Impact on Grad School Acceptance

[soindecisive]

Is it strange to be worried more about being accepted into a good grad program than being accepted into SMART itself? I would love to go to a great school for a PhD, but I'm not sure if my application is competitive enough. As a retention candidate I feel like I have good chances of getting SMART, but would this help me get into a good PhD program? I've heard responses all over the place, from "yes, absolutely", to "no, not at all." The timelines are confusing too.. PhD programs typically get back as early as February with acceptances, but SMART can take until April. Anyone have experience on this matter?