WASHINGTON -- Skylar Byrd is only 17 but she already knows what it's like to be courted by the big guys.

Her top grades and perfect 1600 score on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) turned the heads of university recruiters her way, including Harvard and Florida A & M University, the two top destinations of National Achievement Scholars.

Byrd's long-time aim has been to go to Harvard, which has historically been the top destination for National Achievement Scholars. But FAMU -- which this year edged out Harvard for the second time as the top recruiter of those scholars -- hasn't given up on trying to recruit her.

Rudy Slaughter, director of high school and community college relations, is still hoping that she will attend Florida A&M University (FAMU) and has called her and enticed her with airline tickets for campus visits.

"We go after a lot [of students] and we lose a lot," says a frustrated Slaughter. "We're having trouble getting her [Skylar Byrd]. Everyone else is also interested in her."

Byrd's decision regarding her early admissions acceptance to Harvard is still pending, but she knows she will be traveling away from home. "I'm not just trying to get away from Washington (DC), but I think there are better schools outside of Washington," says Skylar whose high school, Benjamin Banneker Academic High School, sits in the shadow of Howard University.

In earlier years, FAMU has successfully wooed other National Achievement Scholars from Byrd's high school, which is 98 percent African American. When it comes to recruiting the nation's best and brightest African-American students, FAMU is number one.

For the second time in four years, the 10,324-student campus in Tallahassee, lured 59 National Achievement Scholars into its 1995 freshman class, two more than runner-up Harvard. FAMU previously topped the list in 1992 by recruiting 73 National Achievement Scholars to Harvard's 49.

National Achievement Scholars place among the top two percent of all students taking the preliminary SAT. One half of one percent of about 10,000 African-American students taking the test annually are selected as National Achievement Scholars by the National Scholarship Corp., which also reviews an applicant's class rank, extracurricular activities and letters of recommendations.