<p>This was an upbeat article to read over breakfast:</p>
<p>An</a> L.A. 'posse' passes its Iowa test - Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>Aww, that made me teary-eyed. I'm reminded of the time when I dropped out of boarding school sophomore year of HS because of all the pressure (though I did have a B average). I was placed there through A Better Chance, the high school equivalent of Posse. I still feel ambivalent about the decision but am glad things worked out in the end, as I'm now at Northwestern with a 3.9 GPA and am joined by some of my former classmates :)</p>
<p>Thank you for the link.
One of the students listed attended the same high school I did. It is a major accomplishment to even leave the area to go away to college in another part of Ca. To go all the way to the midwest to a school that I can assure you no one has heard of is amazing. 30 yrs ago when I went to a Northern Ca Cal State I was unusual. I still have family in the area and I know it is still rare for students to venture away from home.
Major Congrats to those grads.</p>
<p>I think the support structure was definitely critical to the success of those students. </p>
<p>When I left a section of LA (very similar and near to some of the locations mentioned) to go away to a top university 27 years ago the 5 of us from our HS weren't as well bonded together (a group of 3 guys and a pair of 2 girls) and the other 4 eventually succumbed to various issues (academic, social, and health) although the one who succumbed to health issues and relocated back to a CSU near home did eventually go on to get a PhD in Civil Engineering after a 1.5 year recovery. It was very easy to fade away anonymously at that school.</p>
<p>Perhaps the remote and very foreign environment of Grinnell helps the outsiders to bond together better as well.</p>
<p>if the article brought tears to your eyes, watch the video on the LA Times website An</a> L.A. 'posse' passes its Iowa test - Los Angeles Times</p>
<p>i am a proud Grinnell alum and so impressed by the Posse program.</p>
<p>It brought tears to my eyes. The young woman who finished with a physics degree--I was so overwrought that I couldn't even read the paragraphs about her aloud to the spouse and kids.</p>
<p>great story. it reminds me of myself kinda. i was offered the opportunity to go to a predominantly white private school for middle and high school and i sufferend alot socially. I didn't have many friends but the few i had got me through and now I'm at a Top50 college, make 3.9's and such (Inever made that in high school..lol). Sometimes you just have to hang in there and it will pay off in the end.</p>
<p>We have the same program here at UW-Madison: [url=<a href="http://posseprogram.wisc.edu/%5Dindex.html%5B/url">http://posseprogram.wisc.edu/]index.html[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Follow the links for an explanation of the program.</p>
<p>That name (Posse) grates on me like fingernails on chalkboard.</p>
<p>I like these programs. I believe that kids from disadvantage backgrounds should be given a chance to make something out their lives. I wish there were more of such programs. We should try harder, as a nation, to help poor kids more.</p>
<p>That's terrible, barrons, because of course the program is all about YOU and your sensibilities. It's really unfortunate that, in the midst of changing lives forever and bringing people to tears, it has a name that is annoying you.</p>
<p>really enjoyed that link. thinking about sending it to the right person at my alma mater.</p>
<p>These programs are wonderful. Thank you for telling us about them.</p>
<p>The</a> Posse Foundation</p>
<p>The thing this article illustrates very well is the challenges students face entering a new college environment. This not only applies to urban minority students but every student who chooses to make a major geographical/cultural/academic leap following a familiar hs environment.</p>
<p>Posse seems like a great organization, but I was a little shocked to see on the web site that they send Posse groups to Sewanee, Centre, and -- wow -- DePauw. Great schools, of course, but ones that I personally would not consider because the culture shock for ME would be too great (and I'm upper middle class and white). I wonder how different their experiences are there vs. the posses at places like UW-Madison, BU, etc.</p>
<p>I understand the kids don't really get to choose the school. My local Starbucks buddy just graduated from Grinnell and knows most of the kids in the article. According to him there were many issues with the Posse kids at Grinnell. At least some of the regular Grinnell students fealt it was a real backdoor into Grinnell as they do not go through the normal application review. My friend is an Hispanic from Chicago who got in the regular way. At such a small school everyone knew how they got there and that they got full rides. They might be better off at larger schools overall.</p>
<p>I'm a Grinnell alum circa early 80's. I recall a sinking feeling in my stomach as we approached the campus on drop-off day. I'd never been there before and on either side of me were just rows of ....corn. Then we got to campus and relief set in. But I definitely felt out of my element there initially-I came from a small college town and it seemed initially that everyone I met was from Chicago, Boston, Europe...and here I was feeling like a hick from the sticks. </p>
<p>I think Grinnell has always been a fairly tolerant and diverse community, but maybe I'm naive. I don't think the Posse students should be so easily identifiable - perhaps it shouldn't be so loudly broadcast?</p>
<p>So, the four year graduation rate of the Posse cohort was 70%?</p>
<p>I'd rather see them at college, regardless how they got there, than staying where they are and ending up in ghettos, or the communities where most came from. The fact that they are singled out because they have good grades and given a chance at college is wonderful.</p>