Elite (invite only) FIRST teams

[StephLee]

I have a personal anecdote of sorts to add to the discussion. If our team had had a serious application process when it started when I was a freshman, I would not be on the team and consequently would not be majoring in engineering, would probably still be painfully shy and indecisive, and would not have made some of the best friends of my life. I'd be going to a local community college instead of looking outside the small area I've known my whole life.

You see, I wasn't interested in robotics when I joined. I joined because I had nothing better to do during the winter of my freshman year, and the pictures they showed me looked cool. That's about it.

If you have a rigorous application process, you will certainly recruit members who are more likely to be productive - but you will also cut off some of the kids I believe you should be trying to inspire. The ones who don't KNOW they can love science and math. They won't apply if it's too difficult. The students you're trying to attract with the selection process will most likely come even if it's open for anyone; the ones whose lives you can completely change won't.

Just my $.02.