Chances if I made semifinalist last year

[Guest]

Last year, I applied as a ME freshman and made the semifinalist round. Did not get the offer. I know this is not how it works, but I should technically make the semifinalist round this year too right? My GPA went from a 3.93 to a 3.95 and I added to my experience and accolades. Is the system super random, or will I still get a good shot at making the final round?

[guest009]

My understanding from the past is that SMART itself initially reviews all applications as more of a "weed out" process to select semi-finalists. Since your GPA went up, all else being equal I think it's a pretty safe bet that you'll make it through the initial screen again. After that, the pool of applications is sent to each SF where someone (likely your future POC or boss) selects their top choice(s). They can choose if/how to interview people at their discretion (these people are "finalists"). The SFs are the ones that will dig into applications, essays and letters of recommendation more than SMART will. The biggest decision you have to make is which SFs to rank in your top 3. Doing this will get your application on the top of their pile and make it more likely to get a finalist interview. Not all SFs listed are even in the market for a scholar as they might have gotten one last year or any number of reasons, so don't overanalyze it. Pick somewhere you'd want to live for 2-3 years but it might be worth putting different sites than you did last year. Good luck