Quote:
Originally Posted by asid61
We let everyone in. Generally we have around 130+ applicants, and we split them up for trainings. By build season we usually end up with around ~80 people left, and by the end of build no more than ~40 are on the team. Those are just guesstimates, but we do lose a lot of people.
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That's a lot of time, energy, effort, and resources invested in a significant number of people who ultimately end up decided not to be a part of the team. This isn't an issue for any of your mentors? Have you considered trying to devise a way to determine which 40 of the 130+ are really serious about remaining involved, prior to investing so heavily in them only to see them drop out?
Last year, we had 45 applications for 12 spots on the team. After reviewing applications and transcripts, talking to some of their teachers, and conducting some informal interviews, we selected 16 of the 45. We expanded the size of our team by 4 students, due to the number of qualified applicants we had. Our team of 36 students that was selected in May of 2014 is now 35 students today in May of 2015. Approximately 1 student per year decides not to continue with the team, and this is the norm for us. So, we must be doing something right in the application process. I can afford to have one per year decide this is not for them, but not 90+.
With the remaining 29, we started two VEX robotics teams. Anyone who wanted could join the VEX teams, and no one was turned away. Observing the students work and compete on these teams is a very good indicator of the degree of success they will achieve on our FIRST team. Not every student from the VEX teams will be invited to reapply for the FIRST team.
As we move forward with increasing demand for our program, participating for one full season on the VEX team will be an absolute requirement for joining the FIRST team. We will also be looking to see that students are willing to mentor elementary school Lego robotics teams. Furthermore, we are looking to see that applicants to Team 696 are enrolling in classes during the school day that supplement their intended role on the FIRST team.
When deciding which applicants to admit, we do not take only the best kids, although they must not have any Ds or Fs on their report cards. We look at two factors: What can the student do for the team, and what can the team do for the student? We also look at the student's college and career ambitions, and their desire and dedication to take a meaningful role in this project, rather than just participate as yet another activity on their resume.