No phone interview request = bad sign?

[Matthew]

Yeah, Im sure thats true. I just hope there aren't too many masters/phd applicants. Its not the end of the world if I dont get the scholarship this year. I am only a freshman and applied for a 3 year scholarship. Which many have said they usually dont give out scholarships over 2 years long. But we will see.

[rmw228]

I'm not sure I agree with the assessment of who they would want to talk to. As a graduate student, what I currently work on and what I want to work on in the future is pretty well spelled out. If my research and interests match theirs, then there may be no need to call me.

Additionally, the resume (or CV) of a PhD student is a little bit more developed than that of an undergraduate student, listing presentations, publications and internships that the student has participated in. Undergraduate students would be a lot more of a risk choosing just from GPA and test scores.

I may be wrong, it's just my opinion. I haven't gotten a call yet as a graduate student, whatever that means to those reading. I won't count myself out until I get an e-mail telling me I haven't been chosen.

[Matthew]

I'm not sure I agree with the assessment of who they would want to talk to. As a graduate student, what I currently work on and what I want to work on in the future is pretty well spelled out. If my research and interests match theirs, then there may be no need to call me.

Additionally, the resume (or CV) of a PhD student is a little bit more developed than that of an undergraduate student, listing presentations, publications and internships that the student has participated in. Undergraduate students would be a lot more of a risk choosing just from GPA and test scores.

I may be wrong, it's just my opinion. I haven't gotten a call yet as a graduate student, whatever that means to those reading. I won't count myself out until I get an e-mail telling me I haven't been chosen.

You make a great point. However, have you in fact received an interview yet?

I am indeed an undergraduate but not an ordinary one. I am 22 fixing to turn 23, I have a full time job and take part time classes. Which I have been doing for 2 years now. I have a great deal of responsibility in my current job along with a great work history and a letter of recommendation from my boss. The one thing I would say I am lacking is research experience which may be my downfall but hopefully not. I do have a great academic record. The only reason I havent already graduated is of course money.

[Guest]

half of these answers are giving me hope & half are making me feel bad, since i'm a grad school applicant semi-finalist, but haven't gotten a call yet. my major is geography though, which doesn't seem very common compared to other fields. maybe that might work in my favor? there's always hope!

[Guest]

I'm a female 4th year chemical engineering grad student semi-finalist, and I haven't received a phone call yet either. I agree that for graduate students, the picking will be based on WHAT your research is about and how well it matches a certain DoD project. Not getting a phone call might not be a bad sign. I realize that statistically, I have only about a 20% chance of getting an award. I guess I have to cross my fingers and hope they like my research!

[Matthew]

I'm a female 4th year chemical engineering grad student semi-finalist, and I haven't received a phone call yet either. I agree that for graduate students, the picking will be based on WHAT your research is about and how well it matches a certain DoD project. Not getting a phone call might not be a bad sign. I realize that statistically, I have only about a 20% chance of getting an award. I guess I have to cross my fingers and hope they like my research!

From what I've heard the phone interview is very informal. Most only last a few minutes and the questions are very basic. So I take it they dont get a whole lot more info out of the interview. Which would lead me to believe they could just as easily name finalist (or most definately alternates) people that they did not call.

[Matthew]

I received an email today from someone at Robins AFB in Ga. I was told I am on the "short list" and they would like to speak to me. I was shocked since they were not one of my desired facilities but I would greatly be interested in working there. I gave him a call and got his voicemail. Hopefully he will call me back today or maybe tomorrow. He said they had to have thier selections made by Monday which is the date our semi-finalist emails stated.
I am extremely nervous.

[rmw228]

Good Luck, Matthew!

[rmw228]

Good Luck, Matthew!

[Matthew]

Thanks!

[guest]

Hey Matthew,

If you wouldn't mind sharing, what are your credentials? Just want to get an idea of where I stand among the applicants. I'm a junior (physics) with about a 3.8 and some research experience.

Thanks.

[Matthew]

Hey Matthew,

If you wouldn't mind sharing, what are your credentials? Just want to get an idea of where I stand among the applicants. I'm a junior (physics) with about a 3.8 and some research experience.

Thanks.

I am a freshman, applied for a 3 year scholarship, majoring in Electrical Engineering (a majority of the people working at Robins AFB are in this field).
I have a 4.0 college GPA and a 3.5 high school GPA. I am 23 years old. I scored a 26 on my ACT.
I also have a full time job working for a well known apparel company.
I do not have any research experience, but the facility that my interview is with is not really R&D oriented.
Hope this answered your questions. And by the way I have not received the call back from him yet and its making me nervous.

[guest]

I wonder how they choose from the undergrads. I'm just curious because I'm a Sophomore (i.e. 2 year scholarship) with a 3.91 majoring in Physics. I did two summers of research in a neurology department (when I was still thinking about pre-med), but now I do research with a professor in my schools physics department in nano-electronics/devices. I thought I would stand a pretty good chance at getting one of these scholarships, but still no phone call.

