Question for college students.

[Molten]

Overall, it has positively affected my college abilities. I aced my first semester engineering classes because it was all basics that I have done in the past. One example was ProE. I have been using Inventor for 3 years before college so it was not that hard to adapt to the new software. One downside was that some of my teachers want me to do things their way. In one of my classes, we went over drafting and my specifically told me to break a drafting rule. I didn't and got docked 1 point, but I chose to follow the rules of drafting instead of his. I suppose had I not known the rules of drafting, I might not have lost this point but I would have lost plenty more from lack of knowledge. FIRST however, has helped me in many ways. I am used to pulling longer hours then what I used to. (all thanks to the build season) Overall, I suppose that it just strengthened my resolve. I always thought that I would like to be an engineer. But now I am certain. I know what my goal is and am always working towards it.

One thing that is not necessarily to your topic but might actually be: I am so used to using my graphing calculator, that now my college teacher that won't let me use a calculator and that makes it hard. (Sorry for the grammar issues, I am not an english major.)

I hoped this helped. PM me if you need anything cleared up.

[Katy]

FIRST has essentially given me my current lifestyle. I could live forever and still never have proper time to repay FIRST for everything it has given me.

The effects of FIRST on my college life started long before college.

I joined team FRC 360 at age 14 for three practices because that was a condition of a bet I lost with a friend. After that I stayed of my own will, first mostly out of curiosity and eventually out of a genuine enjoyment of the challenges presented to me and the community FRC linked me to.

FRC helped me discover the entire branch of engineering as a concept of a career (I am not entirely sure how the idea had not dawned on me previously but then again at 14 I didn't spend much time considering what I wanted to do with my life).

FIRST brought me into early contact with engineering colleges. In my sophomore year of high school team 190 visited our regional. I must have made some positive impression on a mentor from that team (probably as alliance captain etc) as one of the mentors approached me asking me to consider WPI as a potential college. As a sophomore I didn't really care about college but I listened politely to the man's sentences as best as I could. This was mostly because he was standing next to a pretty sweet robot.

FIRST assisted me in applying to college. When applying to colleges my FIRST experience comprised the majority of my college essays, and interview responses. Additionally my mentor wrote most of my reference letters.

FIRST indirectly assisted me with paying for college. I received a FIRST scholarship. Being a foolish high schooler and not knowing what I wanted, I actually applied for only one scholarship but applied to get it from a school I eventually decided I did not want to attend. However, the competing offer forced other schools who were aware of the scholarship offer to bid higher in financial aid.

At college (and yes, I did actually wind up at WPI after all that) FIRST has continued to assist me. Aside from federal work study and various near-minimal wage jobs I have held four paid "resume-worthy" jobs so far during college. My participation in FIRST has been directly linked to all of these jobs in some way. The first job, as an FRC mentor, I received directly from my experience in FIRST. The second job I received notification of the open position from a FRC mailing list I am on and the actual job involved using VEX. In interviewing for my third job my interviewer (and eventual boss) shrugged and said "Well if you can build robots you can fix computers. When do you want to start?" I found the offering for my fourth job on these very forums. RoboMom posts the NASA Robotics Academy application every year. I applied and was accepted. Due to bizarre and awesome freak circumstances I was permitted to stay at NASA and complete my senior project my junior year with NASA as my sponsor.

In short, the positive effects of FIRST on college life are not limited to your actual academics in college. The program helped me find my major, get into college, pay for college, and find jobs to pay for college.

If you have any further questions I'd be happy to ramble more. IM or PM me.