Official SMART Scholars 2014

[2014Smart]

Congratulations to everyone that was accepted!

Looks like the awards have been sent out in a decently timely manner. If you did not get an email be sure to check your SPAM folder. All those that did not get awarded you may get chosen in the second round or you have another shot next year.

So where was everyone accepted to? Are you planning on taking the scholarship?

Any other thoughts on the award?

[jjm390]

SF: SPAWAR Atlantic
School: University of Colorado Boulder
Degree: PhD in Computer Science
Award Length: 3 Years

[2014Smart]

Nice I assume your working on your paperwork? There is so much of it. And they only give you until June 12 to turn it in.

[jjm390]

Yes, I am about half way through the paperwork. You think this is bad, wait until you get to the security paperwork. Last time I did security clearance paperwork, it was a good 40 pages of questions outlining your life in exhaustive detail going back at least 7 years. Granted, it has been 16 years since I last went through the process, but I doubt it has gotten any better.

Oh, and make sure you don't miss the fact they they need your acceptance paperwork in their hands by the 12th. I would recommend mailing it out a week early via certified mail with return receipt.

Remember, this is the government. You need to be proactive, if something seems to be taking too long, take the initiative and call, write, email... Be your own advocate and you will do well dealing with the government.

[Larry]

Yes, I am about half way through the paperwork. You think this is bad, wait until you get to the security paperwork. Last time I did security clearance paperwork, it was a good 40 pages of questions outlining your life in exhaustive detail going back at least 7 years. Granted, it has been 16 years since I last went through the process, but I doubt it has gotten any better. :)

Oh, and make sure you don't miss the fact they they need your acceptance paperwork in their hands by the 12th. I would recommend mailing it out a week early via certified mail with return receipt.

Remember, this is the government. You need to be proactive, if something seems to be taking too long, take the initiative and call, write, email... Be your own advocate and you will do well dealing with the government.

Couldn't agree more! No one cares more about you then you. Take charge, and leave nothing to chance!

[2014Smart]

Yes, I am about half way through the paperwork. You think this is bad, wait until you get to the security paperwork. Last time I did security clearance paperwork, it was a good 40 pages of questions outlining your life in exhaustive detail going back at least 7 years. Granted, it has been 16 years since I last went through the process, but I doubt it has gotten any better. :)

Oh, and make sure you don't miss the fact they they need your acceptance paperwork in their hands by the 12th. I would recommend mailing it out a week early via certified mail with return receipt.

Remember, this is the government. You need to be proactive, if something seems to be taking too long, take the initiative and call, write, email... Be your own advocate and you will do well dealing with the government.

Thanks for that info. I'm planning on sending out my information sometime early next week.

I have been reading a lot of info about people that are unhappy with the SMART scholarship. Should this be taken with a grain of salt? It seems to me that the award is very generous and sets you up with a job after graduation. In this economy that seems to be a safe bet. Should I be worried about not being happy with the scholarship and work at the SF after graduation? Anyone please feel free to chime in.

[jjm390]

Thanks for that info. I'm planning on sending out my information sometime early next week.

I have been reading a lot of info about people that are unhappy with the SMART scholarship. Should this be taken with a grain of salt? It seems to me that the award is very generous and sets you up with a job after graduation. In this economy that seems to be a safe bet. Should I be worried about not being happy with the scholarship and work at the SF after graduation? Anyone please feel free to chime in.

That totally depends on you. If you think you can be comfortable working in the Government, I would say it is a great deal. The government bureaucracy scares a lot of people. For me, I spent many years in the Military, so the government mindset is very familiar to me. I think it is a great opportunity, and a very generous award. Again, I will stress that nothing will "just fall in your lap" while working for the government. You have to have initiative, and be on the lookout for yourself.

This initial paperwork is a good example. The deadlines are completely on you. You have the power to make it work for you (i.e. get the paperwork done early, ensure that it gets in on time, send it certified so you have some proof that you did what you were supposed to do and anything else was beyond your control, etc.), or you can procrastinate and likely miss some deadline because of something unforeseen! Use the "make it happen" mindset through the entire program and you will be golden. Furthermore, if you maintain that mindset, you will are actually likely to ENJOY your time working for the government. If you expect people to always do things with you in mind (there are a lot of those sorts out there), then you will likely hate it with every fiber of your being. It does take a certain type of individual to work for the government successfully. Of course the problem is, if you don't try, you will never know!

As always, this is just my opinion based on my time working under government bureaucracy. You milage may very.

[2014Smart]

Thanks for that info. I'm planning on sending out my information sometime early next week.

