The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

I was going to do Joint when I applied, but I thought it would be better if I applied just for BS since I did not get accepted into the BS/MS program at that time. I received the scholarship for my BS in Mechanical Engineering after my 2nd year of college. Now, I plan to reapply as an additional award applicant for my BS/MS joint degree. I was accepted into the joint degree program this summer at my institution, I just need the scholarship money now for the extra year.

So, my suggestion is just to apply as BS because you are more likely to get it (if you already got accepted into the college for BS), and then just reapply for the joint degree once you get in. Also, keep in mind that some DoD sites will pay for your Masters degree as well so if you want to start working after you get your BS, you can also take classes while working at your Sponsoring Facility, but again, this varies from Sponsoring Facilities.

Best of Luck!

Is it possible to discern to what extent the choice between requesting funding for a bachelor's degree or a joint BS/MS program affects chances of acceptance? Will it likely vary between fields, such as nuclear and civil engineering, for instance? And lastly, is it recommended against for incoming first year applicants to try to request funding for the joint BS/MS option, especially if they are not admitted to that program as of yet? I see on the application that there is an option to specify whether the applicant is enrolled in the joint program at their current institution, but I wasn't sure if this was a strong deterrent for hiring. I would eventually like to pursue a MS degree in my field, however I am certainly willing to delay that until after fulfilling the work obligation to SMART if it entails a significantly elevated chance of being accepted in the first place.

Thank you for your time.