[Rangel(kf7fdb)]

How you dress probably isn't going to be the deciding but it could matter. I could definitely see some judges liking one candidate more because they were dressed very professionally. In something like Dean's List where everyone going for the award is likely to be an all star on their teams, there will likely be very little separating the top candidates. Maybe dressing up nicely won't show up on paper, but it could affect the bias of how a judge scores on whatever scoring system they go off of. Key word is could. Dressing nicely might have no impact at all but it could.

As for standing out in the interview, I would definitely try to talk about some experiences that other candidates might not have had. I didn't have to do an interview back in my time but I believe my biggest appeal to the judges was the work and leadership I did in other competitions outside of FIRST. Talk about how you led your team in a new direction or how you maybe restructured your team. Everybody has their own story to tell, big or small. Just make sure that when you go into the interview, it's your story and not some cookie cutter leader.