Florida\u2019s highest-achieving high school students will now be awarded for their academic success with automatic acceptance into the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.<\/p>\n
The new initiative, Top 10 Knights, was developed to recognize academic achievement in high school. Top 10 Knights also protects against budget uncertainty and potential legislative changes by providing Florida residents with guaranteed access to an affordable, quality college education.<\/p>\n
The first class of Top 10 Knights will start at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ in summer 2014.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis effort, among the few of its kind in the nation, rewards academic success, streamlines the university selection process and promises to attract more of Florida\u2019s best and brightest students to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½,\u201d said Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ President John C. Hitt. \u201cTop 10 Knights is a winner for high-achieving students, for their families and for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top 10 Knights will have an impact upon Florida high schoolers like Rosa Elena Alcantar, who ranks second out of 430 seniors in her class at Evans High School in Orange County. Alcantar, a would-be first-generation college student, is a native of Mexico who grew up in Orlando and hopes to one day go on to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s College of Medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost people say that what you do in high school doesn\u2019t have the same rigor as college,\u201d said Alcantar. \u201cWhen I heard about Top 10 Knights, it shows that everything I\u2019ve done so far means something. I\u2019m happy there\u2019s an opportunity to be recognized for what I\u2019ve done in high school.\u201d<\/p>\n
To become a Top 10 Knight, students must first apply for admission into Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½. To qualify for the program, applications must be completed by Dec. 31 of students\u2019 senior years.<\/p>\n
Students also must meet criteria such as a top 10 percent ranking in their high school class or a GPA of 3.9 or above if the high school does not rank; the completion of high-level math courses; and a minimum of 1010 (1500-3 score) on the SAT or 21 on the ACT.<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Undergraduate Admissions will determine which students qualify as Top 10 Knights, and students who meet the criteria will be notified by Feb. 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs admission into Florida universities becomes more competitive, we\u2019re responding to the students and families seeking a quality education by making admission to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ certain for the state\u2019s top students,\u201d said Gordon Chavis, associate vice president for Undergraduate Admissions. \u201cThe Top 10 Knights are among the best students at Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½, and we\u2019re excited to see what they will contribute here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Top 10 Knights is Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s latest effort to expand college access and opportunity. More than 31,000 students have been admitted to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ since 2006 through the DirectConnect partnership with regional state colleges, which helps students smoothly transition to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ to complete their bachelor\u2019s degrees.<\/p>\n
California and Texas offer similar initiatives to their highest-achieving high schoolers, but Top 10 Knights is among the first of its kind in Florida.<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ hopes to announce scholarship opportunities for Top 10 Knights in the near future. Earlier this semester, representatives from Undergraduate Admissions met with high school counselors from across the state to explain Top 10 Knights and provide guidance on acceptance into Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s highest-achieving high school students will now be awarded for their academic success with automatic acceptance into the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½. The new initiative, Top 10 Knights, was developed to recognize academic achievement in high school. Top 10 Knights also protects against budget uncertainty and potential legislative changes by providing Florida residents with guaranteed access to an affordable, quality…","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":53145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6,27],"tags":[1324,10666,2510,5746],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-53143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","category-student-life","tag-directconnect","tag-gordon-chavis","tag-john-c-hitt","tag-undergraduate-admissions"],"yoast_head":"\n