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

[Powers]

FIRST did not determine where i am going to college, but once i get there i am at least going to stay with a team in the area, but i really look to start a new one. Anyone at UT - Austin PM me about this

[ebmonon36]

I had chosen to go to Purdue before I had known about FIRST, but once I learned about it and that there is a team at Purdue, that just made it all the more greater of a school.

Could someone on 461 tell me how you prevent having hundreds of prospective engineers on your team? It just seems like everyone would want to join.

[WernerNYK]

Ok so here's my story:

In 2000 and 2001, prior to my high school having a team, about 20 of us attended the Long Island regional on the Friday afternoon. I thought it was great, but at the same time felt overwhelmed that our school could possibly do anything like that.

Finally in 2002, my senior year of high school, we started our team. I became the student leader of the team and by the time the season was over I was without a doubt a self-proclaimed "FIRST-a-holic." It was at this point that I decided that I would not attend a college without a team. This eliminated a few schools I had applied to, and my final list consisted of WPI, RIT, and Cornell.. in that order.

After all was said and done, I decided to come here, to WPI in Worcester, Mass. I really liked the "WPI Plan," the way in which academics are approached; it is unlike any other school that I know of in the country. With it being only my first year participating in FIRST, I did some research and discovered that team 190 had a pretty impressive background... founding team, won a lot of awards, won the LI regional the year before (I remembered them when I found out they were the crazy team travelling with a pet hamster), and attended LOTS of off-season competitions. Recognizing that they were one of the more influential teams in FIRST, it was everything that I was looking for in a team. So my decision to choose WPI was well paid-off.

Then in June, after much convincing, our rookie team came to BattleCry@WPI for another chance at battle, and saw how great of a show was put on by the WPI team; I was thoroughly impressed with the school, the team, and the past robots. Now, I am here as my first year on 190 and I must say it is completely different from being on a rookie team. I imagine that it would be different even for seasoned veterans. Switching from a HS mentality to that of being a mentor in the matter of just a few months is much harder than it may actually seem. I believe that I adjusted well, and it is quite enjoyable to be a mentor on this team.

[Amanda Morrison]

Originally posted by ebmonon36
Could someone on 461 tell me how you prevent having hundreds of prospective engineers on your team? It just seems like everyone would want to join.

I believe that Purdue has a vigorous interview/application process that even veterans have to go through. If you PM Shannon Schnepp, Guyute, or OneAngryDwarf, they can tell you more.

[Clark Gilbert]

They do have an interview process, etc. I remember when Molly (former 45er, brothers girlfriend) went through it. I also heard that they had a pretty high amount of kids show up that had previously been on a FIRST team. There are even quite a few people on the team now that have been on a team in HS.

Clark -- Hoping to make the team next year.

[Stephen Kowski]

Well I know that it was not a factor whether there was a program there or not. I had wanted to either join or start a team either way. Frankly I think it will be interesting starting a team at USF. See you all next year!

Well..our unversity sponsor person doesn't really do much other than give money and a name. They don't have any mentors who come and help. (But we have a few team alumni who do that, so it's fine).
Anyway, when I go to college (haha... 3 more years) I want to make sure it's one that already has FIRST to be involved with, or start my own... I'm so addicted to the whole concept after this year, I'm sure in three more there's no way I could stop =)

Originally posted by ebmonon36
I had chosen to go to Purdue before I had known about FIRST, but once I learned about it and that there is a team at Purdue, that just made it all the more greater of a school.

Could someone on 461 tell me how you prevent having hundreds of prospective engineers on your team? It just seems like everyone would want to join.

The main reason a lot of people don't join right off the bat is because of the time commitment. In high school, you know it takes TONS of time, well, it's really hard to manage school and robots. Most of the advisors this year were engineering majors, and that takes up a ton of time too. Plus there is the fact that people are lazy, and when they come to the callout they don't want to take the time to fill out the app. or go to an interview. There are also a lot of other engineering clubs that people get into...and people realize they can't do everything...

amanda and clark are right. first we go to a callout (there will be flyers and/or chalk on the sidewalks in the fall). There you get an application..why do you want to be on the team, what skills do you have that would help,etc. After that you have an interview with the the sub-team coordinators and the teachers. it's not a hard interview...if i remember correctly, the questions they ask are very similar to the questions on the application.

