[EricH]

I think that unless and until FIRST comes out and says, the mentors must choose the students, that the teams should feel free to do the selection process how they like. If that's students choosing students and handing the essays to the mentor to turn in, that's one way to do it. If it's mentors choosing students, that's a way to do it. If it's a combination of the two, that's another way to do it. Just like building a robot, there's more than one way to skin a cat.