The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

I am now a 2012 Cohort. My GPA was 3.4ish at the time of application.
My advice is research the available facilities and find three that do something you are interested in or have experience in. Then on the application tailor the essays to the three facilities you applied to as best you can. The trade off is that you won't likely be of much interest to any other SF, but during my interview I was told that they flew me in because they found my ideas, understanding of the current situation, and ability to come up with different solutions more important than the fact that I got a C in calculus.

[quote="wackyjoker637"]I read on the thread that stated anything below a 3.5 is not competitive. Therefore, I was wondering if I have a chance for consideration. My overall GPA is 3.3. I double majored in Physics and Mathematics at the University of California Santa Barbara. I wish I could go back and change somethings but what it is is what it is. Maybe if I just focused on one major my GPA would be higher. I graduated and plan to go get a Masters in electrical engineering. Are they just focused on your GPA primarily or will they also weigh other factors as well. In terms of research experience, I have done some work with transmission cables/detectors for about a month or so. This amounts to very little experience. Thanks.[/quote]

You always have a chance so you might as well apply. People in your position do get picked.

Just remember the two stages of this program are a) passing the 50% cut and b) getting selected by a facility.

Really, if you simplify it down, the big factors are you want to have the GPA in order to get past the 50% cut and then you want prior experience/research interests in order to catch the eye of a facility as a "good fit."

So yeah, obviously no one can tell you how good of a shot you have. Just apply and then put it out of your mind.

I read on the thread that stated anything below a 3.5 is not competitive. Therefore, I was wondering if I have a chance for consideration. My overall GPA is 3.3. I double majored in Physics and Mathematics at the University of California Santa Barbara. I wish I could go back and change somethings but what it is is what it is. Maybe if I just focused on one major my GPA would be higher. I graduated and plan to go get a Masters in electrical engineering. Are they just focused on your GPA primarily or will they also weigh other factors as well. In terms of research experience, I have done some work with transmission cables/detectors for about a month or so. This amounts to very little experience. Thanks.