The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

I'm sorry to post 3 times in a row, but another thought occurred to me last night... Although we have been told that these payments are not for services rendered, I'm not so sure that that is a fair statement since if we don't fulfill our side of the contract we must repay all the money we received....

Also, unless you are claiming self-employment, I don't think you can claim moving and travel expenses for the internship (which really hurts those of us that had to maintain two households during this time) nor the cost of insurance (which is unfair since it's required and is otherwise counted as ta...

Just wanted to throw in my 2 cents here. I agree that calling this income self-employment is incorrect. However, I want to point out that it doesn't take much wizardry to make it so that this is beneficial. Anyone who has a family would benefit from calling this income self-employment because then t...

My SF does a rotation (3-6 months in each applicable department) with all new hires so that we get a flavor for multiple roles/areas. Afterwards, leadership works with the employee to choose the permanent placement that best fits interests and abilities with needs.

Thanks for posting, always good to confirm I'm not the only one...

FYI, mine has also come in

Same boat here... No money and no word. For those living "on seeds and water" are you able to get student loans to hold you over? I support a family with my stipend I can't handle any delays especially in August following the extra expenses of the internship (you'd think $1000/week extra would be pl...

I did receive my corrected W-2 now. Time to file my amendment and pay back from my return

Yes, mine was paid just yesterday.

I am wondering if anyone else out there had concerns with signing the Release and License to Use Image, Name, and/or Voice aka Image Release document. I have signed similar documents in the past, but this one had several additions to the typical release which caused me some concern. Specifically tha...

I received an email this afternoon with the login information and details for completing the orientation.

Exactly, I did not want to run ANY risk of having to pay back the tuition and stipend if they weren't ok with me taking online classes. After receiving my initial denial for online classes, I got this revised response from SMART: We want to follow up with you regarding your inquiry about online cour...

FYI to others who may be hoping to take online classes, the answer was a strict "no." For my situation, I was hoping that they would allow me to take online courses for the first semester to give me a chance to sell my house and otherwise prepare for a move across country (I wasn't going if I didn't...

I was offered the scholarship through TRADOC at Fort Leavenworth, KS. I will be working toward my masters degree in Operations Research.

Accepted FYI, I am not a current DoD employee.

Agreed, I received a call from a potential SF just this week and he didn't know anything either. In fact, his first comments were asking me if I had heard anything yet and that he is feeling frustrated at the lack of information on his end too. Certainly, somebody's got to be in the know, but they s...

You can receive both, but it has to be approved. Their intention in not wanting their students to work is that they want us focused on our studies and not outside distractions. However, if the research is directly related to your area of study and your dissertation, I don't see why they would object...

Yep, today is a decision day for me. I am really shocked that they are competing with last year's late notification. But, here we are... Today is my last day of keeping my life on hold for this, however. I recently became a stay at home mom. Soon after making this change, my husband's salary got cut...

Nope, I haven't heard a thing in nearly seven weeks. At that point the word was that we would hear something in 2-3 weeks.

Ahh, gotcha!

Best of luck!

Why does this scholarship make a difference in what classes you'd take? Are you charged by the class or do different classes cost different amounts? I agree that it is really difficult to have this completely vague wait on something that can make significant changes to our plans. I really wish they'...