I have been reading a lot of info about people that are unhappy with the SMART scholarship. Should this be taken with a grain of salt? It seems to me that the award is very generous and sets you up with a job after graduation. In this economy that seems to be a safe bet. Should I be worried about not being happy with the scholarship and work at the SF after graduation? Anyone please feel free to chime in.

That totally depends on you. If you think you can be comfortable working in the Government, I would say it is a great deal. The government bureaucracy scares a lot of people. For me, I spent many years in the Military, so the government mindset is very familiar to me. I think it is a great opportunity, and a very generous award. Again, I will stress that nothing will "just fall in your lap" while working for the government. You have to have initiative, and be on the lookout for yourself.

This initial paperwork is a good example. The deadlines are completely on you. You have the power to make it work for you (i.e. get the paperwork done early, ensure that it gets in on time, send it certified so you have some proof that you did what you were supposed to do and anything else was beyond your control, etc.), or you can procrastinate and likely miss some deadline because of something unforeseen! Use the "make it happen" mindset through the entire program and you will be golden. Furthermore, if you maintain that mindset, you will are actually likely to ENJOY your time working for the government. If you expect people to always do things with you in mind (there are a lot of those sorts out there), then you will likely hate it with every fiber of your being. It does take a certain type of individual to work for the government successfully. Of course the problem is, if you don't try, you will never know! :)

As always, this is just my opinion based on my time working under government bureaucracy. You milage may very. :)

Yea that is sort of what I figured. Obviously the people that are not happy with the program are going to be louder than the people who are fine with it. The people who have positive experiences with the program have no need to let others know, but the people who are upset with the program want to let the world know.

To me it seems like the people that are not happy with the program are a little bit entitled and want everything to be perfect. Whether you're in the government or the private sector nothing is ever going to be perfect. I feel like if you're able to roll with the punches then either one can be a good fit for you.

Thanks again for the insight. Really helps having this forum to discuss with others about the program.

[Guest12]

Sent my paperwork in today! Certified express so it will be in DC tomorrow hopefully. I recommend getting official transcript requests into your universities ASAP because they can take weeks.

[Braumeister]

Hey everyone! I got notification that I was one of the lucky few (hundred)! I'm currently a junior in Electrical Engineering at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and will be working at Holloman AFB in NM. I spent eight years in the military prior to applying for this program and put in the application a month before I separated. I just finished up all of the paperwork -- I'm hopeful it gets there since I'm currently interning in Germany and had to send the packet out from Berlin. They refused to allow me to email anything.

[mathphd]

You are right, you can make the experience much better if you are proactive. However, if you draw motivation from others around you, perform better under pressure, or you need incentives to be motivated, then this isn't the right scholarship for you. If you want, you can browse facebook all day and get away with it. It is sometimes hard to motivate yourself when there are less obvious/immediate incentives. Promotion in many places will not be based off performance, but only time of service. I can imagine it's difficult to watch incompetent people move up the ranks. Also, keep in mind that the defense budget won't be going up, and most likely will be coming down in the next few years. This can't be good news for anyone in the sector.

At times, the work is frustrating, boring, and much lower pay than in industry. However, if you are content with a relaxed job with very few hours, it could be right for you. The people at my internship are very nice, and it's mostly a pleasant atmosphere to work in. However, there is a lot of laziness and incompetence, and it's easy to get dragged into that.

It depends what you're looking for. If you're a graduate student, I would say don't take SMART. There's almost no situation in which you will be better off, unless you're not in STEM. If you're an undergrad, it's actually a pretty sweet deal. If you like research, make sure you get a position at a lab and nothing on the GS pay scale. Thoroughly research your SF before committing, ask to talk to all SMART scholars confidentially, and don't trust the descriptions given to you by those recruiting you. My technical director gave me a mix of outright lies about the technical work and vague, exciting sounding project descriptions. I still take responsibility for being naive and not knowing myself and what I wanted. Its pretty simple. If you know you thrive off a challenge, stay away from SMART. If you need the money or you already know you like government work/are very familiar with your facility, then it might be a good deal.

Thanks for that info. I'm planning on sending out my information sometime early next week.

I have been reading a lot of info about people that are unhappy with the SMART scholarship. Should this be taken with a grain of salt? It seems to me that the award is very generous and sets you up with a job after graduation. In this economy that seems to be a safe bet. Should I be worried about not being happy with the scholarship and work at the SF after graduation? Anyone please feel free to chime in.

That totally depends on you. If you think you can be comfortable working in the Government, I would say it is a great deal. The government bureaucracy scares a lot of people. For me, I spent many years in the Military, so the government mindset is very familiar to me. I think it is a great opportunity, and a very generous award. Again, I will stress that nothing will "just fall in your lap" while working for the government. You have to have initiative, and be on the lookout for yourself.

