BE/ME

[jaymatsby]

Hello everyone,

I'm applying for the SMART award, but I think my situation is a bit unconventional.

I'm a senior Physics major at a liberal arts college, and I'm planning on doing a dual degree program with Vanderbilt University for electrical engineering. I want, though, to do a joint degree program there to get a bachelors and a masters degree, however I wouldn't be able to apply for it until the second year at Vanderbilt.

Has anyone done a program like this and gotten the SMART scholarship?

Also, what if I put one preferred school and end up wanting to go to another, or I say it will take 4 years and do it in 3? how does that work?

Thanks

[Answers]

You would have to apply twice. Once for them to cover your bachelor's, and then a second time for a follow on award to fund your master's. Or you could only apply for them to fund your master's only which is what it sounds like you are really asking about? Most people who want their master's funded apply the last year of their bachelor's.

As far as your second question, the change of schools MUST be approved by SMART otherwise you risk being kicked out of the program for not following their rules and therefore owe whatever they paid you up until you lost SMART. You must fill out an ammendment request and speak with your service liaison, etc. I don't know how often they approve those, but so long as the school has its merits or proves beneficial to them as far as your education, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be accepted.

If you finish a year early, SMART won't be happy and you run the risk of having no job for that whole year. I finished my course work a semester early so I continued to take classes on their dollar to get ahead in PhD work. If you know early enough, you could put in an ammendment request and see if they can start you a year early. If you finish only a semester only, just take the extra semester at school. They'll round up your commitment anyway (1.5 years of school requires 2 years of a commitment).

[guest0]

If you finish a year early, SMART won't be happy and you run the risk of having no job for that whole year. I finished my course work a semester early so I continued to take classes on their dollar to get ahead in PhD work. If you know early enough, you could put in an ammendment request and see if they can start you a year early. If you finish only a semester only, just take the extra semester at school. They'll round up your commitment anyway (1.5 years of school requires 2 years of a commitment).

Actually, per the most recent handbook, 1.5 years of school would only require 1.5 years of service:

" The SSP requires a minimum of 1 year of post-graduation employment for all SSPPs. SSPPs perform
post-graduation employment with the SF at the rate of 1 calendar year of service for each full academic
year. Financial support for an academic term (quarter, semester) that is less than a full academic year
requires an additional 6 months of post-graduation employment. For example, an award for 2 academic
years requires 24 months of service. An award for 1 and a half academic years requires 18 months of
service. "

So I guess if you want to get out of the DoD as soon as possible, you may want to consider compacting your courses to graduate earlier. But like Answers said, your request to shorten your award, even if you apply well in advance, is not guaranteed.