The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Hi everyone. Is there anyone on here who started off as a Recruitment applicant, worked their service commitment, then applied as a Retention applicant with their SF and went back to school? My award is supposed to last for the completion of my B.S./M.S., and I was considering going back to school at the end of my service commitment for my PhD, and I figured that applying as a Retention applicant with my SF would be a good idea.

Is it better to go in as a Recruitment applicant instead of a Retention applicant? Did you find it easier or harder to be re-awarded? Is there any advice or different ideas you have about going about this?

Thanks!

hokie06 wrote:Hi everyone. Is there anyone on here who started off as a Recruitment applicant, worked their service commitment, then applied as a Retention applicant with their SF and went back to school? My award is supposed to last for the completion of my B.S./M.S., and I was considering going back to school at the end of my service commitment for my PhD, and I figured that applying as a Retention applicant with my SF would be a good idea.

Is it better to go in as a Recruitment applicant instead of a Retention applicant? Did you find it easier or harder to be re-awarded? Is there any advice or different ideas you have about going about this?

Thanks!

I've only ever been a recruitment applicant, so I can't speak to some of what you asked, but I can say that there are pros and cons to being a retention candidate. First and foremost, the service commitment is not 1:1, it's actually 2:1, so if it takes 4 years for your PhD you'll owe 8 years. On the other hand, instead of a flat stipend, recruitment candidates retain their current salary, so you'd likely be the highest paid PhD student at your school.

SMART requires our SFs higher us as permanent appointments vs term (as is more typical), so we are eligible for a number of tuition programs only available to the limited number of permanent appointments. I would definitely shop around and make sure that going back for a PhD is the best option for you.

So... a few things to clear up here:

1) Retention scholars have the same service commitment at recruitment scholars. 1:1
2) You do NOT retain you current salary. How it works is you can continue working for the SF (where you already work) where you get paid for the hours you work + you get the stipend. For me, that's $38,000. So, for example, if you work 20 hours a week for the SF while you are a SMART scholar, you get paid for 20 hours + $38,000 per year. This is supposed to help make up for your full salary, but in reality it may not make it up completely. Either way, its not as simple as "you retain your full salary" -- negative.

RETENTION SCHOLAR wrote:So... a few things to clear up here:

1) Retention scholars have the same service commitment at recruitment scholars. 1:1
2) You do NOT retain you current salary. How it works is you can continue working for the SF (where you already work) where you get paid for the hours you work + you get the stipend. For me, that's $38,000. So, for example, if you work 20 hours a week for the SF while you are a SMART scholar, you get paid for 20 hours + $38,000 per year. This is supposed to help make up for your full salary, but in reality it may not make it up completely. Either way, its not as simple as "you retain your full salary" -- negative.

I'm sorry for providing incorrect information about the service commitment ratio! That came from my mentor who was a retention scholar a few years back, so I guess it must be out of date now.

It seems like the retention stipend/salary might vary based on your SF though. I know at an information session I went to this summer, we were told retention scholars retain their present salary. Maybe that is out of date too or assumed the part time work, but I thought they had made it pretty clear.