The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

I am filling out my application for 2015 and was wondering what type of references I should use. I have 2 references who are academic but I was wondering if I should have a employer reference also.

I used all academic sources, but I would say the most important factor is how well your sources know you.

When I applied, I had my supervisor from my previous internship write one, and my Department Head (a Chief Warrant Officer 4) write the other. I figured that was the best plan because the one from my previous internship spoke directly to my skills as an engineer, as well as my desire and drive to learn, and the one from my Department Head spoke to my ability to integrate seamlessly with the way the military operates, even though I wasn't working on engineering. Both of those are crucial skills for success in a career with DoD, so I believe it helped considerably.

tl;dr: Get letters that don't just talk about academics, but also your ability to work within the way DoD operates.