I was a little divided at first as to whether SMART was worth it... Even with the free tuition and stipend, it seemed like it might not have made up for missing out on "STEM job in a big city" pay.
I just had two friends with nice paying jobs in Boston and SF get laid off this week. Rent was so high, they didn't have a ton saved, so now they're up a creek.
The tangled beuracracy that is the federal government can be horrifying, but with the way things are going I'm thanking my lucky stars they're contractually obligated to keep me on another two years
I think it depends on a lot of factors. If you're one of the horror stories on here whose SF offered you something ridiculous like 30k/yr for a STEM major, I think you'd be right to be grumpy with that regardless of macroeconomic conditions.
That said, I'm pretty stoked with the way things have worked out for me. I just graduated this year, and the idea of looking for a job in all this craziness... Yeah, I'd say I'm pretty grateful.