I wish they would give us a better idea of the kind of students they're looking for.

[guest]

I wonder how they choose from the undergrads. I'm just curious because I'm a Sophomore (i.e. 2 year scholarship) with a 3.91 majoring in Physics. I did two summers of research in a neurology department (when I was still thinking about pre-med), but now I do research with a professor in my schools physics department in nano-electronics/devices. I thought I would stand a pretty good chance at getting one of these scholarships, but still no phone call.

I wish they would give us a better idea of the kind of students they're looking for.

I guess I should add to that I have a 4.0 within my major and technical electives, my only B coming from my freshmen writing class.

[Matthew]

I think it has a lot to do with choice of major. They may have had a lot of physics majors apply.
I chose electrical engineering because of its wide range of applications. I could easily work on a numerous amount of projects where as say an aerospace engineering is limited to well aerospace.
I also think they look hard at your resume, most undergrads don't have a significant amount of work history.
I have worked since the age of 16 and have a steady work history and a letter of recommendation from my boss.
They are looking to hire someone not just hand out scholarships to the best scholars.
Im by no means the ideal candidate, and I didn't get a call back from him today, but the email said he could call me tomorrow so we'll see.

[Guest]

They didn't describe what they were looking for in the resume though. The only thing I remember was talking about previous research experience, but even that was directed at graduate students if I remember correctly.

I understand this scholarship is very different then the typical academic/leadership scholarship students apply for. For one it requires the student to work for the DoD after graduation. From what I understand they weren't looking for the poster child most scholarship programs look for. They didn't want president of this or leader of that. They were looking for students who could excel in their field and who they could get some remarkable work out of.

[Guest]

I wonder how they choose from the undergrads. I'm just curious because I'm a Sophomore (i.e. 2 year scholarship) with a 3.91 majoring in Physics. I did two summers of research in a neurology department (when I was still thinking about pre-med), but now I do research with a professor in my schools physics department in nano-electronics/devices. I thought I would stand a pretty good chance at getting one of these scholarships, but still no phone call.

I wish they would give us a better idea of the kind of students they're looking for.

Yea i have about 2 summers as well and also am working with a professor, so i thought the same. No interview here either. I guess it's more competitive than i had thought. And you guys all have me beat in terms of gpa ha.

[UF_ME]

Alright boys and girls it appears that D-Day is upon us...since I did not receive a telephone interview I am grasping for straws and I was wonder if anyone has heard of someone receiving a scholarship without an interview?

[Matthew]

Well, I learned today that the "short list" I am on with Robins AFB has 25 names on it. I am not sure how many they plan to put through but I do know that they probably need all 25 of them after visiting their website and they are planning to hire up to 500 people in the next year. Im sure a majority of those jobs are basic labor jobs but still. I hope Im one of the ones they put through. In response to your question UF_ME I would say its definitely possible for facilities to put people names through that they did not interview although if they do it will most likely be as an alternate. But SMART makes the final decision not the facilities. My interview got pushed back to this afternoon. I will let you guys know how it went and what kind of questions were asked.

[Chris Moulder]

Matthew,

While they may want 25, I can guarantee you that SMART will not fund most of them. The AFFTC was one of the largest last year and we only had 7-8. It's not that those position may not be more important in some way, but that SMART is semi obligated to distribute slots in a 'fair' manner. It's certainly reasonable that Robin's may give internship offers though. If you don't get in through SMART, I would definitely try to work something out, as it's obvious they want you.

Chris

[Matthew]

Just finished my interview. It went very well. He actually didnt ask me any questions, he said he wanted to give me the opportunity to ask questions. So I did. He stated that his facility would be getting 8-9 awardees. He said he looked forward to meeting me in California this summer and hoped I got chosen....so maybe.

[rmw228]

That's great news, Matthew.

Your story makes me feel a little bit better about not getting a phone call. It seems like they have chosen a lot more based on your CV/experience.

Now we wait!

[blackbishop]

I love how they does out just enough hope to keep us thinking that there is a chance but not enough for us to actually expect anything

"Additionally please be aware that you may be contacted to have a SMART Program Office interview. Please continue to monitor your email for such a notification. These interviews are scheduled to be conducted between March 22-26 and the email notifying Semi-Finalists of a designated interview date and time is scheduled to be sent on or about March 19. "

[Matthew]

I love how they does out just enough hope to keep us thinking that there is a chance but not enough for us to actually expect anything

"Additionally please be aware that you may be contacted to have a SMART Program Office interview. Please continue to monitor your email for such a notification. These interviews are scheduled to be conducted between March 22-26 and the email notifying Semi-Finalists of a designated interview date and time is scheduled to be sent on or about March 19. "

I was wondering if they sent that email to all 1,300 semi finalist....I mean there's no way they are going to interview all 1300 of us so what does that mean if we dont get notified on the 19th....

[UF_ME]

I think that it may be to all of the semi-finalist...I received the email but have not received any contact from any sponsoring facilities.