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T.J. Watson Fellowship Application Instructions

Fellowship Description

The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship offers graduating seniors a rare window of time to pursue their deepest interest on a global scale in the year after they graduate from college. Watson fellows develop original projects, execute them outside of the United States for one year and embrace the ensuing journey. They decide where to go, who to meet and when to change course. They do not affiliate with academic institutions and may not hold formal employment.

The internal application deadline for the 2025 Watson Fellowship is Sept. 20, 2024 at 4 p.m.

Selection Process

The process for selection has two parts. First, Pitzer invites applications, screens them, conducts interviews, and nominates three candidates to the Foundation. These nominees each submit an application which must be received by the Foundation by the November deadline. Nominees are then interviewed by a Foundation representative sometime between early November and late February, and results are announced about mid-March.

Starting the Application

The Watson Fellowship uses an online application. Each student who wishes to apply is sent an invitation to a Pre-Nomination Application. To get this process started, please email Pitzer’s Watson liaison, Carina Johnson, at carina_johnson@jmswierski.com with your preferred name and email address. You’ll then receive an invitation to a Pre-Nomination Application.

The online application is very detailed, and time is very short in the fall. For the first stage of the application, only portions of the online Pre-Nomination Application should be completed. Those portions are:

  • Personal Data: Contact Info, Permanent Address, Citizenship, Demographic Data, Activities, Awards, Employment, Education, Languages Spoken in Host Countries
  • Project Proposal: Title, List of Countries, and Essay [1200 words] The Project Proposal addresses the content of your Watson year, what you propose to do, where, how, low long, etc.
  • Personal Statement [1200 words], The Personal Statement addresses why this is significant to you
  • An unofficial transcript [from Pitzer’s MyCampus2 Portal]
  • Two letters of recommendation [at least one must be from a Pitzer faculty member] are also required. Please enter the names of your recommenders into the Pre-Nomination Application as soon as possible in the fall semester so that they will have plenty of time to complete the recommendation form.