What Are My Chances?

Answers to various questions regarding the SMART Scholarship application process. Includes many tips and statistics.
curiousgirl

What Are My Chances?

Post by curiousgirl »

Hi everyone, I would appreciate some honest feedback regarding my chances of becoming a SMART scholar. I am seeking funding for my B.S degree in EE and becoming an engineer for the DoD is something I really want. To provide some background: my GPA is slightly below a 3.4.... I know this means my GPA isn't very competitive. However, I spent over six months working on my resume and essay responses to compensate for my lower GPA. Additionally, I believe all 3 of my recommendation letters were very strong, and include two college professors and a physicist/mentor from my prior internship at a DoE lab. Lastly, I do have family background in the military, as my eldest brother was killed in war. Solely considering the pros and cons of my background, do you think my chances are decent? On the other hand, despite the pros and cons of my background, do you think my chances are more based on available funding for the upcoming year? Does anyone know if funding will be greater or lesser than last year's funding? Thank you for your time and feedback!

Freedom

Re: What Are My Chances?

Post by Freedom »

I would first like to say that I am grateful for men like your older brother. As a veteran myself I can't thank your family enough for the sacrifice that ya'll have given this beautiful country. As for the scholarship, I do not know the answer to your question. I would sure hope that they would pick someone like you who wants to work for the DoD and I'm sure they will consider all that you had said. As for myself, I am a SMART Scholar (Mechanical Engineering student). I remember getting the emails stating that I made it to the next round of selection and getting a phone call from my sponsoring facility for a tele-interview. Come to find out there were 8 other people that they interviewed and I was chosen from those 8. For advice, I'd say keep your head up and do the best you can. A lot of the work that I do during my internship is more of a construction project management type of job and others can contest to that. From what I read on the posts on this website is that other SMART Scholars were disappointed to find out stuff like this. Whatever happens, don't ever give up, keep pushing, and you will eventually get through.

SMARTgirl

Re: What Are My Chances?

Post by SMARTgirl »

It also depends on what facilities you chose as your preference. Some facilities are much more competitive than others because so many people want to work there.
I chose facilities that were close to me and my family and that I assumed would not get as much interest as larger facilities. I also made sure that the facilities that I chose were looking for my major.

I recommend you prepare for the interviews as well. When they contact you, make sure you do research on who they are and what they are looking for. I think that helped me during my interviews.

Best of luck!

Post Reply