SF Transfer (Success Story)

General Discussion for SMART Scholarship Recipients
ZoeLavander

SF Transfer (Success Story)

Post by ZoeLavander »

I always see a lot of threads about switching SFs and that if anyone had a success story to share to please share it, so I guess this is just how I did it. My original SF was nice, but another SF was definitely a better fit for me for what I wanted to pursue in my career. My supervisor and internship coordinator at my original SF were super supportive in me switching, and my new SF really wanted me.

I am currently a senior finishing out my undergrad, and I decided to go for a Master's. To do this, I have to reapply for the SMART program again but for a Master's instead of a bachelor's. When I did this, for the recommendation letters I had 1 letter from my original SF stating they would like me to pursue a master's on an official letterhead, another rec letter from my supervisor that gave their blessing for me to switch to a new SF (and stated that SF clearly in the rec), and then had the supervisor at my new SF that I wanted to write a rec letter saying they would want me. I put the new SF I wanted as my first choice facility during this process and submitted the application. Then, the new SF that I wanted then selected me and submitted to SMART saying they wanted me.

This worked. My new contract now has the SF I wanted to switch to with no worries for my follow-on award.

I know a lot of you want to know how to switch during your commitment when finishing out your undergraduate degree, but I thought I would just share just in case this helps anyone!

Things of extra to note though:
—My supervisor was EXTREMELY supportive of me going to a different SF.
—Although I switched SFs, I am still working at the same base so I didn't switch location-wise.
—SMART made this decision for me, they could have just as easily sent me back to my original SF, but they assigned me to my new SF. I never once told them I was considering the switch and I never asked them about it. I simply submitted the application again but with my new SF being my first choice and with the knowledge that they were going to pick me during the selection process. When talking with my SMART coordinator, she seemed completely fine with this and had nothing to say when the topic came up.

If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!