The Georgia Governor's Honors Program (GHP) exists to provide "intellectually gifted or artistically talented students" with opportunities "not usually available during the regular school year," according to the Georgia Department of Education Web site.

This state-funded program takes place annually in Valdosta State University for six weeks during the summer. Yet, this process to select the "best and brightest" of Georgia may be inherently biased.

STUDENTS FROM John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School -- nearly the only school in Richmond County that nominates participants -- tend to excel in the nomination process, with approximately 35 percent of applicants (11 people) being selected into the program. Their peers in Columbia County schools seem to not fare as well, with an overall acceptance rate of merely 16 percent (six people), less than half that of Davidson.

However, this bias may not be solely contained to Davidson. For example, Savannah Arts Academy (48.7 percent) and even standard Atlanta suburb schools such as Lakeside High in DeKalb County (27 percent) or Rockdale County High (43 percent) have a higher rate compared to Greenbrier High School (18 percent), Harlem High School (13 percent), Lakeside High School (20 percent), and Evans High School (13 percent).

After being nominated by their school and passing the county nomination process (which is not standardized for each county), applicants must travel to a specific location and undergo an interview and subject-specific examinations. For example, Social Science applicants participate in a group debate, while those vying for Foreign Language produce a writing sample.

WHILE PARTS OF the application are quantifiable and equalized, a larger part consists of vague, qualitative requirements such as, for science, participating in outside activities.

Assuming the "brightest of the bright" students are the ones nominated for going to GHP, is the "cream of the crop" at comparable Lakeside High School in DeKalb brighter than students at Greenbrier High School in Evans? Why are these students accepted at such a higher rate?

Since the amount of potential does not appear in a gauge above the applicants head, a sizable component of deciding who is the most worthy of the program seems to be in the extracurricular activities. It appears as if these activities may be the deciding factor between applicants from magnet school and non-magnet schools, candidates from Atlanta suburbs and rural farmlands.

Applicants from Atlanta have many more opportunities than those from rural, or even the Augusta, area. They can volunteer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention while we volunteer at the Medical College of Georgia; they can intern in the capital, while we can volunteer at city hall. This makes the process inherently biased and inequitable to the students.

TO ILLUSTRATE using a mathematics, let's assume that a student from rural Coffee County has a total of 50 opportunity points -- a representation of awards to win, organizations to lead, classes to ace -- to earn and, because of his valiant efforts, earns 45. Conversely, a student from Gwinnett County near Atlanta has a total of 500 opportunity points to earn, but only earns 75.

In this case, GHP may choose the student from Gwinnett County because they have more achievements and more accomplishments.

A student from a more rural area of Georgia may be destined for a less fruitful summer without GHP than one from Atlanta, who would have other opportunities to pursue. While these practices may be condonable within private organizations and school, a completely taxpayer-funded program should be free of bias and give each worthy student an equal chance.