The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Alright semi-finalists, want to see how we stack up against the competition?

I am an undergraduate senior majoring in biology with a minor in chemistry. I applied for the 2-yr award. My gpa is 3.8. I applied to the USAMRIID (US Army Medical Research Institute if Infectious Diseases). I have done a couple of research internships before, and I am currently working on another research project relating to infectious disease.

Good luck to everyone! :)

Ok... I am game

After this semster I am going into my junior year, my application was for three years to cover the loss of summers for internship and any lost credit form transfer. My current GPA is a 3.94, I applied with a 3.93. I have no research experience to speak of. I have a career as a Project Director with continued proven success. My major is Electrical Engineering and my research interests lie in human machine interface through non invasive techniques.

Currently a sophomore in Engineering Physics with an emphasis on electromechanical control systems. 1.5 years of research experience in nanotechnology with one journal article accepted for publication and 5 years of management experience in industry. Hoping that makes up for my paltry (and compared to the competition on this board, laughable) 3.3 GPA. Applied for a 3 year award.
Best of luck everyone!

I'm currently a California Community College student, completing the transfer pre-reqs for electrical engineering. This is my last semester as a sophomore, and it will be my final semester at a CCC. I applied with a 3.88 and currently have a 3.91. I did a single research internship during summer at a CSU campus. I also did a pre-engineering program at a Naval Surface Warfare Center facility.

I requested funding for two years, but now I think it probably would have been wise to request 3. I'm hoping to finish within 2 years, but if I was to actually get this scholarship I may have to request an additional year depending on the circumstances ...

I'm a sophomore engineering science student at a liberal arts college requesting two years of funding. I had a 3.65 when I applied and now have a 3.70. I have been continuously working in a lab since the beginning of last summer and am starting in a new lab on top of the other one this semester. My interests lie in biomechanics/biomedical engineering. I have one conference abstract/poster presentation under my belt.

I'm a Nuclear Engineering sophomore at Purdue University asking for 2 years of funding. I have a 3.4 GPA with two summers of internship experience working at a research reactor at a National Laboratory. I also have contributed to some undergraduate level research in Materials Science Engineering and presented my findings at a local research conference. I am hopeful that my 'below-par' GPA will be outweighed by work experience, but only time can tell!

Good luck to everyone!

Currently in Mathematics with 3.9 GPA, applied for 3 years Mechanical Engineering funding. 6 years military experience. No research experience. Good luck to those that have made it this far, and good luck next year for those that did not.

Currently a junior in Electrical Engineering with a 3.9 GPA and applied for a 1 year award. No research experience but had an internship last summer and hold a clearance. Hoping this will help to get away with having no research experience. Applied for places in Maryland. Anyone else applied for anything in Maryland? and where to?

Applied for three year scholarship, but will only need two to finish (I added padding and it will probably hurt my chances). I have a 4.0 GPA (72 semester hours), 8 years of military experience (completely unrelated field). I come highly recommended by two high ranking Army Engineers (west point grads)that I worked for - they were impressed with my ability to solve problems outside my scope of expertise, manipulate numbers, and hard work ethic.

I have zero research experience and no published papers.

I'll say again, the people on this forum are probably twice as likely to be picked up for the scholarship as those who don't participate. People who are uninterested in this forum were probably less interested in their application than the rest of us. They probably didn't take the time to think through where they wanted to apply to, who would provide the best recommendations, etc. They were probably not interested in having an English major look over their application for style and grammar. And most of all, they aren't anxiously waiting for an answer - thereby causing them to anticipate interview questions and etiquette.

You all are awesome! Good luck

Mike,

Always the optimist... I guess it is a complimnet so we should all just take it and not complain. We know for sure that we are in the top 50% of applicants. (Scientific method) Only time will tell who is in the top 10%. I also requested three and I am hoping it does not hurt my position.

Good luck man and stay safe!

Mike, reading and replying to forums doesn't constitute greater chances for this scholarship... some people had homework to do and family to take care of while you were reading and eloquently replying to forums...

Mr. Anon,

I think you misunderstand the cause and effect principle that I'm referring to. You seem to think that I have implied that posting on a forum "causes" greater select-ability in scholarships. That is not what I'm saying.
The principle I'm referring to underlies both selection and forum attendance. That principle is how interested are you, Howe vested are you, how concerned are you, how much thought do you put into it and how much will it change your life if you get the award.

I would offer this psychological hypothesis: Namely, that, if all other things were equal, the people more interested in a scholarship will be both, more likely to post on a forum about that scholarship and more likely to receive the award.

I also like to keep in mind that correlation doesn't equal causation, but when the numbers come in, I think we'll see that those who at least looked at this forum regularly will have a higher acceptance rate in the scholarship.

On the other hand, I don't want to be proud or braggart. I will probably be one of the few that DO NOT get selected, if the numbers prove true. I say that because I know that there are a lot of people smarter than I am.

