The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

I was on my Engineering career for last 2010 but these days, I realize that I really enjoyed the fashion industry so I just decided to waive it to fashion and I study fashion and I applied to a Fashion Internships which is not hard for me since I love it so I keep the fashion career up to these days.

To add a little bit, internships are between 8 and 12 weeks normally (you choose the dates and time frame). As long as your SF agrees, then it happens. SMART asks for them to begin on a Monday and end on a Friday as well. No experience with the off/cycle internship, just the normal summer ones. All monies (Internship Support Payments) were paid up front over the 3 months prior to the internship beginning ($1,000/week).

If you have other questions, please let me know.

I had the same concerns as OP. I was just awarded the scholarship, and am studying abroad next year during summer. In addition to what MC_EE said about it, there exists an "off-cycle internship" form from the SPO that you can fill out with your SF's approval. I'm going to the southern hemisphere, so when I am done with school abroad I will have a two month gap between October and December where I won't be taking any classes, which will be my "summer", so I am doing my internship then.

So as long as the study abroad program fees are paid directly to your academic institution, your graduation date won't be delayed, and your SF is alright with you not doing a summer internship and to do one at a different time, then to my knowledge it should be fine.

Orientations are now carried out over the phone with your Cohort Advisor.

Internships with your Sponsor Facility are required over the summer after you've begun receiving your scholarship. The first payment is in August, so for you it would be August 2015, and you would do your internship the summer of 2016, and each following summer until you graduate. If you're lucky, this internship will directly relate to your major, and will be a sampling of what you will be working on after graduation. I was one of the lucky ones in that I was placed on a great team at my SF that has specifically stated that I will be coming back to work with them on my area of interest.

As for study abroad, I believe the terms state it has to directly contribute to your major, can't hamper your graduation date, and has to be cleared by the security team.

Hello SMART members!

I just had a quick question, if I was chosen by the SMART this year, what would the schedule be like this summer? Will I have to attend orientations, visit the sponsoring facility, doing summer internships. I ask this because I have also applied for an internship this summer, and I am also considering studying abroad through my university. Both of these would make me unavailable during the summer, but they aren't decisions i'd choose automatically. I know it says "Orientation" roughly in the summer for June / July, but what type of orientation? Would I have to fly out somewhere or be somewhere physically?

All in all, I'm pretty sure i'd prioritize SMART stuff first considering it'd be the biggest step and help for me financially and career-wise to take it over anything else. For a little insight about me, i'm working two jobs (almost considered full-time) while being a full-time student at my university to pay my bills, rent, tuition, etc (my parents don't make a lot of money and I am supporting myself 100%). So SMART would be a great help for me.

To summarize, what would the schedule be like over the summer IF I had the off-chance of receiving this scholarship? Will I still be able to pursue other internships / experiences during the summer while accepting the scholarship? Or would I have to drop everything and focus only on SMART stuff in this scenario? I'd say this because in reality i'd like to do both; have a summer internship this summer or study abroad through different means and still be eligible to receive the SMART Scholarship.

I wonder if anyone can provide an insight on this.

Thanks,
ConcernedSloth