I’m a high school senior right now, and I was thinking about how to pick between colleges. I think that, all else being equal (costs, school size, etc.), the presence of a FIRST team might swing me. I might not end up mentoring a team (after reading http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47004&highlight=college+FIRST I’m kind of intimidated now…), but I’d like to know should I find the time to get involved.
Is there a consolidated list somewhere? I’ve only found this thread so far, but it hasn’t been updated since 2003.
Best answer I’ve got would be to look through list list of teams in the US–the find function on your computer should help you find may of them (but not all; to find that 190’s partnered with WPI for example, you’d have to be looking for WPI).
On the flip side, I worked with teams all through college and none were officially connected to USC. (Only after I graduated did 2815 start up on campus.) You may want to look up local teams near schools you’re looking at; surely at least some of them would welcome your help if you choose to work with a team (standard don’t-flunk-out warnings noted).
Yes and no. Access to an FRC team nearby could easily be a factor in a college decision…but just as we all weight our objectives differently for the robot build, it has to be weighted properly (and I think those who’re in/through college can agree on that weight: minimally, somewhere down there with “quality of the cafeteria key lime pie”).
Nah man, that pie was key in my decision to go to Kettering. It was absolute crap. Helped me find that the bathrooms were quite accommodating though.
But yes, FRC shouldn’t be high on your list but it can still help. Mentoring/working with great mentors is a growth experience but you need to make grades/socialization a priority.
Which colleges interest you? Are you looking at a specific geographic location? Course of study?
My unsolicited advice would be to seek out a college/university with 1. a well-developed coop/internship program and 2. a well-developed study abroad program. 1 is almost mandatory; 2 gives you amazing life experiences that can’t be duplicated any other way.
College is the time to take chances, expand your boundaries, realize who you are. FRC mentoring is a noble thing to do, and certainly inspires passion, but the next 4-6 years are perhaps the only time of your life that is completely about you. It’s up to you to determine what that means.
If engineering is what you are looking for, IMO there is no better school than Kettering, especially, for FIRST kids.
Fantastic co-op program that dates back to 1919, with tons of awesome corporate sponsors. Translates to 98% employment rate for grads.
Some of the best academics in the country, #2 Mechanical Engineering Program, and #1 Industrial Engineering Program in the country.
Second highest average starting salary for any school in the country, only behind Cal Poly.
Very cool 3 month rotation schedule that lines up perfectly with the FIRST season (for B-section students) so I am not at school during the season freeing up all my time to mentor after work if I so chose.
The school philosophy matches up very much with FIRST, it is all about getting your hands on and working on things, its not all about the books.
They offer great scholarships that can cut the price in half right away just based on GPA and ACT/SAT scores, plus they offer a huge scholarship to FIRST students (You have to apply for this)
Tons of other FIRST people, I live with mentors from 4 or 5 other teams in 3 states. Last year a large group of us flew out to St. Louis together because we had just started class.
History and networking connections that would blow your mind.
At the end of the day, you have to go where you feel you fit best. I wish you the best of luck!
Undergrad research benefits you, both in curiosity and in career, quite a bit more than robotics mentoring will. If you’re going to let something influence your decision, IMO you should let the research influence you and mentor ‘on the side’. That said, Virginia Tech does have a local team, FRC 401 The Hokies.
Or compete in one (or more) of the many other design/engineering competitions out there? SAE Aero Design, Baja, Formula, Clean Snowmobile, and Supermileage; NASA’s Lunabotics competition, IEEE robotics, ASCE concrete canoe and steel bridge, ASME’s competitions…
You get the picture.
While we’re all in the “plug your own college” mode, I’m currently sitting at home on break from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. We have 15 established engineering competition teams (give or take a few in senior design courses), quite a bit of undergraduate research in new methods and materials that those design teams test out, and a rather large career fair twice a year. Internships and co-ops aren’t required, but they are heavily encouraged (MEs get to replace a senior elective with a co-op, if they so choose). FRC teams in the area: Zero at this time. FLL teams in the area: Multiple.
Oh, and at least in the ME department, there are 4 courses that require hands-on before you even get to senior design: Intro to Mechanical Engineering, Sophomore Design, Product Development (taken with Sophomore Design), and Mechatronics (two projects).
The best part is, even though we do do a lot of research into various things, the professors still enjoy teaching (not something that always happens at research schools, or so I hear).
RIT in Rochester, NY has a very well established co-op program, and has campuses in Croatia, Kosovo, and Dubai, as well as Faculty-led trips to numerous other countries(http://studyabroad.rit.edu). I am a Computer Science major there and absolutely love it! Their Engineering programs are excellent as well.
We don’t currently have any FRC teams, but we have a lot of interest and will most likely be starting one soon. We also have a CAR(formally CARD) team, if you’re interested in competing at a college level instead of just mentoring high schoolers.
4a. A section works just as well for mentoring/the FIRST season. Kickoff is the weekend before move in and Kettering hosts a kickoff event. We also have a district event on campus (Week 1 on competition, week 8 of class.) and trust me, it’s really nice to roll out of bed walk maybe 30 yards outside and be at the event. Aaaaaand, we also host an off season event during A section. (10th week) There’s plenty of teams in the area, as well as the team that Kettering sponsors.
This also means that Championships also falls during work term, and you can go without missing class.
You only spent 22 weeks a year on class. (Two 11 week terms.)
Yes, I’m on A section, which is vastly superior.* **
*Not really. Honestly, there isn’t much difference between the two sections. But each section will say theirs is better.
** Kudos to any Kettering students who get the reference!
How about making a Google Doc with a list of what schools mentor which teams?
this will not sound GP, but it takes effort to mentor as a college freshman. If it is on a different team then you were in in HS, it can work… but if it is the same team, IMHO, its a disaster waiting to happen. the transition form student to mentor can be a bit “rough” when you are talking the same team. (sadly, this is why I am not officially mentoring right now).
