Before I answer, I would say call up admissions tomorrow and double check…
It should be 2359 Eastern if I recall from previous years, but I can’t see what they actually set the deadline too in slide room.
How many submissions did you get this year?
Between 80-100 for each, but several are missing their nomination letter so they won’t be reviewed.
Pretty good odds!
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@ColleenShaver Hi Colleen, do you have a general idea on when the winners are announced and what method of communication is used?
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@Graceaf – we are currently reviewing the submissions and hope to have it finalized by the end of the week. It usually takes admissions a couple days to update financial packages, etc, and then winners would receive a call from WPI Admissions.
We also continue going down the line until money is awarded. For example, if the first place winner chooses not to attend, the full-ride would be offered to the 2nd place person and everyone would bump up a level. That means a person just outside of the top would then receive a call that they now will receive funds. For that reason, those not selected may not be notified right away as the top selections decide on their attendance.
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I hate to seem rushy, but has a decision been made? I’m certainly anxious to hear back, and if you aren’t awarded are you notified? Thanks!
I believe today or tomorrow they are notifying the winners of all the robotics scholarships (Design Innovation, Community, Vex).
Everyone else will find out results within the next couple weeks. They don’t notify the non-winners right away because if there are declines from the winners, we keep going down the list.
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Good luck everybody 
Realizing now my mentor didn’t submit the letter until March 27th, so that’s a bit unfortunate, I should have hounded him more to do it on time.
Hopefully someone else from FTC wins it this time; there’s a lot of great work that goes on and I know many people are discouraged from applying due to the stigma between the two programs.
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Unfortunately, if your mentor’s nomination is not there when we are reviewing them, the submission is not complete. It’s a lesson learned the hard way, but yes, hound your mentors to write anything! I hate seeing students put all this work into a submission only for it to not even be considered because their mentor never sends the letter.
As for the two programs, they get pretty equal consideration. The challenge for everyone across both programs is pretty equal… they forget it’s a scholarship about design innovations. Buying a swerve drive in FRC isn’t innovative… in fact it’s the norm. Having a spring wheel for odometry in FTC isn’t innovative… in fact it’s the norm based on the submissions I have watched. It’s also not just a walk thru of your entire robot. Tell us what was designed that was innovative to your team and why.
I’ve seen some really awesome and innovative concepts in the FTC videos, this year included, that put those entries in the top. I’m not sure if an FTC person has ever won (they have definitely been 2nd place though) but that may be more related to the number of entries from each program rather than biases toward one program or another. FRC teams always make up the bulk of the submissions but we’ve seen a steady rise in FTC which is great.
Hope to see the applicants who are in Houston at the WPI Accepted Students and Alumni reception Thursday night!
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