Been Contacted?

[Jim M]

Mark,

Good find... I missed it. Again though I read phone interviews are conducted with all between March 15th and 28th. Am I wrong? I did not read anything in the february section about interviews. Either way it is reassuring.

Thank you for finding it! It does clarify the timeline with a lot more info

[jramcam]

Jim M.

I think you are sweating this stuff way too much, there is nothing you can do right now except for preparing for an eventual interview, that is it. Even if any of us make the list of candidates recommended by the sponsoring facilities, it is the SPO who makes the final selection. Making up theories about how selections are made, or thinking about why some people are being contacted and some people are not, will not increase or decrease your chances to get the scholarship, so just relax and wait.

Whether you want to believe what I posted on this forum is true or not is up to you, it definitely does not bother me. The only numbers you can trust for sure are the numbers that were provided on the e-mail that ASEE SMART Scholarship Team sent. That is that only 1500 out of 3300+ applicants made the semifinalist list, and that out of those 1500 semifinalists anywhere from 250 to 300 applicants will receive an award.

[Mark T]

Hey Jim, not a problem.

You are correct that in March 15-28, SMART conducts interviews. But from what I've read(**) and from a friend who had won, that was more a formality / point of clarifiation / "Are you sure you are still interested?" kind of interview. The real "meat" of the interviewing occurred from the DoD lab. The SMART part is more of the formalities.

From the previous link I sent, the first line of Feb. 1 indicates that DoD labs interview candidates...

DoD agencies review and interview candidates with backgrounds and interests meeting the agency's workforce needs.

(**)

d) Semi-finalist applications are made available to people at the DoD facilities where awardees ultimately end up working after graduation. Groups of people at these facilities review applications of individuals with backgrounds and interests that are aligned with their projected workforce needs. Most facilities conduct phone interviews with these individuals. From this group, each facility submits a list of candidates they recommend for award and placement with their organization.

e) The SMART Program Office (SPO) complies these lists, resolves issues that arise when the same candidate is recommended for placement at multiple facilities, and conducts further screening to insure recommended candidates a) understand the nature of the post-graduation service commitment and b) are willing and able to comply with the terms of the service agreement.

f) Based on the results of these screening efforts and the available budget, a sub-set of these applicants are chosen for an award.

--Taken from Chris Moulder's Post "Application Review Process - Read This"

[Jim M]

Mark T.,

Point made! I see the logic now...

Jramcam,

Sir you are mistaken... There is plenty I can doo right now! Good conversation and debate are great for making time pass! :)

[jramcam]

You are probably right, I am mistaken, there is plenty of stuff you can do, you can start by reading ALL the info in the timetable.

[guest]

EVERYONE....This isn't Facebook!!!!

[Jim M]

Your right! This is not facebook! It is the "unofficial SMART scholarship Forum"

Forum - a public meeting or assembly for opendiscussion

It is here we discuss the scholarship. I apologize to all if I seem overly concerned or I think about the subject too much for you.
For me this scholarship is more than just a way to pay for college or a job afterwards. It may very well be the only way for me to continue to receive an education.

I am sorry for "over thinking" my future!

What I have done follows the scientific method! I made observations, hypothesized on the meanings and put it in front of my peer group for review.

[Guest]

Getting back on topic, could people please post where they are getting interviews from. That way those of us who have not yet been contacted can find out if the places we are interested in simply have not done interviews yet.

[jramcam]

Jim M.

There is nothing wrong about worrying about the scholarship or the future, we are all in the same boat here, but in my opinion you are overdoing it. I hope you didn't take offense from any of my posts, that was not my intention.

Guest

Going back to the topic, the interview was with USACE.

[xkcd13]

I got a call today from a facility that I did not actually apply to.

They just asked if I would be interested in working at their facility after I graduate. Of course, I said yes and he asked if I'd be willing to drive to the facility at some point. No indication of when this visit might be though.

A few other questions he ask where about which of my two majors (comp sci/comp sec) I preferred and about what programming languages I know. I think it went well; my fingers are crossed!

Also, they just called out of the blue with no email to arrange a time.

[jim M]

Where did they call from?

[guest]

Does the SMART office email all 1,500 applications to each sponsoring facility? Does someone at each facility spend an entire day reading through 1,000+ applications?

Do the facilities determine a specific need in their group and then look for someone with similar interests? Or do they look at GRE score, grades, school reputation, etc and choose the best qualified scholar? I have no idea how they approach this.

[xkcd13]

To Jim M:
The call came from Picatinny Arsenal, NJ.

To the guess directly above:
The person I talked to said that there is a database of all the candidates sent to each facility. He was contacting people who are local and where is the STEM field they were looking for. I suppose that they did not receive many applicants to their facility.

[Jim M]

If the math holds... 4 posts about interviews probably means there have been about 300 phone calls made. Still relatively low considering the suggestions are due by March 19. Maybe we will see the activity increase here in the next week or so.

