APPLICATION COVER SHEET
THE THOMAS J. WATSON FELLOWSHIP
The following application will be the cover sheets for your Watson proposal, are for use by the College, and will
not be sent to the Watson Foundation. If you are named as one of the campus finalists, you will receive access to
an official Watson application at that time. Please TYPE your responses below; do not submit a handwritten
document.
Please attach the following documents to this application form:
1) Your project proposal (1500 words max) in which you provide an overview of your project and outline the
countries you will visit, the order in which you will visit them, and the contacts you have made in each country.
2) Your personal statement (1500 words max) in which you talk about your motivations for undertaking your
project, your desire to be a Watson Fellow, the challenges you expect to face, and your expected plans after your
Watson year (e.g. future educational / career goals).
3) Your resume.
The Swarthmore Watson Fellowship Committee will obtain from the Registrar's office an unofficial transcript to
add to the application. Please remember to have your recommenders email their forms to mmandos1 by the
deadline below.
Please return to Melissa Mandos, Parrish 122, no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015.
Name: ______________________________________________ Date: ____________
Telephone: _________________________ E-mail: ____________________________
Proposed Project Title (60 characters or fewer):
Brief summary of proposed project, including countries to be visited (two to three sentences):
List your equipment needs, if any, and indicate if your total equipment purchases would exceed $1,000.
Name two Swarthmore sources (professors, staff or administrators) and one external source who will serve as
your recommenders. (They must fill out a Watson Recommendation Form and return it to Melissa Mandos via
email at mmandos1@swarthmore.edu. The Watson Recommendation Form is attached to the bottom of this
application for you to forward to your recommenders.)
1.
2.
3.
PERSONAL DATA:
Place and date of birth: ____________________________________________________
Major(s) / Minors(s): ______________________________________________________
Postgraduate Study and Future Career Possibilities:
Are you aware of any reason why you would be unable to pursue a Watson Fellowship abroad for a continuous
year? If yes, please explain.
Below, list the three activities other than course work but including clubs, sports, volunteer work, and jobs that
have most occupied your time since you began college. In addition, please attach your resume to this application.
1.
2.
3.
Previous Travel and Experience Living Outside the U.S. (Nominees for the Watson Fellowship are considered
regardless of previous foreign travel and experience. We request the information in this section only to assist in
evaluating the project proposal and to have a better understanding of a nominee's overall background.)
1. Please list countries or areas lived in or visited, including the date, duration, and reasons for travel.
(Note that #2 below asks about academics.)
2. Indicate your participation in any academic programs abroad, including when, where, and the program
sponsor.
Competency in languages other than English. List language and proficiency (Beginning, Intermediate, Proficient,
etc.):
1.
2.
3.
If I am ultimately awarded a Watson Fellowship I intend to accept the grant and decline all other opportunities,
including graduate school admission, jobs and other grants. ____Yes ____No
______________________________________________Signature
__________________Date
THOMAS J. WATSON FELLOWSHIP
A PROGRAM OF THE THOMAS J. WATSON FOUNDATION
RECOMMENDATION FORM
Mission: The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program offers college graduates of "unusual promise" a year
of independent, purposeful exploration and travel -- in international settings new to them -- to enhance their
capacity for resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and leadership and to foster their humane and effective
participation in the world community.
The following questions are especially relevant when selecting fellows for the significant, often challenging,
year proposed by the Watson mission. Please answer each question as fully as possible, elaborating as
necessary. You may also add additional comments at the end of this form. We appreciate the effort required
to write a thoughtful and personal recommendation. Thank you in advance for your candor and time.
Name and Title:
1. How long have you known the nominee?
2. In what capacity have you known them?
3. The Watson Fellowship uses the term “Unusual Promise” to mean a collection of characteristics
including leadership, independence, resourcefulness, imagination, openness, and integrity. How is the
nominee unusually promising in a field of exceptional nominees? Please use examples where possible. (200
word count limit)
4. What legacy or deep impression, if any, has this student left on you or your campus? (200 word count
limit)
5. In what way do you believe the Watson Fellowship would be a transformative experience for the
nominee? (200 word count limit)
6. What evidence can you provide of the nominee’s investment in the proposed project beyond academic
coursework? (200 word count limit)
7. The very premise of the nominee’s project may be upended as they encounter it “on the ground”. How
does the nominee deal with difficult and changing conditions? Do you believe that they will adapt well, even
thrive, under unexpected conditions? (200 word count limit)
8. What, if anything, gives you pause about sending the nominee on a year-long solo pursuit that will
include moments of loneliness, failure and even illness? What are your reservations? (200 word count limit)
9. Please share any additional thoughts that you would like us to know or consider. (200 word count limit)