Scholarships, alumni, and careers
What being on an FTC team opens up after high school, and how to actually use it.
By the end you can
- Find FIRST's scholarship portal and know who is eligible
- Turn FTC work into evidence for college and job applications
- Name the ways alumni stay involved
On this page · 4 sections
The robot gets taken apart in the spring. What you learned building it does not. FIRST is deliberately set up so that the skills and connections carry on past your last event.
Scholarships
FIRST participants can apply for hundreds of scholarships that only FIRST students are eligible for. Colleges, universities, and companies offer them. They are not only for engineering degrees: some cover trade school, technical training, and other majors.
- Find them. Start at FIRST's Classroom to Career and Scholarships page, which links to the scholarship portal.
- Check eligibility early. Many need proof that you were on a registered team. That is one more reason every student should complete youth team member registration.
- Keep a record. Write down your role, what you built, and the hours you spent. Trying to remember it all two years later does not work.
Making FTC count on applications
"I was on a robotics team" is weak. Specific, provable work is strong:
- Your Engineering Portfolio
- A finished technical document you wrote with your team. Keep a PDF copy of every season's portfolio.
- Your CAD and code
- An Onshape document or a GitHub repo is something an admissions officer or interviewer can actually open.
- Leadership with numbers
- "Ran sponsorship and raised enough to cover registration and parts" beats "business lead".
- Certifications
- FIRST offers learning pathways and industry-linked certifications in areas like CAD, programming, and machining. They are worth listing next to your team role.
Ask your mentors for references
Mentors have watched you solve real problems under deadline pressure for a whole season. That makes them some of the best people to write a recommendation. Ask them in person, and give them plenty of notice.
Staying involved as alumni
FIRST alumni can join the Alumni Hub, which lists exclusive internships, jobs, and scholarships. Many alumni also come back to:
- Mentor a team, often the one they came from.
- Volunteer at events as a referee, judge, inspector, or field crew member. Events cannot run without them.
- Help start a team somewhere that does not have one yet.
Check yourself
Which line is strongest on a college application?
Next
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