College Students

[Eric Bareiss]

I suppose this question is to all college students and all FIRST members who are looking to go to enroll in college soon.

Some colleges offer scholarships through FIRST some do not. Does a school offering a scholarship through FIRST make them seem like a more reputable engineering school?

If you are attending a school on a scholarship that you received through FIRST: Would you have attended that particular school had you not received the scholarship?

If you are attending a university who offers a scholarship but did not receive a scholarship from that school: How much was your choice of school effected by the fact that they offer a scholarship through FIRST?

Any other comments on FIRST's scholarship program?

[josh_johnson]

I am attending Kettering University and applied for the FIRST scholarship but was not a recipient. This was my first choice even before I knew about the scholarship. I was worried at times that without the scolarship I would not be able to afford to come here, but I am still managing without it.

[SlamminSammy]

I applied to Kettering because they offered a FIRST scholarship. In addition to being accepted by Kettering, they offered me a half-ride academic scholarship. After visiting Kettering I realized I could NEVER go there and didn't even bother applying for the FIRST scholarship.

My point: Find a type of college you like (i.e. big & urban or private & expensive etc.) and then look at scholarships for schools of that type.

Oh, and don't pay too much attention to US News ratings.

I was coming to GVSU before i knew about their scholarship....unfortunately i didn't meet all of the criteria. anyways its ok cause i changed my major to Pre-Vet.

some how working with animals has always been my dream.....or designing cars...

maybe i will design cars for animals! lol

[Ashley Weed]

I applied to Drexel for the scholarship, I did not receive it. However, I received another large sum of money from them through aid, but I VERY much disliked being in the city.

I also applied to WPI due to the affiliation with FIRST. However, reasons beyond my control kept me from moving so far away from home.

Truthfully, when looking at a college, I don't know if one can ever say it is 'the school'! I really like the campus I am on, it is beautiful there. On the other hand, I am not fond of the education side of it nor the living situation.

[Erin Rapacki]

I applied for the Northeastern Full Tuition FIRST Scholarship... I didn't win it.

But I think because I talked about FIRST in all my essays anyway that I've been able to get all of tuition covered by scholarships these past two years...

When looking at colleges I knew I was going to be addicted to FIRST. But I knew I wasn't ready for the responsibility of starting a new team or picking up one that has really fallen apart... I wanted to be on a team where the school really backed it up.

Including location and ability to persue other hobbies (hiking, backpacking, skiing, kayaking, scuba diving)... I've found my match. I love it here.

[The Lucas]

I won the $10,000 a year FIRST scholarship to The University of Delaware. I am now in my sophomore year majoring in Computer Engineering. I would have applied to UD even without the scholarship because it was close to home. I also applied to Cornell, Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, and University of Pennslyvannia. I was accepted to Cornell and Carnegie Mellon but I could not rationalize paying $20,000/yr more when Delaware has an excellent engineering program. How much better could thier undergrad programs be? I hope to attend MIT for graduate work.

This is an excellent school for engineering, especially Chemical Engineering since many major chemical companies like DuPont in the area donate heavily. I know several Chemical Engineers (some Honors students) who had to drop the major because is was just too difficult. If you want to be a Chemical Engineer (and are dedicated) then you have to specify that on your application, because it is nearly impossible to transfer in. The Chemical Engineering here was ranked am

I think the best thing about Delaware Engineering is they get you right into your major while many colleges have you take General Education for a year or so without touching your major. The first semester I took a Computer Engineering class that gave you a breadboard and gate chips so you could do your labs . Also I took a C++ class at the same semester. I like the 2 Electrical Engineering profs I have this year. One of them (Dr Elias) invented MotionTouch technology which is used for FingerWorks keyboards which sense your fingertips and gestures (http://www.fingerworks.com/).

A couple tips for about the Delaware Scholarship:

1: Apply for the honors program. It requires another short essay. Anyone who makes it into the Honors program will likely beat out anyone who doesn't for the FIRST scholarship. Even if you don't get the FIRST scholarship, many students in the Honors program get a scholarship. I was awarded a $7,500/yr scholarship through the Honors Program before I got the First scholarship.

