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Meet 4 Graduating Seniors

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 19, 2008

Shauntelle Holbrook

High school: East Bay

GPA: 5.24

SAT: 1450

Activities and honors: National Honor Society, National Merit Scholar semifinalist, National Honor Thespian, academic letter, theater letter, chorus, band, member of Moving Minds Theatre Co., co-president of Troupe 3020 International Honor Thespian Society

Schools considered: USF

Fact: Holbrook was accepted to USF, the only school she considered. But she knows of many qualified students shocked to learn of their rejection. Of the universities' self-imposed enrollment caps, she said, "This will push you to take a lot more AP classes and sacrifice taking classes you would otherwise enjoy taking."

Christine DeGuzman

High school: East Bay

GPA: 4.8

SAT: 1000

Activities and honors: National Honor Society; officer in Best Buddies, a group that aids intellectually disabled people; Youth for Christ

Schools considered: USF, UF

Fact: Despite a grade-point average that exceeds UF's freshman average, DeGuzman was denied admission to the University of Florida. She thinks the university put too much emphasis on her SAT score, noting that classmates with lower class rankings got in. Regardless, she's heading to USF, her first choice. "I think this lowers their self-esteem; their confidence decreases," she said of classmates enduring the effects of higher admission standards.

Laura Zárrate

High school: Freedom

GPA: 3.67

SAT: 990

Activities and honors: Tampa Bay Work Alliance scholarship, German Honor Society, dance club, swim team, volunteer at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital with a certificate of appreciation, volunteer at YMCA

Schools considered: USF, UT, HCC, St. Petersburg College

Fact: Zárrate's GPA was nearly at the average of freshmen entering USF last fall, and her math SAT score of 580 was well above the national average of 515. Nonetheless, her limited command of English left her reading SAT score at 410, too low for USF. "It was really frustrating," she said. "I understand, but I expect a lot of myself." She got into UT but needs to come up with $5,000 annually to cover the portion of the $20,000 tuition that scholarships won't cover.

Joshua Alston

High school: Armwood

GPA: 5.6

SAT: 1260

Activities and honors: Football, academic letters junior and senior years, English Merit Award, community service

Schools considered: USF, Air Force Academy, Naval Academy, Military Academy at West Point

Fact: Alston had scholarship offers to play football at all three military academies but chose instead to attend USF. He not only received the state Bright Futures scholarship, which covers most tuition and fees, but received thousands in other scholarships as well. "It's a good school, and they have a good medical program," he said. He'll walk on to the USF football team.

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