Who's Going to Nationals 2016?

[Adi1008]

I'm dcrxcode from Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana and will be competing in Disease Detectives, Green Generation, Cell Biology, and Astronomy. This is our team's first time attending nats (whoo!) - any tips?

I suppose you guys beat Munster then? Congrats!!!1

As cheesy as it sounds, I'd recommend trying to have as much fun as you can at nationals. One thing I regret from last year is that I spent so much time worrying about my events that I didn't get to just wander around UNL or do random things with my friends like I had in the past

[Bazinga+]

I'm dcrxcode from Carmel High School in Carmel, Indiana and will be competing in Disease Detectives, Green Generation, Cell Biology, and Astronomy. This is our team's first time attending nats (whoo!) - any tips?

I suppose you guys beat Munster then? Congrats!!!1

As cheesy as it sounds, I'd recommend trying to have as much fun as you can at nationals. One thing I regret from last year is that I spent so much time worrying about my events that I didn't get to just wander around UNL or do random things with my friends like I had in the past

A bit hard to have fun at Wisconsin Stout (Not as great as Florida), but who knows.

[JoJoKeKe]

I'm officially attending from St. Joseph's Catholic School in Idaho.

(Events: Fossils, Picture This, Green Generation, Invasive Species)

EDIT: I was actually put into Green Generation opposed to Disease Detectives this year for the national competition.

[P2P]

Hi Everyone...

I go to a school in Illinois and our school places around 5-6 at state every year (which is in 2 weeks). In general, the top 4 teams all hire parents and other adults to help in all events, especially building ones. Is there any way for us to be able to get further this year? Most people on the team don't lack the work effort needed (maybe like an hour a day after school, probably up to 3-4 the week before state), but we always fall down in building events because we get very little help compared to the teams who use parents.

[samlan16]

Hi Everyone...

I go to a school in Illinois and our school places around 5-6 at state every year (which is in 2 weeks). In general, the top 4 teams all hire parents and other adults to help in all events, especially building ones. Is there any way for us to be able to get further this year? Most people on the team don't lack the work effort needed (maybe like an hour a day after school, probably up to 3-4 the week before state), but we always fall down in building events because we get very little help compared to the teams who use parents.

All I can say is ignore the parents and be an engineer. Build the stuff by yourself; you may learn a thing or two about your events. From the perspective of one who did the aforementioned, you will be a notch above the others in the end, even if you don't get a medal. My team definitely has a lot of helicopter parents, but my builds that I exclusively worked on have ended up to be superior to those built by parents because I know exactly how my devices work. In other words, realize that those students who are not building their own stuff are deprived of an educational experience, and use that fact as motivation to overcome the hardship of learning how to build stuff independently.

As for motivation, get a hype squad together so people will want to go to practice. If your practices are fun (and perhaps with free food?) they will come and work.

[EarthScience347]

Hi Everyone...

I go to a school in Illinois and our school places around 5-6 at state every year (which is in 2 weeks). In general, the top 4 teams all hire parents and other adults to help in all events, especially building ones. Is there any way for us to be able to get further this year? Most people on the team don't lack the work effort needed (maybe like an hour a day after school, probably up to 3-4 the week before state), but we always fall down in building events because we get very little help compared to the teams who use parents.

As a member of a team who places in the top four at state in Illinois, I would first just like to say that we have never used parents as help in our building events. If you have a builder that is skilled enough, you can build something really good. Perhaps your team should have group brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas for builds that the builders can test out. Also, be resourceful and ask proctors for any tips that they can give you on your builds at the meets. Some proctors also run the state events and most that have knowledge on the subject are always willing to help out if you ever ask questions unless they are pressed for time, in which case you can always find them after that event is over.

[P2P]

I have no idea what happens in Division C, but our coaches have asked the coaches of these middle school teams and they have 30+ staff members to help them with ideas or designs. Some people have been talking about the ruling against this, but 1) it is very hard to prove and 2) I'm not convinced that the staff build everything, but they give the students a large edge because most are of expertise in that field...

[Magikarpmaster629]

Hey I'm going to nationals...

[windu34]

Hi Everyone...

I go to a school in Illinois and our school places around 5-6 at state every year (which is in 2 weeks). In general, the top 4 teams all hire parents and other adults to help in all events, especially building ones. Is there any way for us to be able to get further this year? Most people on the team don't lack the work effort needed (maybe like an hour a day after school, probably up to 3-4 the week before state), but we always fall down in building events because we get very little help compared to the teams who use parents.

An hour a day is NOT enough effort. As a builder on my team which regularly attends nationals, it takes at least 3 hours a day and when 1 month to comp approaches, id up that to 5-6 hours. Builds require a lot of time to be done well because it is such a learning experience. My team has ZERO parent/coach helpers. EVERYTHING is done by students. For example, my team's robot arm built by my partner and I had ZERO help from any parents. We have won 1st at MIT, Cypress Falls, Florida Regionals, and Florida States (we'll see about nationals). Our coach's policy is to let the students do EVERYTHING and it is one of the reasons we succeed. When we run into high level programing/mechanical/electrical problems, we have no one to ask, we do the research and hit the forums and try to narrow down where we went wrong.

[Unome]

Hi Everyone...

I go to a school in Illinois and our school places around 5-6 at state every year (which is in 2 weeks). In general, the top 4 teams all hire parents and other adults to help in all events, especially building ones. Is there any way for us to be able to get further this year? Most people on the team don't lack the work effort needed (maybe like an hour a day after school, probably up to 3-4 the week before state), but we always fall down in building events because we get very little help compared to the teams who use parents.

An hour a day is NOT enough effort. As a builder on my team which regularly attends nationals, it takes at least 3 hours a day and when 1 month to comp approaches, id up that to 5-6 hours. Builds require a lot of time to be done well because it is such a learning experience. My team has ZERO parent/coach helpers. EVERYTHING is done by students. For example, my team's robot arm built by my partner and I had ZERO help from any parents. We have won 1st at MIT, Cypress Falls, Florida Regionals, and Florida States (we'll see about nationals). Our coach's policy is to let the students do EVERYTHING and it is one of the reasons we succeed. When we run into high level programing/mechanical/electrical problems, we have no one to ask, we do the research and hit the forums and try to narrow down where we went wrong.

I don't know specifically about builds, but imo an hour a day for every member of your team from August to April can solidly get you a third place at IL B State, as long as that hour a day is spent doing useful preparation (in my experience, this is often almost as common as not preparing enough).