[ebarker]

Michael,

A year ago this subject was thoroughly flogged here on Chief Delphi and I was one of the floggers. The thread is somewhere out there but I'll summarize my thoughts via bullet points.

1) The original DL intent seemed to be to identify students that had a serious commitment to the mission and vision of FIRST and had exhibited the leadership skills and passion to become future leaders and champions of the FIRST mission.

2) The intent of the DL was redefined to the current definition a year or so later. It seemed to be more of a marketing ploy to get the public to value FIRST by having the public perceive that FIRST students are recruited by colleges much like colleges recruits athletes.

3) There are a lot of variables in the admissions process and some schools are very aggressive in soliciting large numbers of applications and have an extremely low acceptance rate. It is true that colleges and employers value FIRST alumni. But how does universities/employers differentiate between outstanding team members and low contributing team members. Answer: Highly qualified letters of recommendation from mentors/employers/teachers trump DL and about everything else.

4) Keeping the DL as a measurement of the students leadership skills and commitment to cultural change is what I vote for, it benefits the students best in the long term, benefits FIRST best in the long term, even though it doesn't fit FIRST's short term marketing effort.

5) Sweeping away consideration of seniors as DL candidates is a tragedy for many reasons including the fact that you can write a nomination based on only just over 2 years of student performance.

Here is my bottom line:

As far as linking the DL and college admission process - nope' I don't buy it.

The things a student has to do to earn the Dean's List is exactly the kind of thing employers like to hear. The award needs to be on the students resume and explained as a commitment to excellence.

Receiving a Dean's List Award is an honor, but you will have to learn how to use it to your own advantage as you develop your personal brand and career.

edit: the best way to get into the school of your choice it to go to a good school that give you an opportunity to blossom and flourish. demonstrate excellence and getting into the next school will be fantastically easier.