Three seniors are anxiously awaiting to hear results on whether they’ve made it into the third round of The Posse Foundation scholarship.

The Posse Foundation offers a merit-based scholarship that covers four years of tuition to specific private colleges, such as Pepperdine University and Northwestern University. The scholarship has an emphasis on leadership and its goal is to increase diversity on college campuses across the country.

“I applied because of how much the scholarship would help me financially speaking if I decided to go to one of the colleges they listed,” senior Ivan Moreno said. “I’m having second thoughts because of the commitment they expect of us to schools I’m not entirely sure about going to.”

The application process started with Counselor Martina Torres nominating students for the scholarship. The students then filled out an application with the essential information that you would expect to see in a college application. The Posse Foundation has their eyes on a diverse group of students. They are looking for students who regularly exhibit leadership qualities within their everyday lives, as well as being serious academically.

“I have very high hopes for this scholarship and am looking forward to hearing back from the organization,” senior Keonabelle Paniagua said. “I recently had my second round interview and even if the results aren’t what I’d like them to be, I’m grateful to be in this position in the first place.” 

The last time a Daniel Pearl Magnet High School senior received a Posse Scholarship was in 2013.

For the first round, the chosen students went to a group interview where they were tested on both their leadership and cooperation skills with one another. Next, those who got selected moved on and had to pick certain colleges affiliated with Posse that they’re most interested in and move onto a 2-on-1 interview. These students are now waiting to hear back from the foundation. 

“I was nervous throughout the application and interview process because all eyes are on you and everything say and do matters,” senior Isabelle Marin said. “They aren’t necessarily looking for the smartest or most intelligent applicants, but the ones that they think could benefit from being apart of the Posse program and also be beneficial to their fellow Posse members.”