professional guidance before and during college, providing support to one another. Posse collaborates with 64 colleges and universities, and since its inception, its partners have awarded $1.8 billion in scholarships. 

The nomination process may start even before nominees enter senior year. Students must be nominated by their high school or a community-based organization, as well as demonstrate leadership and academic potential. 

“My Posse nomination was prompted with practice interviews and getting used to responding to thought-provoking questions. I feel that I matched with the [“extraordinary leadership potential” trait] because of my various leadership roles in clubs at RM, as well as my dedication to academics,” Asafu-Adjaye said.

After being nominated, candidates undergo a series of interviews and evaluations called the Dynamic Assessment Process (DAP). The DAP is a three-part procedure that includes both group and individual interviews. It uses unique evaluation methods to give students a chance to demonstrate their leadership and adaptability in situations involving teamwork. 

“I felt my [DAP] process went fairly smoothly. I was able to meet a variety of different people from different backgrounds, and made sure that throughout the whole experience that I stayed true to my personality and who I was,” Asafu-Adjaye said. 

As students can be nominated for Posse as early as second semester junior year, the class of 2024 may anticipate notice about the scholarship soon.

Asafu-Adjaye would highly recommend the Posse scholarship to underclassmen and juniors. “This was a great opportunity to meet new people, and give life-long skills like answering questions for interviews,” he said. “It’s a large relief off my shoulders knowing that tuition isn’t something I have to worry about for college.”