QotW [4-27-03]: Colleges and FIRST Teams

[Randi267]

A college with a FIRST team definitely was not a requirement for me to choose the school; however, in the end it was pretty much the deciding factor. I think that dedicated high school FIRSTies who apply to schools already associated with FIRST sets them apart from the other applicants, and the university makes that much more of an effort to seek YOU out. After Houston was over (quite the emotionally draining experience), I visited Wellesley to help in my decision making process, and I spoke to people about FIRST. Most were either oblivious to its existence or did not really have much of an interest. I knew that any attempt to start a team there would probably be in vain, and I realized that I needed FIRST to be a key part of my college experience. Cornell will allow me to keep in touch w/ my high school FIRST memories while making new ones. So I guess my only advice if attempting to start a team at a school, is make sure there is some kind of interest. The liberal arts atmosphere is not really much of a place for a FIRST team anyways...Yay team 639!