Male/Female Ratio and Chances for Each

[cmont3]

HI! I'm a sophomore Biochemistry major with minors in Mathematics and Environmental Studies. I'm in the process of applying for the SMART.

Does any one know what the male/female ratio is for the scholarship? I have always been interested in Chemical and Biological Defense and from the people I've spoken to, it seems that most of the researchers are male. Will being a girl help my chances?

[empty]

I'm sure that its an "equal opportunity" kind of thing. That said, from attending the orientation I would say that the selection process is gender and ethnicity blind and that the makeup of people is 50/50 in regards to gender.

The goal of the program is to have the best people working in the DoD positions, not necessarily to increase the gender/ethnic 'diversity' of the DoD.

[fish]

some facilties m may have diversity goals, which means that a female may have a better chance.

[empty]

This is quite true. Though, it didn't sound to me like the facilities got much more than the resume after the first SMART administrative cut was made. I could be wrong and it may just be that that is all my facility actually looked at to make the decision.

I also heard from a few people on the panel which decided the 50% cut that that a big difference maker was resume quality as well. People, have your career services people at your school look over your resume before you hit 'submit'!

[Current Participant]

JUST APPLY!! Your qualifications are what get you in. Don't worry about your "odds".