[Guest]

If the math holds... 4 posts about interviews probably means there have been about 300 phone calls made. Still relatively low considering the suggestions are due by March 19. Maybe we will see the activity increase here in the next week or so.

Perhaps it differs by facility, but I was informed that they had to have their suggestions in by March 14th, not the 19th.

[jramcam]

According to SMART's Application Timeline, Dod Agencies (Sponsoring Facilities) have to submit their list of recommended candidates to the SPO by March 15th. So far, they have been consistent with the timeline, Semifinalist list was sent out on the 31st just as scheduled. I don't know if they are gonna send an e-mail to the ones that made the recommended list on March 15th or if they are just going to e-mail the award winners on March 31st. Maybe one of the prior year recipients can tell us how it was when they got selected.

[fish]

not to be political, but maybe the lack of contact is because of the continuing resolution. a lot of resources are being used by DOD to report up their chain of command about how much money they have left, how much they still need, and what won't get done if the money doesn't come in. it's like the dilbert cartoon where the boss asks for progress reports every hour to find out why the project isn't getting done

[Jim M]

Yea... the 14th. That leaves even less time for the rest of the phone calls.

[administrator]

not to be political, but maybe the lack of contact is because of the continuing resolution. a lot of resources are being used by DOD to report up their chain of command about how much money they have left, how much they still need, and what won't get done if the money doesn't come in. it's like the dilbert cartoon where the boss asks for progress reports every hour to find out why the project isn't getting done

Communication has always been pretty limited; I wouldn't speculate too much.

That said, the 2012 (2/2011 Rev.) DOD Budget has $56.201 million budgeted for 2011, so it doesn't look like the scholarship is going anywhere.

The budget also has a few notes on the program. Just search for "scholarship":
2012: http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudge ... _E/OSD.pdf
2011: http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudge ... e%203A.pdf

[Mike Birkhead]

Still not contacted, but I know it's still a 20% chance all the way up to the last day!

I told myself about a week or two ago that I wasn't going to get back on here till I received an email or a phone call, but let's face it, this is the Facebook of SMART applicants! (Minus the pictures).

I see a few people have been contacted. That kind of adds a level of excitement to this thing. I hope you all did well and I hope the rest of you all do well.

[Mike Birkhead]

not to be political, but maybe the lack of contact is because of the continuing resolution. a lot of resources are being used by DOD to report up their chain of command about how much money they have left, how much they still need, and what won't get done if the money doesn't come in. it's like the dilbert cartoon where the boss asks for progress reports every hour to find out why the project isn't getting done

Communication has always been pretty limited; I wouldn't speculate too much.

That said, the 2012 (2/2011 Rev.) DOD Budget has $56.201 million budgeted for 2011, so it doesn't look like the scholarship is going anywhere.

The budget also has a few notes on the program. Just search for "scholarship":
2012: http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudge ... _E/OSD.pdf
2011: http://comptroller.defense.gov/defbudge ... e%203A.pdf

Continuing resolutions make me want to vomit (just a little) and swallow it back down... [ewww].
I've been budgeting money for the army under continuing resolution since October 1st.
In my line of work, if something is going to take 6 months to get done, then you start working on it 6 months before it's due - not the same week it's due!

[akahuli]

I was contacted this morning for an interview-- no e-mail, just an impromptu call. Thanks for those who posted earlier about the type of questions they asked, as there were no questions that came out of the blue e.g. Why did you choose our facility, etc. Mostly she talked about what the facility does, and what I should expect as far as responsibilities and skill sets. The facility was White Sands Missle Testing in New Mexico.
Keep your cell phones on everyone!!

[jramcam]

I am very glad to hear that more people are getting interviews. Please keep posting your experiences through this process, this definitely helps with the waiting. I probably check this forum everyday and it's worth it, lots of valuable information here!

I also wanted to thank administrator for posting the DoD budget for SMART, $56.2 M for FY 2011 & $53.3 M for FY 2012 sounds a lot better when compared to $27.1 M for FY 2009 & $31.2 M for FY 2010, more money more scholarship awards!

[Mike Birkhead]

Mike from earlier in this thread has some excellent advice. Just google "how to job interview" and you'll learn tons more.

So to expand on Mike's comments, also study up on phone interview tips.
.

Thanks for the props mark! I like your additional advice - study up on phone interview tips... Something I hadn't really even considered as being a big difference maker, but your point is valid. Time to hit up google one on this!

[akahuli]

Also, they want to do a video conference next week-- with the "bosses" as in multiple. She said to review their website to become familiar with the facility and the organization as they are going to ask me specific questions. She sounded really positive and friendly. Really wanted to know if I was willing to stay longer than my service contract-- which I am, I want this to be my career. So crossing fingers and toes.