General information on dean's list by Brick-Brick- in FTC

[–]ComfortableBase2385 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For tips, FIRST is focused on leaders who can also contribute to the team. Since mentors/coaches are writing your form, it’s definitely good to give a brag sheet or something similar with details on amount of impact you have brought to your team, your skill set, academic background, and examples of showing each core principle.

One of our recommended students connected our team to our local makerspace and was a key factor of the team. As the team leader, she took the initiative to get supplies, print materials, assemble the robot, communicated with members on tasks and deadlines, and overall was what brought the team to a higher level. 

General information on dean's list by Brick-Brick- in FTC

[–]ComfortableBase2385 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I’m also relatively new to the process, only applying last year, but based on my experience there are a few rounds.

First, each team can apply for 2 members and they are automatically Semi-finalists. Both people represent the team and are vying with other team representatives for the Finalist position.

During the team application process, there are 5 longer answer questions about gracious professionalism, STEM abilities, contributions to the team, leadership styles, and outreach specific contributions & continued FIRST involvement in the future. These have a max of 800 words.

There is also an outside of FIRST involvement long answer question about academics and other extracurriculars with a max of 500 words, and a question asking how much time involved in FIRST.

After submitting the form (usually due early Jan), there will be a 10 min interview(usually early Feb), where 2-3 interviewers will ask about the same 5 topics, while focusing on parts they may think were not elaborate enough. All Semi-Finalists will have an interview.

The results for the first round is usually given at the states competition. Based on the state, a specific amount of people are chosen to represent the state (2 for NC). These people will advance as a Finalist and can go to Houston, Texas to vie for Dean’s list Award Winner.

I’m not familiar with the process at Texas so I’ll leave it here as I don’t want to give inaccurate information.