I am unsure why you seem to have taken offense to what I have said, I did not mean to imply that there aren't other things in the world more important than posting on a forum. Matter of fact, if I was with my family right now, I would be looking at this thing a lot less often. However, since I'm in a combat zone and the only thing I can do in my spare time is watch some tv or get online, this takes up a lot more of my free time than most. So, in my case, all things are not equal... and with you, all things are not equal either - since you are attending school full time at the moment, whereas I'm on deployment hold with my college.

But regardless of all of that, you are participating on the forum at this point which would bring you into the numbers that say you are more likely (rather than less likely) to get the scholarship because you have demonstrated interest.

And finally, I have nothing but love for you man - I hope you get accepted for the scholarship as well.

I got the email; I'm a semi-finalist!

I am a sophomore, have 3.76 GPA, and currently have a non-research internship. I am a Computer Science major. I have not seen anyone else post with that major...
Also, I think I am one of the younger applicants at 20. Who knows how that affects my chances?

BTW, Birkhead, very well said.

touche' Mike.... good luck

xkcd13 wrote:
Also, I think I am one of the younger applicants at 20. Who knows how that affects my chances?

I hope age doesn't have much impact on decisions ... I'm 19!

Hi Everyone,
Congrats to all,
Applied as a 4.0 Computer Science Major with a minor in Math-- technically a Junior, but a freshmen in my field, so I requested 3 ½ years—I added cushion. Have no research experience in my field, but wrote extensively about my interests- most of which revolve around combatting cyber-terrorism and sim games. I am a single mom, but have no clue if that will help or hamper my chances.

At this point I am so nervous, I am checking the boards everyday. Last night I even read all the old ones. It seems like they are looking for folks who want to have a career rather than using the scholarship as a "jumping board." Also, if no one needs people in the SMART field, then no scholarships are given. So there is really no way we can figure it out before hand, as we have no clue what they need.

Thanks to everyone who writes on the boards-- I am enjoying it tremendously, and it helps knowing that everyone is in the same boat that I am in. Waiting.

Removed
--Chris

Mike, I think what tacoman is trying to say is be aware of OPSEC & INFOSEC.

Good point! I actually wasn't even thinking about the infosec due to the fact that TAP classes recommend you put your clearance on your resume. And of course, I've never been in the situation before

Can my prior post be deleted?

Congratulations to all Semi-Finalists!

I am a Civil Engineer currently working for USDA and seeking for 3 semesters of funding for a Masters Degree in Structural Engineering. I hold a BS in Civil Engineering (Structural Emphasis) from Georgia Tech, GPA is 3.38 (High Honors). I applied to three graduate schools but I have not heard from them yet, they are taking longer than usual to process applications since they had to shut down a few days due to winter storms. As far as research experience, I only have a summer research experience with the NASA USRP Program, but no published papers. I am applying for a position with the Army Corps of Engineers and I am willing to go to any location they offer. I am also a veteran, 5 years of service in the Navy as an Electrician's Mate, with an Honorable Discharge.

Good luck to all of you in the next round!

rattlehead wrote:

xkcd13 wrote:
Also, I think I am one of the younger applicants at 20. Who knows how that affects my chances?

I hope age doesn't have much impact on decisions ... I'm 19! :?

I'm a semifinalist at 17...heavily research qualified though.

Guest wrote:

rattlehead wrote:

xkcd13 wrote:
Also, I think I am one of the younger applicants at 20. Who knows how that affects my chances?

I hope age doesn't have much impact on decisions ... I'm 19! :?

I'm a semifinalist at 17...heavily research qualified though.

I'm 20 and a semi in Computer and Computational Sciences. No real research but I worked for Cisco Systems Inc last summer and would like to do research in networking.

How much research could you possibly have at 17? What field are you applying for?

Sorry, it just blows my mind that you are 17, lol.

I am also a semi-finalist - have not yet been contacted otherwise. I graduate in the fall, so I'd only need one semester of funding. I'm a double major in math and physics, overall GPA 3.7 with a 4.0 in math and physics classes. 2 years of research experience in experimental physics, 1 year of experience in theoretical physics (with a publication in progress) (and I'd rather not say which subfields to keep myself a tad anonymous). I have a fair amount of graduate level coursework in mathematics. I expect at least one of my letters of recommendation to be very strong. I interned for a DoD contractor for a summer and so I have secret security clearance. Probably my biggest weak point is that I emphasized wanting to do research in mathematics (and mentioned that I plan on pursuing a PhD in math), and I'm not terribly sure that that is what they are looking for.

Just wanted to tell the site admin (probably Chris) thanks for editing my post. I was actually hoping it could be edited rather than deleted!

Hey all,

I'm kind of late to the thread. I'm a 20 yr old Biology/English major and Chemistry minor. Applied with a 3.610 GPA and am only seeking funding for one year. I have about 1.5 years of research in an animal facility and presented at a local conference. Looking forward to how this cycle works out and best of luck to everyone else!! :D