The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

The other responder is correct. Defaulting on SMART gets accounted as a debt to the U.S. government, not a student loan.

I asked several months ago and SMART said they wouldn't really talk about it until 2021. For paperwork and logistical reasons, they need to know by around March because that's when we'd typically be working on arrangements for ISPs. If your facility is operating on-site by then, you would supposedly...

Anybody had any luck starting discussions about rescheduling internships with their SF? I was really looking forward to mine and definitely plan to reschedule if possible but haven't really gotten any conversation going yet.

As per the program handbook, you are required to do an internship every summer until you graduate. If you're in a PhD, make sure the corresponding research delay due to being absent every summer is built into the award length of your service agreement. I can't answer your other questions, but my adv...

I believe that email was only sent to current scholars. If you are cohort of 2020, you have not officially, fully, finally accepted the scholarship (aka had your site visit and signed on the dotted line for the last time) so you probably weren't on that list. I don't know why that policy wouldn't ap...

A few responses: 1. If you are denied clearance because of something you are upfront about and don't try to hide it or lie, you do not pay back any money. You are removed from the program and that's it. I received this in writing from my SF before accepting my award, because I was legitimately conc...

I can't tell if this is a joke post or not. The clearance process isn't about making sure you've never done anything wrong in your life. It's about making sure you aren't going to give away government secrets, either because you're broke, able to be blackmailed, or otherwise invested in a foreign c...

I'm getting cold feet as I contemplate whether or not to accept the award. My main concern is the fear of being forced to repay the scholarship if I can't get a clearance, something I simply can't afford. I've received a lot of mixed signals about the process and what will/will not be a disqualifyin...