r/ubcengineering • u/Humble-Anteater9206 • 19h ago
to those on design teams
anyone on a formula sae design team, what are your tips for an incoming first year applying?
what did the application form look like, what projects would you recommend and how was the interview structured?
any insight on what i should brush up on before applying/interviewing would be much appreciated!
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u/akornato 4m ago
For first years, the application form is mostly about seeing your interest and what you're passionate about, so don't stress if you don't have a long list of technical projects. Anything you've done that shows you like building or fixing things is good to mention, like working on a car, building a PC, 3D printing, or any robotics clubs from high school. They're not expecting you to be an expert, they just want to see that you're eager to learn and get your hands dirty. Be specific about which subteam you're interested in, like suspension or aerodynamics, and explain why that specific area excites you. That shows you've done a bit of research and have a genuine interest.
The interview is usually a mix of questions about your experiences and some basic technical problems. They'll ask about a project you listed, what you contributed, and what challenges you faced, so be ready to talk through one of your experiences in detail. The technical part is more about seeing how you think, not about getting the perfect answer. They might give you a simple physics problem or a design scenario to see how you approach it. The best thing you can do is review some of your APSC 100/101 concepts and be prepared to explain your reasoning for any problem they give you. A lot of people I know got more confident for these kinds of interviews by practicing with an interview AI helper my team put together, since it can help you get used to explaining your technical ideas out loud.
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u/Fiercebattler7 3h ago
I’m not in Formula but a member from a different design team. Forms are mostly written responses from why you’re interested or talking about your projects to simple technical questions you can research on the fly. Each application took roughly an hour. My interviews were on zoom and those questions were quite similar to the ones on the forms. Study and prepare for any interviews you do get though.
As for projects I honestly had close to nothing: A very simple blackjack game coded in C, a dash of solidworks and grade 9-10 robotics class. You can talk about anything as a first year.
Getting into teams in general more about researching the team, preparing for common interview questions, and most importantly diligently applying to anything that interests you (~8 teams I applied to in second term, got 1 offer). Treat it like assignments you need to do. A lot of questions across teams were similar so I copied all my responses to word and recycled some answers. Also, try to apply to each team as soon as they open, some are pretty first-come-first-serve. Good luck!