Do incoming freshman have a reasonable chance?

[Guest]

I'll be starting college this fall. As an engineering major, I'm very interested in the SMART scholarship program. My question is, even with outstanding recommendations and test scores, do freshman applicants have a solid chance of being accepted?

[DocSea]

As per https://smart.asee.org/program_stats/2015_award_data, 53% of the awarded scholarships in 2015 were for bachelor's degrees. That page also lists several other useful stats, such as the percentage of awards by discipline and the overall acceptance rate of 11%.

Given that data, I think you have as fair a shot as anyone else if your grades are good and your major aligns well. Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science are the highest percentage of awardees (~124 awardees), so your odds are better if you are in one of those than something like mathematics or physics (~15 awardees). It never hurts to apply though.

As I'm sure you're aware through reading this board and SMART's literature, the SMART program is NOT a "free money" scholarship. You WILL be expected to serve at a specific DoD facility upon your graduation, regardless of if you wish to pursue graduate school or other opportunities. This can be a good or bad thing, depending upon your situation. On one hand, its a guaranteed job. On the other, it can sometimes be a very unfulfilling commitment (see other threads on this board).

You should absolutely apply, as the stipend (when it shows up on time) is very helpful for a struggling college students and the payment of tuition and fees is great. There's no harm in applying, but think very carefully before you accept any offers. This scholarship comes with lots of strings attached.

[Guest]

As I'm sure you're aware through reading this board and SMART's literature, the SMART program is NOT a "free money" scholarship. You WILL be expected to serve at a specific DoD facility upon your graduation, regardless of if you wish to pursue graduate school or other opportunities. This can be a good or bad thing, depending upon your situation. On one hand, its a guaranteed job. On the other, it can sometimes be a very unfulfilling commitment (see other threads on this board).

Except, as mentioned in other threads, it's actually not a guaranteed job. The sponsoring facility which selects you is under no obligation to offer you a job when you are ready to graduate. They have a hiring authority given to them by congressional law, and that's an option they can CHOOSE to use in the event they want to hire you into federal service without a lot of red tape. But if they decide against hiring you, they will tell the SMART Program Office to go pound sand and the scholarship recipient is left as a pawn in the center of two bureaucracies.

The unfortunate part, however, is the SMART Program Office will treat the scholarship recipient as though they did something to put their "guaranteed job" in jeopardy, and come after the scholar with repayment threats/demands. This behavior will happen regardless of whether or not the SMART Program Office knows that political games are being played at the sponsor facility (i.e. hiring freezes, management tussles, funding cuts to departments, etc.). All these examples are well out of the recipient's control, yet the SMART Program has a path of recourse against the scholar that they do not have against the sponsor facility, so the scholar will take the brunt of the blame.

[DocSea]

Except, as mentioned in other threads, it's actually not a guaranteed job. The sponsoring facility which selects you is under no obligation to offer you a job when you are ready to graduate. They have a hiring authority given to them by congressional law, and that's an option they can CHOOSE to use in the event they want to hire you into federal service without a lot of red tape. But if they decide against hiring you, they will tell the SMART Program Office to go pound sand and the scholarship recipient is left as a pawn in the center of two bureaucracies.

The unfortunate part, however, is the SMART Program Office will treat the scholarship recipient as though they did something to put their "guaranteed job" in jeopardy, and come after the scholar with repayment threats/demands. This behavior will happen regardless of whether or not the SMART Program Office knows that political games are being played at the sponsor facility (i.e. hiring freezes, management tussles, funding cuts to departments, etc.). All these examples are well out of the recipient's control, yet the SMART Program has a path of recourse against the scholar that they do not have against the sponsor facility, so the scholar will take the brunt of the blame.

There is no denying this can and has happened. However it should be noted that this scenario is atypical. In the event this does happen, SMART usually expects the scholarship participant to find employment with another sponsoring facility. They may or may not provide assistance in doing so. To my knowledge, any job at any DoD facility will fit that bill, regardless of what your field of study is. Failure to do so usually results in the threatening/demanding behavior the SPO is famous for. So Guest #2 is correct and my statement of "guaranteed job" should come with a big fat asterisk. As I said before, think long and hard before accepting the scholarship.

Side Note:
I have personally never heard of the SPO actually carrying out their threats of recollection. As far as I've read on this board, no one else seems to know anyone who's faced recollection either. That does not mean it's outside the realm of possibility. (If anyone knows of them actually following through on that, I'd love to know some details.)