Page 1 of 1

Finishing School Early

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 2:00 pm
by guest01
I was thinking of taking classes at the local university by my SF (paying out of my own pocket).
Does anyone know what happens if you finish your degree before the amount of time they agree to fund you?

Re: Finishing School Early

Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 5:13 pm
by Guest123
guest01 wrote:I was thinking of taking classes at the local university by my SF (paying out of my own pocket).
Does anyone know what happens if you finish your degree before the amount of time they agree to fund you?
If your SF can hire you a semester early, it should be fine. You still owe the original commitment you signed up for though (just start it sooner). A fair number of people can't get their SF to hire them early since they choose scholars and get slots opened based on what you put in the application. My SF couldn't hire me early so I used the extra semester to take courses toward a PhD and finish the class requirements for a future degree.

Re: Finishing School Early

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:36 pm
by guest121
That is not true, you owe them what they pay you, If you decrease the award time then you owe less time. I decreased mine by a semester and owe 2.5 instead of the original 3 years.

Re: Finishing School Early

Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:41 pm
by ChemCode
guest121 wrote:That is not true, you owe them what they pay you, If you decrease the award time then you owe less time. I decreased mine by a semester and owe 2.5 instead of the original 3 years.
According to the SMART website FAQs, "Requests to accelerate degree completion and conferral require prior written approval. Participants who obtain their degree earlier than originally anticipated will not receive reduction in the original length or post-graduation service." Were you an exception, guest121? Regardless, can you further how you dealt with that situation? Thanks.

Re: Finishing School Early

Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2017 9:18 pm
by guest121
I don't know how exceptional I am but what I do know is that I have a document, signed by someone in SMART that states explicitly that my award length is decreased by .5 years and my service commitment is now 2.5 years instead of the original 3.