This initial paperwork is a good example. The deadlines are completely on you. You have the power to make it work for you (i.e. get the paperwork done early, ensure that it gets in on time, send it certified so you have some proof that you did what you were supposed to do and anything else was beyond your control, etc.), or you can procrastinate and likely miss some deadline because of something unforeseen! Use the "make it happen" mindset through the entire program and you will be golden. Furthermore, if you maintain that mindset, you will are actually likely to ENJOY your time working for the government. If you expect people to always do things with you in mind (there are a lot of those sorts out there), then you will likely hate it with every fiber of your being. It does take a certain type of individual to work for the government successfully. Of course the problem is, if you don't try, you will never know! :)

As always, this is just my opinion based on my time working under government bureaucracy. You milage may very. :)

Yea that is sort of what I figured. Obviously the people that are not happy with the program are going to be louder than the people who are fine with it. The people who have positive experiences with the program have no need to let others know, but the people who are upset with the program want to let the world know.

To me it seems like the people that are not happy with the program are a little bit entitled and want everything to be perfect. Whether you're in the government or the private sector nothing is ever going to be perfect. I feel like if you're able to roll with the punches then either one can be a good fit for you.

Thanks again for the insight. Really helps having this forum to discuss with others about the program.

[Guest12]

Has anyone's award status on the required forms changed? It still says my paperwork work is Not Received and they arrived in the mail at ASEE Tuesday morning.

[jjm390]

Has anyone's award status on the required forms changed? It still says my paperwork work is Not Received and they arrived in the mail at ASEE Tuesday morning.

I talked to them yesterday and they said that the status would update as soon as all of my paperwork was processed. I would assume it takes a little while for them to process the paperwork.

[Guest12]

Has anyone's award status on the required forms changed? It still says my paperwork work is Not Received and they arrived in the mail at ASEE Tuesday morning.

I talked to them yesterday and they said that the status would update as soon as all of my paperwork was processed. I would assume it takes a little while for them to process the paperwork.

jjm390, okay thanks. My portal says half of them are received. I sent them all so I'm hoping they're just halfway through the process.

[jjm390]

Has anyone's award status on the required forms changed? It still says my paperwork work is Not Received and they arrived in the mail at ASEE Tuesday morning.

I talked to them yesterday and they said that the status would update as soon as all of my paperwork was processed. I would assume it takes a little while for them to process the paperwork.

jjm390, okay thanks. My portal says half of them are received. I sent them all so I'm hoping they're just halfway through the process.

Only half of mine have been processed, but looking at the list of what is not processed yet, they are all forms that need to go through an outside agency. My guess is that those take longer to process.

If you are worried, just email smart to confirm that your paperwork is in order with no problems. That is what I did. They seem to be very prompt replying.

[2014Smart]

Glad the site is back up. So far two of the required documents have been processed also.

[Guest]

So, the paperwork is in. Now what? I keep hearing the notifications (orientation email, bursar letters) will be coming. But when?

[jjm390]

So, the paperwork is in. Now what? I keep hearing the notifications (orientation email, bursar letters) will be coming. But when?

I got this form response today when I inquired:
------

You should be contacted soon regarding the SMART online orientation. Since the SMART Program Office is the office administering the orientation, please email smart@nps.edu or smartsecurity@nps.edu with any orientation questions.

ASEE will be generating bursar letters for all awardees to submit to their schools authorizing them to invoice ASEE for all tuition fees. We will notify all awardees once this letter is available. You will be able to access the letter via your award portal.

[Guest12]

Does SMART cover room and board? It didn't in the past but I think I'm reading in the handbook that it does?

[jjm390]

My orientation login information came in today. If you haven't seen it yet, check your spam folder. Gmail spammed mine.

[PhdCpE]

Does the threat of dept repayment for non compliance scare anyone else?

[jjm390]

Does the threat of dept repayment for non compliance scare anyone else?

I like to call that the "Doom and Gloom" section that pretty much all DoD programs have. The reality is usually much different from what it sounds like. Wording is very important with the DoD... Those "May" statements are very important. They don't often tell you what the exceptions are (they likely don't know themselves, as they will likely be handled on a case by case basis)

That being said, the sections where thay say "Will" are equally important, as there are likely already mechanisms in place to handle those situations.

Again, just my opinion of how things work, don't take it for gospel.

[msk22]

Does anyone know when the bursar's letter will be available?

[smart2014]

I'm wondering when the bursar letter will be available too, it should be on our https://smart.asee.org/award/ page, right?

[jjm390]

I'm wondering when the bursar letter will be available too, it should be on our https://smart.asee.org/award/ page, right?

Yup. Got mine today.