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

[nickma]

A big part of the reason I came to Clarkson was that it had a FIRST team, plus I got a FIRST scholarship from the school which also helped in my decision, but there was still more. Before coming to Clarkson I was on 190 (WPI) as a high school student and I a great time with those guys.

Some of my reasons for attending Clarkson where
I wanted to attend a school that wasn't 2 miles from my house.
I like the way the classes where structured.
It has many different extra-curricular activities.
It was in my price range.

My advice when choosing a school is:
Visit the school to see what the campus is like, what the professors and like, how the classes are structured and what the students are like.
See what extra-curricular activities (other than FIRST) they have. Many engineering schools have teams, for example we have and Indy Car, Baja Car, Solar Car, Steel Bridge etc. I was very close to trying something different, which I will probably do in the future.
Apply for as many different scholarships as you can. I did not take advantage of this and I regret not doing this. I only looked at the FIRST scholarships. Do apply for those but still look else where for more so the school can fit in your price range.

Also I will say other than the fact I can't be on stage driving, being a mentor is more enjoyable, educational, and rewarding.