Should I bother?

[spektryna]

Hi all,

I am currently a 3rd year PhD student in Pharmacology, but actually do research on neuroscience of TBI (heavy electrophysiology and biochemistry). I was blessed with an NIH sponsored training fellowship and have a few other fellowships that I want to apply for and have a good chance of getting; however, I am really interested in the SMART program since I want to join the military after getting my PhD and I figured that a DoD fellowship would be excellent for this. I've been reading this forum for a while now and after so many horror stories I started questioning my decision. I would like to ask you then, given my future plans, is this fellowship even worth it? I understand that some people don't have a choice but since I have other fellowships available, should I just stick with those and work on something else that I can tailor towards military?

Thanks for all your responses.

[jjm390]

Hi all,

I am currently a 3rd year PhD student in Pharmacology, but actually do research on neuroscience of TBI (heavy electrophysiology and biochemistry). I was blessed with an NIH sponsored training fellowship and have a few other fellowships that I want to apply for and have a good chance of getting; however, I am really interested in the SMART program since I want to join the military after getting my PhD and I figured that a DoD fellowship would be excellent for this. I've been reading this forum for a while now and after so many horror stories I started questioning my decision. I would like to ask you then, given my future plans, is this fellowship even worth it? I understand that some people don't have a choice but since I have other fellowships available, should I just stick with those and work on something else that I can tailor towards military?

Thanks for all your responses.

I was enlisted, and not officer, so take this for what it is worth:

If I were you, I would explore some of the officer accession programs if you want to go active duty. If you want to go reserves, the SMART program would probably work for you.

If a military lifestyle is what you want, you would be well served to get used to the way the government works. It is my feeling that a great deal of the dissatisfaction with the SMART program arise from the lack of familiarity with how to be successful in a government environment. I may change my mind after my first internship this summer, but I doubt it.

Also,if you are planning on a military career, negatives related to resume building would likely not apply to you. You may want to find an officer (not a recruiter for this purpose) who works in the military field you want to go into and find out what would be expected of you in the service. This can aid your decisions before you talk to a recruiter.

For what it's worth, I too am a PhD student (in computer science), and am planning on joining the reserves next year as an officer.

[spektryna]

Yeah, I want to go active duty right after grad school and stay in the military as long as possible.

I am considering JRCOSTEP fellowhsip in addition to all other fellowships. I have been building my resume towards industry thus far (several business certifications, biotech training, industry training) but what can I do to make myself more attractive to the military? Would ROTC be a good idea if I can somehow dedicate some time to it?

Thanks!

[guest]

I was enlisted USMC and my wife is a naval officer. I would just stick with other fellowships, talk to your school's rotc program or even the common recruiter. This program would put you on a contract afterward which is delaying your time of entrance into the military; which, you probably want to do while you are as young as possible. Military is not hard to get into. You do not need to build an amazing resume for it.

As the gentleman above mentioned, talk to an officer in the field you want to enter.... or recruiter, or ROTC.

[spektryna]

Thanks for all your advice.

I talked to plenty of officers who are currently occupying the position I want to apply for and the job seems appealing thus far. I might just take some ROTC classes then and focus on publishing instead.

Again, thanks a lot!

[Guest]

My advice to you (as a person about to leave Phase II) is that if you are good enough to get the SMART Scholarship, you would be better off not taking it. Students who have such excellent career potential would be better served by taking the grad school fellowships (~10-20% less pay than SMART, and full tuition just like SMART). This way, you do not owe the government all the money, and when you get hired you have actual negotiating power.