<p>St. Mary's students Presidential Scholars</p>
<p>May 30, 2006</p>
<p>It's an award for which you cannot apply. Fewer than 3,000 of the roughly 3 million students graduating even qualified for it.</p>
<p>Laura Kaplan of East Memphis and Katie Camille Friedman of Bartlett are two of 141 high school seniors nationwide recently named as Presidential Scholars for 2006. The 18-year-olds, students at St. Mary's Episcopal School, were chosen based on academic achievement, artistic excellence, leadership, citizenship and service.</p>
<p>It's a stiff competition, with only one female and one male chosen from each state and U.S. territory, along with 15 at-large scholars and 20 Presidential Scholars in the Arts.</p>
<p>"Honestly, I was shocked," said Kaplan, who also is valedictorian for St. Mary's. "I didn't think I had a chance."</p>
<p>St. Mary's has never produced a Presidential Scholar and Tennessee has never had two come from the same school.</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>Friedman plans to attend Princeton University to study chemical engineering. She's always loved math and science and likes "the idea that science can have real-world application."</p>
<p>Kaplan, an avid watcher of "House," is headed to Harvard University and would like to go to medical school. </p>