2: Be out of state. I am guessing you already are since there are not many FIRST teams in Delaware (2 teams now). 67% of Delaware students are out of state (On my floor last year, there were more students from NYC than Delaware). In state tuition is less than 10,000 a year, they are not going to pay you to got to class. I am from Pennsylvania but I pay a little less tuition than Delaware residents.

3: Delaware has 4-1-4 semester scheduling but the scholarship only applies to Fall and Spring Semesters. Winter Semester is optional but it will cost almost as much as the other semesters to take 1-2 class at out of state prices. Instead I take a much needed 6 week break in Jan-Feb to build robots and go skiing.

4: If you were not looking at Delaware as a college option, then at least check it out. Newark is a nice college town (Pop: about 30,000). Pretty much the entire town is built around the university and caters to the students. Main street is right outside my dorm window so I live within a 100 yards of 2 pizza parlors and 2 coffeehouses .

5: Feel free to contact me for more info. My Aim is: The Lucas 365 or Biffus Meridus

[KenWittlief]

the question is interesting

I think you will discover that unless your parents are very wealthy, you will end up going to the best college you can afford.

My daughter applied for the FIRST scholarship at NorthEastern, and did not win it, but they offered her a full scholarship ANYWAY

she also applied to several other colleges. One thing to keep in mind, when you look in the college guides they list the tuition, but most places offer partial grants or reduce that price in one way or another.

My daughter ended up getting a partial scholarship (grant) from RIT - it would have cost her about $8,000 a year to goto RIT, and since we live in Rochester, she could live at home

and if she accepted the full scholarship at NEU, she would have to pay about $8,000 a year for a dorm, or to rent an apartment and buy food.

so it was an even tradeoff, money wise. She picked RIT.

I cant over emphasize the importance of applying for FIRST scholarships to every school that offers the degree you are looking to obtain. You never know how things will turn our, and which schools will accept you, or how much money they will offer you.

wiggle the handle on every door you have access to at this point in your life. You will be surprized how many doors will open for you.

[Matt Leese]

Originally posted by KenWittlief
so it was an even tradeoff, money wise. She picked RIT.

The real question is, why isn't she on the FIRST team?

Matt

[KenWittlief]

Originally posted by Matt Leese
The real question is, why isn't she on the FIRST team?

Matt

she was going to mentor students from another local rochester team for the annimation project, but that team did not do an annimation last year

and now she is studying at an art institute (annimation and film making) in another state.

[Matt Leese]

We have the worst time collecting all the students that are/were involved in FIRST on campus. It's like hearding cats some days.

Matt

[Ryan Dognaux]

Originally posted by KenWittlief
she was going to mentor students from another local rochester team for the animation project, but that team did not do an annimation last year

and now she is studying at an art institute (animation and film making) in another state.

Wow, that sounds exactly like what I want to get into! Sounds like from everyone's posts above that FIRST is key in scholarships. Go FIRST!

[SlamminSammy]

Alright, I just found a ranking system I like. It's called the The Gourman Report: A Rating of Undergraduate Programs in American and International Universities. I can't find a website with all the rankings (only a book), but you can view the U of MN's rankings here.

It's much better than the US News Report. Find it. Read it. Use it.

I am at a Purdue regional campus for 2 reasons.

1. My first college plan to go to MSOE blew up in my face when I didnt get the financial aid I was promised from the school. (Cost is around 32K a year for everything (tuition, room and board, extra costs)

2. I paid 2200 for 13 credit hrs and textbooks this semester...and classes are 5 minutes from my house. Also I can keep my job. I can stay here for a year, under 5,000 and finish the rest of my college at Purdue.

[gsensel]

Having a scholarship can make them look more reputable because they are supporting what they are teaching people to do.

FIRST should broaden and offer more of the scholarships that don't mention particular schools because there are participants in FIRST that are not going to become engineers.