FTC Robotics and Stanford

Derek's FTC Robotics Tournament at GSMST

Derek letting us know he did not get into Stanford

The day before the competition Derek stayed at school late into the night working with his team on their robot and then left early the next morning for the tournament so we did not see him until the afternoon at the tournament. When he greeted us he told us he just wanted to let us know that he found out the night before that he did not get into Stanford.

We all had some teary eyes and hugged. He reassured us that he was fine. We told him how proud we are of him and we all agreed that the Stanford application process was worthwhile and a great experience even if he didn't get in.

Stanford had said they would publish the results on December 15th, so the earlier release was a surprise. Derek said a few days before that he was looking forward to the 15th just to get it over with because he was finding himself becoming more and more preoccupied with the decision.

Georgia Tech won't release their decision until January so we're back in the waiting game, but much more confident that he will get in there. On a positive note, Derek has some time to process it all before exams next week and we just saved $200,000.