Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Is the option for the grade 13 still around in Ontario?

I just realized I had quebec's CEGEP backwards. In Quebec, you graduate in grade 11 and go to through CEGEP before going to university. How does this work for FIRST teams in Quebec?

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

It's not called grade 13 anymore; it's just more grade 12. I'm not sure exactly how that's treated on the student's academic record, or when the diploma is issued (for a student who has enough credits, but doesn't have the right courses or marks for university yet).

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Yeah I think my friends said they got their diploma but wanted to improve their marks and take a few other classes. So their transcript was updated. Um I think got their diploma in 2004 cause I graduated in 2005.

I graduated from a California high school. I recall getting a notice that I completed all my credits early, I could have graduated a year early but that is not a boast since practically all university bound students have enough credits to graduate a year early. You only need like 2 years of science, 2 years of math. The only thing that took 4 years was english and social studies. So if you took a English and a history class during the summer you could finish a year early. I had a friend who did graduate a year early so he could go to West Point. i guess he was impatient.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Students can take up to 4 additional credits (34 credits total) in their victory lap. They are treated exactly like any other course.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Ontario students require 30 credits to graduate and can take as many more as they wish. As of Sep 2013 and with some exceptions, the 35th and beyond means the board will receive reduced funding from the Ministry of Education. They will be funded at the continuing education rate. Students will not have to pay to take additional courses. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/students/faqs.html

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Some universities give priority to applicants who did not repeat a course. University of Toronto does that, but most other universities don't (that I've looked at).

Diplomas are issued whenever a student has completed all courses required for an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, along with other rules. This means that a student could go into their 5th year with a diploma, or not if they take a required course in their 5th year (4U English for example). Other than that, a student taking a 5th year is treated like any other student with the same amount of credits, although they're not allowed to join any extra curricular activity without taking 4 courses that year (which includes robotics for most schools).

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

This is an interesting discussion. In MN, juniors and seniors can take college classes for college and high school credit. Several of us on the team do this, and some of the mentors and other members joke that we ought to register as mentors because we're not "pre-college age" if we do this. ;) The catch is that we're still technically enrolled at our high school, just not for any classes (except for those of us that only do this part-time).

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

I had a similar question once... I originally read the rule as pre-(college student), but I believe the intended reading is (pre-college) student. (Aren't parentheses useful?). The age is irrelevant, though; if a 60-year old who never graduated high school goes back, he or she could be the driver. Also, there's no minimum age, I've seen a couple teams with middle school-aged members and drivers (although get too young, and there might be safety concerns...)

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

This is a very interesting discussion - Our school district has one "early college" high school, and those who attend this program fully will not graduate after four years, but rather after five...they will simultaneously receive their high school diploma and an associates degree. Our lead programmer attends this school, and we have interpreted his eligibility to end after this, his "traditional senior year." A second interpretation we have considered is that he will "age out" of student membership when he turns 19 next fall.

I really wish FIRST would make a definitive statement on this topic. It could make a significant difference to the way we, and obviously other teams, administer their program...and there is a considerable amount of "gray area" with the variety of school programs and with the teams who are unaffiliated with a specific school.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Copy/paste from USFIRST.ORG:

FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC®) Grades 9-12 (ages 14-18)
:)

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

This thread makes me want to start a team full of old people pursuing their GED.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

Can I ignore my high school, undergrad, and grad degrees and go after a GED just so I can be on a FIRST team? :p

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

I think you're already on a team. =P You'd like to be a STUDENT on a FIRST team. :p

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

This.
There are no prerequisites for anyone to be on a team. Drive team, yes. But team member? All vertebrates welcome.
As far as team role - well, it seems most are set up as Students or Mentors. If you're not a Student, you're a Mentor. Still a valuable and valued member of the team. But at an event, you can't touch the sticks. Other than that, it's all semantics.

Re: Eligibility to be considered a team member
 

I have had friends and students that graduated at age 17 and others who turned 19 in their last semester of grade 12.