I feel this needs to be said...(Grades & FIRST Dedication)

[MattD]

Originally Posted by Kims Robot

That is a perfect statement! For me, its not the kids that come in wanting to do engineering and learn more about engineering that I call my success stories... its the kids that come in with the low GPAs, or zero interest in robots (maybe they came because their friends joined, or they wanted to travel or even because they just didnt want to go home), and came out with decent GPAs and an interest in engineering or something technical that are the true successes of this program!

I suppose I fit in with that description. When I joined my team I had a very low GPA (around a 2.1) and had absolutely no interest in robots or engineering, but I was already heavily interested computer science. I didn't join because of friends joining (actually I didn't know anyone from the team) and I didn't even know about the traveling, but I joined because my computer programming and physics teachers both recommended that I do so. I eventually gave in and joined, although I wasn't very enthusiastic about the whole thing. This year I have had a GPA of 3.888 (my highest ever) and I have gained an interest in embedded systems programming. I am also considering making my minor be in electrical engineering (my major will be computer science).

This is only my opinion, but I really think that a student's GPA has no relevance to showing how much a student can get out of FIRST, nor can it show how much dedication and/or effort a student is willing to put in.