Thomas J. Watson Fellowship
Thomas J. Watson Foundation United States
One-year grant for graduating college seniors to pursue a self-designed, independent exploration outside their home country, without academic affiliation.
Free to start · no account needed
Get your personal statement, tailored résumé and notes for your referees for this programme, drafted from your own documents in about two minutes.
You look at it first. Nothing is submitted without your tap.
About
What it offers: $40,000 one-year stipend.
Also: health insurance; 12 months of student loan payments covered; additional support for personal assistance services or spouse.
Who can apply: US citizens or international students graduating with a bachelor's in the application year, nominated by one of 39 partner colleges; must stay outside the US/home country for the year.
Free to apply.
Annual; campus deadlines in early fall, national selection from November, awards announced mid-March.
How to apply: through partner college nomination (you need an account there).
What to prepare: proposal, personal statement, references, transcript.
From the official page (checked 2026-10-21): “Only partner colleges may nominate students.”
Who can apply
- Open to students
- US citizens or international students graduating with a bachelor's in the application year, nominated by one of 39 partner colleges; must stay outside the US/home country for the year.
What you will need
- Research proposalUpload yours, or let Onward Scout draft one from your profile for you to edit.
- Personal statement / SOPOnward Scout drafts it from your sourced profile; you approve every line.
- Recommendation letters (drafts for your referees)Upload yours, or let Onward Scout draft one from your profile for you to edit.
- TranscriptOnly you can supply it: upload it once and it is attached wherever it is asked for.
How to apply
Applications go through the official page (partner college nomination), which needs an account in your name.
How Onward Scout helps
This one is submitted on the organiser's own site, behind your login. Onward Scout prepares every answer and file in the form's order with one-tap copy, so submitting takes minutes; you mark it submitted when you're done.
Every answer is drafted from your own documents and cites where each fact came from; anything we can’t source is flagged for you, never invented.
Let Onward Scout prepare this application
Get your personal statement, tailored résumé and notes for your referees for this programme, drafted from your own documents in about two minutes. Free to start, no account needed: you look at the draft first, and nothing goes to Thomas J. Watson Foundation without your tap.
Nothing is submitted without your tap. Logins, CAPTCHAs, payments and interviews stay with you.