The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Hey everyone. I'm a current SMART participant who stumbled across this board while going to the main ASEE SMART website via google. I saw some question threads so I though I would stop in and see if I can answer any questions you might have about the scholarship. I'v been in the program since fall 2008 and have already completed one internship.

It's cool seeing this forum here. When I applied, the SMART program seemed unheard of on the internet.

As sort of a disclaimer, things do change so my answers may not always be correct. (EX: Maintaining a higher GPA while in the program)


EDIT: Ah, I just saw that there was a general questions thread already and has been locked to focus on specific threads. In that case, I'll see if I can answer questions in their specific threads.

Thanks for the help.

Chris

What is your major and sponsoring facility?

Were you interviewed? If so, how many did you get? Did you get picked up by a facility that interviewed you? What were the the interview questions like?

I haven't got a call yet, is it means that they are not interested in me?

Matthew wrote:What is your major and sponsoring facility?

Computer Science and Warner Robins Air Force Base. There were quire a few CS majors the year I went to orientation if I recall.

Archemedies wrote:Were you interviewed? If so, how many did you get? Did you get picked up by a facility that interviewed you? What were the the interview questions like?

I was interviewed by the Air Force liaison one time in mid March on basic stuff like "was I willing to work for the Air Force" (I had selected all intelligence agencies as my choices) and other security clearance validation questions. There were no normal job interview questions. He was calling from Texas, so he was calling on my facilities behalf. The interview was short, about 5 minutes. I was driving at the time and just pulled over into a parking lot for it.

guest wrote:I haven't got a call yet, is it means that they are not interested in me?

I wouldn't rule it out yet. I was interviewed mid March. I think it was somewhere between the 15-17th.

Did you have to pay for your orientation expenses such as plane ticket and hotel?
How long was the orientation?

Matthew wrote:Did you have to pay for your orientation expenses such as plane ticket and hotel?
How long was the orientation?

Don't hold me to it, but I'm fairly sure orientation is a week long and they cover at least your travel expenses. I'm not sure about hotel or food though. At least that's what it sounded like on the screen it showed after you submitted your application.

Guest wrote:

Matthew wrote:Did you have to pay for your orientation expenses such as plane ticket and hotel?
How long was the orientation?

Don't hold me to it, but I'm fairly sure orientation is a week long and they cover at least your travel expenses. I'm not sure about hotel or food though. At least that's what it sounded like on the screen it showed after you submitted your application.

They pay for the flight, hotel, breakfast, and snacks during the sessions. You also receive the per-diem rate for Monterey; something like $70 a day to do whatever you want with.

Chris,
Is it in fact a week long? Would be a nice vacation but I will miss classes since I'm not taking the summer semester off.

For 2009, it was 4 days. There was a mixer the night we got there, two full days of stuff, then a closing meeting the last day in the morning. However, I think someone around here was saying that they were making it longer this year.

Man, my orientation was only 3 days if I recall. There was a mixer the night we arrived, a full day of orientation meetings, then a morning of meetings before we flew out. Monteray is an awesome place. I ended up getting myself a red eye (overnight) flight home, so I had 6 or so hours to walk the beach and the city.

Off topic, but while I was walking the beach, a pirate ship came over the horizon. I followed it to the dock and turns out it was in Pirates of the Caribbean. It was one very memorable day

Chris Moulder wrote:They pay for the flight, hotel, breakfast, and snacks during the sessions. You also receive the per-diem rate for Monterey; something like $70 a day to do whatever you want with.

I believe they gave us $30 a day at the orientation this past summer, but we only had to pay for dinner.