I'd say if you want to continue FIRST next year, 461 is a great team! (i'm not partial or anything) Stick through the whole application/interview process, it's definatly worth it. (Plus, if you are going into engineering, all of the upperclassmen advisors are always happy to help you with class stuff!)

[R2K2D2]

This is a reply to all of you interested in Purdue and joining the Purdue FIRST family. we really have a great program here and it played a role in my decision to attend Purdue. if you would like to be added to our mailing list or be contacted about information feel free to AIM me- R2K2D2 or email me: rdaftuar@purdue.edu. I am a college mentor on the team and would be more than happy to answer any questions or concerns. Feel free to contact me at anytime adn I can give you information about the team and the application process.
looking forward to hearing from you,
Raj

[Josh Hambright]

Originally posted by ebmonon36

Could someone on 461 tell me how you prevent having hundreds of prospective engineers on your team? It just seems like everyone would want to join.

Okay not to beat a dead dog cuz this has been answered pretty thourghly already but yah we do have alot of people show up. But we reall weed them down. Our entire group of TECH Advisors this year had been on first teams in high school. Out of all of our advisors i think we are graduating 3 maybe 4 so that means either next year we are going to admit a whole lot more advisors or we are going to have to only allow 3 or 4 people to join. We already know people are going to try and come to our team from other teams and we are totaly psyched about it.

Another reason we dont have a ton of engineers is the turn over rate. Usualy we have 2 or 3 advisors that just cant handle it and end up either dropping out during the season or quiting post season. All of our advisors spend amazing amounts of time on this program. Raj has been known to pull 3 all nighters a week(WARNING I DO NOT CONDONE THIS KIND OF ACTION). They have to take test and exams early to goto competition. Drop everything on a saturday and wake up early missing cartoons to come watch a bunch of HS kids work in a shop and help us build our robot. Its not an easy life but as they will tell you, they agree with dean. They are getting alot more out of this then they are putting in. The returns and the rewards are outweighing the pain and the stress and the hardwork and the headaches.

Now as far as answering the question for this week. FIRST has changed my life, if you wanna hear my spiel PM me or talk to me at competition... I'll talk your ear off with my own little personal story. I am planning on staying in town next year and attending IVY TECH state college to get that under my belt so that if i apply to another state college they wont look at my horrible high school transcript. I plan on doing the FREELANCE FIRST thing with amanda morrison and trying to get involved heavily in the indiana FIRST community. I've already layed an offer out on the table to go and help 1020 whenever i can even if my team cant go and do it as much as they need. I'll be there whenever time, money, and school will let me. (Thanks to amanda offering me a place to stay!) I will also be on team 461 probably as a consultant as oposed to an advisor (for a few reasons i dont wanna get into). In addition to this whenever i do end up going to a real 4 year college (if i do) I am sure i will either goto a school with a first team or i will goto one without one and start one. I'm a LIFER now, thats the term we use on 461 coined by the great Chris Noble to describe someone that will always be involved in FIRST, no matter where they go or what they do.

[Erin Rapacki]

Yea... I totally have a similar story (but I'm sure you've all heard it)

When I was looking at schools last year, my criteria was pretty basic:

-in the northeast (no more than 6 hour drive)
-good engineering program
-good atmosphere
-and pre-established FIRST team

Some of you might be wondering why I wanted a pre-established team... well, there are a few reasons:

-freshman year is hectic enough, and I didn't want to risk having to juggle schoolwork and finding sponsers for a team... and getting bad grades because I was either too busy/stressed out over the annoying logistical issues (like money, workspace, people)
-yea, at the time I didn't feel ready to start a rookie (I only had 2 years of my own behind me), and I give 'thumbs up' to all you college students who have
-i'm more interested in mentoring and managing, so helping a pre-established team who were a little downtrodden at the time, was an ideal situation for me
-and now that I still dont have to worry about logistics (too much), I can focus my time on on other things like the Blitz! (gotta put that in... of course!)


well... thats my $.02


ByE

erin

p.s. I'm a 'LIFER' too!

