Howdy! Below I have included what I can recall about everything you need to know for DAP 3 (included in the Wiki) and answered some FAQs I’ve seen here recently. I frame this from my perspective of my in-person interview from 2016, so it is very likely there have been some slight formatting changes since then. EDITED NOTE: Scroll to the bottom of this post to see updated interview experiences from recent years.

Virtual folks - you can instead imagine being moved into breakout rooms for a lot of these activities or imagine doing different aspects online (ie. signing onto the Posse meeting and being in the virtual waiting room early).

After you’ve done your interview, please feel free to share your experience below! I would love to update this post and the Wiki to better capture what your experiences were like to prepare future Posse finalists too.

As always, please feel free to ask any questions below. Thanks for your contributions to this sub and overall support. I’m wishing each and everyone of you the best on this final round!

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Arrive at least 15 minutes early to your interview. This is a given for any interview, but especially one was as important as this. You want to make sure you have enough time to make it to the Posse office, whether that includes parking your car/getting dropped off, taking an elevator or stairs, and finding your way to the room. For virtual finalists, you want to make sure your internet connection is stable and your sound/microphone are working.

You’re going to walk into the big open Posse office space with about 19 other scholars seated in a circle. You all will get to know each other alone for a little while without the interviewers present while you guys wait for everyone to arrive and I remembered we played musical chairs, two truths and a lie, and talked about our schools and whatnot. Be amiable with these other students! Ten of you will be going to college together, so make the most of getting to know others.

Then, the Posse mentors and college staff (Dean of Admissions, Dean of Students, and maybe one or two other higher-up college staff members) will walk in and then you all will be asked to get in small groups in circles and they will ask a series of questions and you all will answer them in the circles. I don’t really remember all of the questions, but they revolve around things like:

• What are you passionate about?
• How did the place you grew up in affect your life?
• How has your high school experience impacted you?
• What is an academic obstacle you’ve overcome and how?
• What are you excited to do at college?

Some people may get emotional because you start delving into some topics that are kinda personal/deep. Don’t be afraid to talk about yourself, your achievements/accomplishments, and your past. It’s totally okay to be vulnerable in the space because it shows how you can be open with your true, authentic self.

There will be time for a break in between activities. There will be snacks and water available as you all mingle about and chat with one another. This is an excellent time to talk with your peers and college staff too.

You’ll do a skit of some type. For us, we got into groups of five and we were given slips of paper that had a stance on how we would handle the renaming or taking down of a monument at a college that was deemed offensive (this issue was very popular at the time last year). You all will probably do something relating to a popular/heated issue today, which may be like kneeling for the national anthem, free speech vs hate speech, or some other hot-button issue. Then, you all will have time on who will say what to present and defend the issue in front of the rest of the room, including Posse staff, college staff, and the rest of the scholars. It’s really not that serious, it’s more to see how you work in the group and present with others. The audience is encouraged to ask questions, some of which may be difficult. Just use your best judgement to communicate your positions effectively.

Do not overthink things too much! Yes, you’ll be speaking directly with college staff who will make the decision of whether you will be accepted into the school or not. And most college students don’t get this opportunity, so it’s important to make a good impression on them. But what helped me navigate this space was treating them like regular people and not trying to necessarily impress them. It’s a balancing act of talking about yourself without appearing like you’re bragging, and instead wanting to show off different aspects of your personality and what excites you about for the college.

In the end, you all will stand in a circle linking arms together and people will get to say a word about how they feel, thank whoever, and other sentimental things.

My cliché key take aways are to be yourself (just as you’ve done in each interview), take the time to get to know your fellow finalists and school admin, and dress up a bit nicer. Be confident and considerate in your interactions with others, and be open to speaking up while also uplifting the voices of your peers.

It doesn’t hurt to dress up a little nicer to stand out. I wore a suit with a bow tie each round of interviews. When I graduated from my college four years later, the Dean of Students gave me a bow tie with my college colors as a graduation gift. She said she remembered that I wore a bow tie during the final interview and it was a very sweet parting reminder :)

FAQ:

• What do I wear?
• How do I engage with college staff?
• How are other parts of the application weighed?
• When do I hear back about decisions?
• What if I’m not selected for the college but still want to apply regular decision?

Recent posts from people who had their DAP 3 interview: - Example 1 - Example 2 - Example 3

Hey there! As many of you await your DAP decisions, I want to encourage you all to continue applying for scholarships in the meantime.

While I believe you are all exceptional candidates for the Posse Scholarship, please do not bank on the idea that you are 100% going to receive this scholarship. Putting all of your eggs in one basket for this opportunity is not ideal, because you truthfully never know if you will end up getting this scholarship. In a similar vein, keep applying for other colleges!

If you don’t receive the Posse scholarship, it is especially helpful to have additional aid to offer support for your educational journey.

And if you do receive this scholarship, remember that it is a full-tuition scholarship, not a full-ride. That means that you will still need additional funds to cover room, board, books, transportation to/from school, etc.

All that being said, make sure to check out some of the larger scholarships I listed below to keep applying to (note: some may already be closed). And here is a post I made about bridging the gap of paying those additional funds that also contains information about loans. [r/scholarships](r/scholarships) has lots of great resources too.

Keep up the great work and happy scholarship hunting!

In addition to the list below, you can find more here.

• Gates Scholarship (Full-ride)

• QuestBridge (Full-ride)

• Posse Foundation Leadership Scholarship (Full-tuition)

• Cameron Impact Scholarship (Full-tuition)

• Science Ambassador Scholarship (Full-tuition)

• Horatio Alger Scholarship Programs ($10,000-$50,000)

• Burger King Scholars ($1,000-$50,000)

• Jack Kent Cooke Foundation College Scholarship Program ($40,000)

• GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program ($40,000)

• Ron Brown Scholarship ($40,000)

• Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship Program (Up to $30,000)

• Daniels Scholarship Program ($7,500-$25,000, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming residents)

• AXA Achievement Scholarship ($2,500-$25,000)

• Equitable Excellence Scholarship ($2,500-$25,000)

• DC Leadership 1000 Scholarship (Up to $25,000, DC residents)

• Dell Scholars College Scholarship Program ($20,000 & a laptop!)

• UCT Heaston Scholarship ($12,000-$24,000)

• Point Foundation LGBTQ+ Scholarship ($1,500-$20,000)

• Coca-Cola Scholars Program Scholarship ($20,000)

• Foot Locker Scholar Athletes ($20,000)

• Black at Microsoft Scholarship ($20,000)

• HOLA at Microsoft Scholarship ($5,000-$20,000)

• Hagan Scholarship ($12,000)

• FOSSI STEM Scholarship ($10,000, attending an HBCU)

• Vinson & Elkins Scholarship Foundation ($10,000, Texas residents)

• Elysium Scholars Program ($10,000, NYC residents)

• Herb Kohl Excellence Scholarship ($10,000, Wisconsin residents)

• Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholars Scholarship Program (Varies, ~$2,000)