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Carleton College

Watson Fellowship for Carleton College Seniors

For seniors graduating in 2010

Informational meeting: Wednesday, September 23, 4:30 p.m. in Leighton 304

Application deadline: Thursday, October 8—materials collected by Career Center (3 copies, please)

Watson website: http://www.watsonfellowship.org/

More On-campus Information:

Roy Grow, Political Science rgrow@carleton.edu, and
Liz Ciner, Assoc. Dean of the College eciner@carleton.edu


Overview: At Carleton, the Watson application process occurs in four stages:

Step 1: Submission of proposal and related materials (3 copies) by October 8;

Step 2: Reading of proposals by Carleton committee, selection of four nominees;

Step 3: Revision of proposals, submission to Watson Foundation by November 4 (3:00 p.m. EDT);

Step 4: Interviews of nominees by Watson Foundation representatives.

Step 1: Submission of the following materials by October 8 (3 copies, please):

  1. Project Statement. Prepare the following materials: (Please check the http://www.watsonfellowship.org/ web site for full descriptions of these statements)
    1. Project proposal: 5 typewritten, double-spaced pages that sets forth your project, outlines your methodology, and offers details on the locations you will visit;
    2. Personal statement: 5 typewritten pages that outlines your personal and academic background, states why this project is important to you, and describes how the project will contribute to your personal and intellectual growth;
    3. Summary: On a separate page, two paragraphs that summarize both (a) and (b) above, and which includes the title of your project. (This page, written last, will actually become the first page of the proposal you submit).
  2. Recommendations. Names of two people who will read the proposal; at least one must be a Carleton faculty member who can speak directly to the project.
  3. Transcript.
  4. Photo: A recent photograph/snapshot of yourself.

Step 2: Carleton selection of 4 nominees

A faculty committee will read all of the completed application folders, interview some of the candidates, and make up to four nominations.

Step 3: Revision of materials

The four nominees will work for two weeks with Prof. Grow on their proposal and personal statement, and the nominees are expected to work their way through at least two rewrites. The revised application folders will be sent to the Watson Foundation on Wednesday, November 4, 2009.

These completed application folders will include:

  1. A revised project proposal
  2. A revised personal statement
  3. Two letters of reference
  4. A recent photo
  5. A current official transcript

Step 4: Interview by Watson Representatives

Each of the four nominees will be interviewed on the Carleton campus by one or more representatives of the Watson Foundation. The interviews may take place at the end of the Fall Term or the beginning of the Winter Term.

Additional Materials

View the VHS film "The Essence of a Year: The Watson Fellowship" on reserve at the Library.

Each applicant should read the Watson Foundation web site materials:

http://www.watsonfellowship.org/

Pay special attention to following sections under "go to homepage":

  • "Our Fellows" for titles of past award recipients;
  • "What is the Watson?"
  • Application Details