[EricH]

Originally Posted by NLake

Have there ever been studies on the survival rates for teams going into their second (and third, and fourth, and seventh) years?

Not that I know about. Anecdotally, though, if a team can make it to and through their 5th year they'll generally do all right. (Given continued levels of involvement from students, mentors, and parents, that is.) I'd guess that most teams fail in about their third year, or when their primary grant is no longer available.

Originally Posted by Andrew Lawrence

This leaves second to third year teams helpless as the new rookies get all the attention from FIRST. The best I can say is that it will be a lot better when California moves to the district system (and I hear that's real soon).

I'd say "not quite" on the first part (NASA's continuing grants, also better networks within the community), but that's pretty close. I generally place it at Year 4 being the toughest if you haven't done your groundwork in your first three.

The second part... Let's just say that I'm hearing something different, and leave it at that. Though I would really love to be wrong!