A Posse Legacy of Paying It Forward

When Victor Chen applied to Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, he may not have realized the potential impact of his decision to accept the full-tuition Posse Graduate School Fellowship for his MBA.

The Colby College alumnus from New York enrolled at Kellogg in the fall of 2015 and simultaneously began volunteering as a Posse graduate school coach to support fellow alumni in the graduate and professional school application process.

Through the coaching program, Victor was matched with Mike Pace, a DePauw University Posse alumnus from Chicago. Mike was applying to MBA programs that fall, including to Kellogg. Mike and Victor worked closely together, reviewing and editing Mike’s application essays and preparing for interviews.

“Coaching Posse alumni through the admission process gives me a unique opportunity to get to know them on an incredibly personal level – their career goals, decision-making process, family and roots,” says Victor.

Weeks later, Mike received the exciting news that he had been accepted to Kellogg with a full-tuition Posse Graduate School Fellowship.

“I was so emotionally involved that I fully shared Mike’s joy to have gotten into Kellogg,” Victor continued.

“I'm honored and grateful to be a member of such a powerful community.”

In the fall of 2016, Mike joined Victor and Izra Izrailov, a Babson College Posse alumnus from New York, to grow the Posse presence on campus in Evanston, Illinois. Having benefitted from Victor’s coaching, Mike is now interested in serving as a coach for future graduate school applicants. According to Mike, “I’m honored and grateful to be a member of such a powerful community.”

Posse alumni may apply for a limited number of full-tuition graduate school fellowships at certain Posse Graduate School Affiliates. Interested applicants must email [email protected] prior to applying. Applicants have the opportunity to work with a Posse graduate school coach throughout the process.