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Originally Posted by XaulZan11
Is that because FIRST just attracts college bound students or does FIRST actually influence students' decisions to go to college? It is possible to control for this issue, but it would be significantly more work.
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FIRST definitely attracts students that are already planning on going to college, and FIRST is good experience for these students.
The challenge for teams is to reach out to students that have potential but otherwise might not choose to go to college. It's important to have a good relationship with the teachers in the school so they can identify this type of student and send them to the team. That's the tricky part.
I know for sure that I have worked with students that have gone to college that would not have otherwise. FIRST definitely works. It may not have 100% success (I'd say not even close), but even if it has 5% success, that's a big victory.