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Originally Posted by Sperkowsky
Well to start DLF needs to be slightly revised to make more students aim towards it as a goal.
Currently at the competition you get only a certificate. (I know in Canada they get a sweatshirt but that is besides the point) This is compared to WFFA where you get a beautiful trophy and blue banner.
They should atleast give DLF a nice trophy or two. Maybe a plaque for the team and a trophy for the student similar to other awards. The certificate while nice is nothing for your school to display and makes it seem like a very sub-par award. (My original certificate did not even have my named spelt right).
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I think you may be missing one of the greatest benefits of the award, which is as a tool to boost college applications. This is part of why the Dean of Admissions from WPI, Yale, and MIT all speak during the lunches (and previously the awards ceremonies). Being a finalist, or even semi-finalist, is a huge boost for your resume and really shows colleges (especially those that value or partner with FIRST) what kind of student you are. This is largely the reasoning for excluding seniors from the award now.
Additionally, as Dean pointed out at the lunch, this award benefits you hugely in terms of networking. You now have 150 others in your Dean's List class, as well as the hundreds that have come before you, to collaborate with and to consult. You should, if you are not already, also be in the Dean's List Finalist Facebook group, which presents many opportunities for you and the others in that group.
I hope that you emailed someone for a new certificate with your name spelled correctly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky
Another thing which is kinda odd is the gift bags which after the title is the coolest part of the award. The weird thing about them is they do not tell anyone about them. In fact I am sure there are tons of people here who did not realize FIRST gives out bags full of stuff to DLF. (Usually valued at around $250 this year they went a lot cheaper and id probably say it was $125ish). These bags should be given out at the regional/dcmp to once again show that the award is a bigger deal.
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In previous years, they announced this information during the awards ceremony. Since they have moved the ceremony to be a part of opening ceremonies, they took this piece out. I assume it was in an effort to encourage students to pursue Dean's List for the recognition and honor rather than for the cool stuff you get (though it is pretty cool).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky
They also announce it towards the end after the obligatory after this point these awards qualify you for championships which is really deceiving. Yes you can go to CMP and most do. But, it makes it seem as if your team also gets to go.
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While I know that the language used in the follow up emails can be confusing, a close reading of the Administrative Manual should relieve some of this confusion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sperkowsky
Lastly they should make Dean's List become about Engineering achievements and then create another award similar to what Deans list is now. Dean Kamen is known for his engineering not necessarily his leadership skills so it makes sense to have his name on the engineering one and someone elses name on the leadership one.
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Morphing the criteria to something like this, and again doubling the pool of Dean's List Finalists and Winners, would devalue the present award.
While the criteria mentions "technical expertise", this is not the focus of the award, and awesome future engineers are not explicitly what Dean is looking for in a Dean's List class. Rather, as he talked about during the Dean's List lunch, he is looking for excellent students who will become excellent FIRST Alum, and who will remain in FIRST in order to give back to the program.
Dean's pride isn't in the fact that he is an engineer, it is in the fact that he has had a huge impact on the world and has been able to give back in extraordinary ways. The documentary about him, Slingshot, provides some light on this topic.