Just wanted to hear y’all’s thoughts on this matter.
0 voters
I’ll start this off by saying that my team charges 2000+: a number I always felt was above the average, but I was never able to compare to other teams.
edit: in response to some concerns, the individual results are not public but you will be able to see the percents in each category
Question, is this just for team membership or for everything (membership, travel, shirts, stuff like that)?
Excuse me what
Membership on your team is $2000?
This is just for membership
That’s frankly absurd and antithetical to every goal of FIRST
I can’t imagine charging people $2000 to join a team like what
What kinda rich neighborhood is this
I can’t say I’d put it that way…
My team is somewhere around $100, as I recall. Includes team shirts and our local regional. Travel competitions, we work with the folks that are going to arrange payment of hotel expenses. And if you have difficulty paying, we’ll work with you on that.
We’re the same, just about
Charging somebody $8000 over four years to work for you on a robotics team is insane
Who the heck can even afford that???
Like I’m literally in shock that anybody thinks this is okay, much less actually pays it
the team is based in the bay area
That wasn’t a literal question and I have no idea how affluent San Jose is
I just
That’s like a car
Depending on your standards potentially several
Sir, this is a Wendy’s.
Actually I think franchising a Wendy’s would be slightly more expensive?
Maybe not though tbh
yes I get it’s a joke but like holy wow
Per person? 
Usually $100 out of pocket per student and usually for hotel.
2018, it was $200 per student since we didnt have enough in the treasury.
2020, none. We had more than enough to cover the costs of all the students on the team… didnt expend it though.
Many teams have suggested donations that cover travel, hotels, apparel, and other student-specific resources. It’s not uncommon (especially in northern california), and more often than not there are scholarships available for students who cannot afford a donation. Personally our team (299, Bay Area) has a ~$200 suggested donation because it’s not uncommon for most households in our area to drop that on extracurriculars anyways and it greatly helps with team funding and sustainability. We have never once turned away a student because they could not make a donation.
Each team has their own personal and community circumstances that you may not know, so I’d be hesitant to judge if you don’t know someone else’s situation.
Man when we asked for like $35 (cost of ASB, requirement for joining any club) people dropped like flies lmao
It’s reasonably affluent, but over $2000 per year is completely ridiculous. I don’t think even football teams in the Bay Area cost that much to join. Maximum reasonable payment for a Bay Area team imo is maybe $500-750.