[JVN]

Advice from someone who's been there:

When you go to college, no matter how "hardcore" you are, take some time to get things in order before joining FIRST.

College will provide you with a great deal of freedom. Learn who you are, explore your options. Don't jump right into FIRST. It's a great competition, it's a great experience, you learn a lot....
but: It's a huge time commitment, and it's downright addictive.

I love FIRST. I enjoy doing it in college.
My GPA does not enjoy me doing FIRST in college.

Everyone says: "I won't let it interfere with my academics"

.... I know I said it...

It becomes very, VERY easy to sacrifice other things to do FIRST, especially when there are others relying on you. It's easier than you think.

Even if all your doing is sketching a new transmission design when your supposed to be taking notes in Chemistry. Or if you zone out and start thinking about how your gonna play this year's game when you should be studying for your finals. If you go to competition instead of taking your physics test, and blow off studying for the makeup because... heck, competition is more fun.

Kids... it's harder than you think.
Good luck.

If you ever need to talk to someone who's been through it...
AIM: JNoon2
Email: vielkije@clarkson.edu




PS - Amanda, I'm sorry to hear about you stepping back... Of all us "college FIRSTers" you seemed like the one who had it most together. Remember, we all need to find that balance in our lives, and sometimes that means we dont always get exactly what we want...

[Matt Leese]

Originally posted by JVN
Advice from someone who's been there:

When you go to college, no matter how "hardcore" you are, take some time to get things in order before joining FIRST.

College will provide you with a great deal of freedom. Learn who you are, explore your options. Don't jump right into FIRST. It's a great competition, it's a great experience, you learn a lot....
but: It's a huge time commitment, and it's downright addictive.

I love FIRST. I enjoy doing it in college.
My GPA does not enjoy me doing FIRST in college.

Everyone says: "I won't let it interfere with my academics"

.... I know I said it...

It becomes very, VERY easy to sacrifice other things to do FIRST, especially when there are others relying on you. It's easier than you think.

Even if all your doing is sketching a new transmission design when your supposed to be taking notes in Chemistry. Or if you zone out and start thinking about how your gonna play this year's game when you should be studying for your finals. If you go to competition instead of taking your physics test, and blow off studying for the makeup because... heck, competition is more fun.

Kids... it's harder than you think.
Good luck.

If you ever need to talk to someone who's been through it...
AIM: JNoon2
Email: vielkije@clarkson.edu




PS - Amanda, I'm sorry to hear about you stepping back... Of all us "college FIRSTers" you seemed like the one who had it most together. Remember, we all need to find that balance in our lives, and sometimes that means we dont always get exactly what we want...

I agree that it's very very hard to do FIRST in college. I'd add that there are more problems than just balancing FIRST and school work. One of the major issues I've seen with going from high school to college is the fact that the team you are in in college will be very different than the team you were on in high school. This can be a good thing but I've seen too many college students not truly realize this and end up leaving the team because of it.

For those of you who are thinking about mentoring in college, I strongly recommend it. It's one of the best experiences you can get as well as just a good thing to do for your community.

As for who has it together the best of college students doing FIRST, my vote goes to Joe Ross. He did FIRST for three years in high school then four years now in college. Then again he's been telling me he won't do it next year because of senior design (I don't really believe him). Good luck to all of you trying to stay involved.

Matt

[JVN]

Originally posted by Matt Leese
Then again he's been telling me he won't do it next year because of senior design (I don't really believe him).

At Clarkson U, you can do FIRST Robotics as part of Senior ID (Integrated Design). I'm excited, Senior year will probably be my most ACTIVE year in FIRST.

Finding the balance between FIRST and Classes will be much easier, when my classes ARE FIRST