The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Just got a rejection email. ;( "Hello SMART Applicant, Thank you for applying for the Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholarship-for-Service Program. At this time, you have not been selected for an award. The Department of Defense will continue to make awards over the...

:shock: :o You guys have security clearances already?! Woah, you guys must DEFINITELY be top picks!!! Ehhh not really - I think it's more about fitting in with an SF than specific clearances. Also, the applicant's current clearance would need to match the actual SF required clearance. If an applica...

I don't remember, does anyone recall if the DoD SMART Application asked what level of clearance we had if any? Yes, in the form of two questions: 1) Your clearance level, if current or active 2) The agency/company who was sponsoring it :shock: :o You guys have security clearances already?! Woah, yo...

I just talked with the chief that I thought was going to sponsor me and learned that basically, because they were unfamiliar with the SMART process amd program, they weren't organized enough to be able to request any recruitment scholars. He was really apologetic and encouraging to me, but basicall...

Interesting. I couldn't get in last time I tried in Jan or Feb, or tonight, so I tried to reset my password but it says password reset error now. Weird. I locked myself once or twice by screwing up my password too many times in a row. Had to contact SMART IT to get it unlocked .Is that what's happe...

Dragon0 wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 11, 2021 6:13 pm

Can y'all log in to your Smart Scholarship website?? Idk if they lock me out or what. weird

I was able to log in. I don't see a difference in layout or get any notifications.

Did you put in your password incorrectly too many times?

Lol, as soon as I finished typing that, he called! Had a great 30 minute chat. We really hit it off so I'm feeling much better. I think I was right that they didn't really know how SMART works but now he's aware the deadline is approaching so I'm hopeful that my name will be on the short list. He a...

Lol, as soon as I finished typing that, he called! Had a great 30 minute chat. We really hit it off so I'm feeling much better. I think I was right that they didn't really know how SMART works but now he's aware the deadline is approaching so I'm hopeful that my name will be on the short list. He a...

It has been a month already, and with no interviews I'm getting a bit concerned. I remember reaching out to some SFs a few years ago when I made it as a semi-finalist (again with no interviews), but the response was mixed - some SFs were polite at best and others were downright hostile. For those wh...

sloth wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 25, 2021 10:12 am

Has anyone who applied as an environmental sciences applicant been contacted yet? I know the number of applicants and awardees in this category is few and far between.

Following this - anyone who applied for Biosciences or Biomedical Engineering been contacted yet?

I emailed two department heads to introduce myself. I think it shows initiative but I can see that it might get annoying, if it's a competitive SF. I mainly opted to do so because mine doesn't seem to get scholars often so I wanted to make sure they were aware that I was even applying. Did the SFs ...

I noticed that 4.3% of applicants are BME in 2020 and 0% were awarded. Does anyone know why this would be? If there are BME facilities wouldn't they are least take a few? I'm a semifinalist BME so just curious. The BME field classification is relatively new to the program. When I first applied back...

SMARTuser wrote: ↑

Wed Feb 03, 2021 4:14 pm

Anyone know the acceptance rate of people notified they are a semifinalist? For example, If SMART selects 1000 semi-finalists, how many of those are extended an offer? 1 in 5, 1 in 10 etc.??

You can find that type of info on the website: https://www.smartscholarship.org/smart?id=program_stats

Dilly wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 01, 2021 2:50 pm

This is going to be the longest week ever.

I noticed that for a majority of the years (not all) the semi-finalist notifications drop the first Monday of February.

Wonder if we'll get it by the end of today?

anm12 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 10, 2021 1:48 pm

Do we find our either way?

We all get an official email.

SkyWalker15 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:25 pm

Any updates or emails yet?

We'll get notified probably beginning of February.

Spoke to the SMART office today. As of 3:15, there were about 2000 completed applications and about 8000 in progress. The person I spoke with indicated there might be over 500 scholarships awarded this round. I'm curious if making the test scores optional this cycle made people more competitive in ...

Well folks, looks like I called it - standardized testing IS waived this cycle! Test Scores Standardized test scores will not be reviewed as part of your application. In previous years, SMART has required test scores for Freshman, First Year Associate and graduate applicants. This year, due to limit...

> I am considering triple majoring with the third degree in either pure mathematics or statistics. At most this would push me back by one year. Not worth it, especially if it sets you back another year. If you are already getting an Applied Math degree, what is the point in triple majoring with pur...

With many schools waiving standardized testing this application cycle (SATs/ACTs/GREs), what do you think are the odds that SMART will also waive these requirements? Personally I think this should be standard if the STEM program you got into didn't require these in the first place. I find it a bit o...

Piggybacking off of what TomNook said, you want to look into the forum section on Federal Soup. On reddit, I found r/usajobs and r/fednews to be helpful, although those are geared towards all fed employees rather than DoD specifically.

Evening everyone, Has anyone ever gotten a non-SMART DoD facility to become an official Sponsoring Facility? I'm a civilian engineer (federal employee) working for the DoD but unfortunately my organization is not affiliated with SMART, much less heard of it. I've been trying to ring this up to my ch...

If the school data is correct, I didn't get the award. I'm 99% sure I was the only one to apply from my school and it isn't listed.

To everyone else, good luck!

Edit: I received invalid user/password error, so it looks like "Temp Closed" means you got the award.

Hi Biomed, I had a 3.96 undergrad GPA in a traditional engineering discipline plus a full year of paid internships. As far as I know I being considered by just one sponsoring facility and they may not even select me. Those whole thing has the same cruel randomness as applying to an ivy league schoo...

Unless you were only willing to accept an offer from your top SF, there is still a chance that you have been recommended without interview by another SF. Many past recipients indicated never having been interviewed. I picked my top 3 SF choices with regards to the research and work experience I had...

As the title says, I called HR at my first choice for SF selection (they did not previously contact me before this). They informed me interviews already went out and have already determined who they are going to sponsor. Well guys, it's been fun. At least I don't have to wait for the April notificat...