The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Hello,

When I applied for the SMART Scholarship, I applied very close to the deadline and did not notice that there was a list of facilities by discipline, so I just put down a few locations close to home. Yesterday, I was notified that I am a semi-finalist, and now I'm beginning to wonder how important the preferences are to getting selected for an award? Browsing this forum, I read different stories so I'd like to hear your guys thoughts or experiences. Thank you!

Purdue University
Materials Science and Engineering, Third year Undergraduate

It's not out of the question that you'll get an interview from a non-preference. However you're more likely to get one from a preference. You'll be top of their list of people to review if you put them down because that's how they will sort first.

Depending on the SF they'll also sort by school (i.e. someone who really likes Purdue grads could still find you even if you didn't put them as a preference.) Or by major, work experience gpa...etc. Really it depends on that end but it isn't impossible.