Piece of advice from a sophmore team...
Apply for both the FIRST Rookie Grant and the NASA rookie grant. The decision on both last year was delayed up to the day the registration fees were due (about 3 weeks late). Usually FIRST catches the rookie teams that NASA can't cover so FIRST delayed their decisions until NASA released theirs. The NASA grant covers the full FRC registration while the FIRST grant is divided $4k/$2k over the first two years because FIRST wants you to have some skin in the game. We were fortunate to be approved for both but you can only accept one.
https://usfirst.submittable.com/submit/62717
Good luck and be patient. This game is all about dealing with the unexpected and making changes on the fly.
IM me and I can share my experiences with you with regard to grant writing. It can help if you have seen someone elses.
To your future success....