The Unofficial SMART Scholarship Forum

Do all SMART Scholars come in as GS-07 Step 1 upon graduating, or could you come in possibly as Step 5 or Step 10?

This depends entirely on degree level

Depends on degree and facility at least.

I came in with a bachelor's at GS-10 (but LabDemo scale). We moved to GS 11 and GS 12 pretty quickly though (6 months and 12 months after that respectively).

From my understanding, you can push during the hiring process itself for step 2 or 3 if you have competitive traits like if you graduate with honors or are part of a prestigious org for your major, got some research published, that sort of thing, but even that does not guarantee you anything. Think about it, your SF knows the DoD is paying for your college, and that you either HAVE to work for them or pay it all back, so you can make your case but they don't have to do anything, from what I have heard is they might do step 2 or 3 to keep you happy if they think you're really good and like you when you intern for them, and then after your payback is up they might offer you a higher GS grade or NH as an incentive to stay there if they think you're a fit, but that only happens really AFTER the period, since before that you're essentially stuck. Also, to be honest, steps 5 or 10 are not really reasonable expectations, I don't think even scholars coming from Ivy's get that. For an undergraduate SMART scholar, the highest I have heard of actually getting approved successfully for GS-07 is step 3. Just focus on keeping a competitive resume and making sure you're a hard worker and that they like you when you work over the summer, and step 3 shouldn't be too farfetched.

Oh, that being said, I did forget to mention that (at least for engineers at my SF) they start off using a specialized pay scale for GS-07 and GS-09 (so for a GS-07 Step 1 instead of making the normal ~39k, it's closer to ~48k with this scale). I'd reach out to your SF and ask them because they might do something similar depending on your major/job.

It's really dependent upon your SF and degree. With a PhD, I came in at low 90s. Frustratingly, non SMART scholars with same degrees my SF bring in at least 10K more. Lesson being that they may screw you over--because they can. That being said, I am really enjoying my job.

As they said, depends on facility. Also, dont be too discouraged as sometimes those steps are more depending on locality pay. I came in with a bachelors at GS 07 step 10. I didnt graduate with honors or attended a "prestigious" college.

If you don’t mind me asking, what did GS 10 step 7 look like for your pay locality?

at a place on lab demo, typically: $100K +- 5K for PhD, $75K +- 5K for MS, $55K +- 5K for BS. Generally good/quick raises.

I'm going to add context to blerdcorn's comment: under lab demo or not, starting pay still depends on the facility. Just locality pay can swing wider than the 10.5% blerdcorn mentioned, and different facilities will start you at different GS-equivalents, even with the same credentials.

When you get your offer, you can attempt to negotiate pay. Be prepared to justify why you think you should earn more.

Lab demo does tend to mean quicker raises, but how those pay raises are structured and how large they are also depends on organization. Lab demo isn't a rigid set of rules for pay; instead, it's an exemption from the rigidity of the standard US government GS pay scale, intended to help those organizations recruit and retain talent in their workforce.