Interested students are required to complete an intent to submit application in the spring preceding the fall in which they hope to apply. Members of the Student Fellowships Committee will review the applications and briefly interview each candidate. Based on each candidate’s preliminary application and interview, the Student Fellowships Committee will either endorse, conditionally endorse, or not endorse each applicant.
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Endorsed: The candidate has received the College’s endorsement and does not need to be interviewed by the Student Fellowships Committee again.
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Conditionally Endorsed: The Student Fellowships Committee invites the candidate to continue to work on their application over the summer and be re-interviewed by the Committee at the end of August or early September, at which point the Committee will make a final decision about endorsing the candidate.
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Not Endorsed: The Student Fellowships Committee determines that the candidate is not yet ready to apply.
Students will be required to provide information about themselves (e.g., class year, citizenship, etc.) and whether they have any Honor Code violations. Applicants will also be required to indicate which fellowship(s) they are interested in applying to and upload the following three documents:
- Unofficial Academic History from Polaris
- Resume (PDF format)
- Personal essays, which should be submitted as a single PDF addressing the following five prompts. Please label each prompt and put your name in the header.
- Please describe why you are interested in applying for this particular fellowship(s) (500 words). The primary purpose of these fellowships is not to offer financial aid to students in need but rather to create a community of scholars who will fulfill and carry out a mission particular to each national fellowship. But another way, each fellowship is looking for students who possess intellectual merit, a history of exercising leadership, and a "something else" that is particular to the mission of that fellowship (e.g., Marshall's "something else" is ambassadorial qualities and Schwarzman's "something else" is a reason for wanting to better understand China). Briefly explain why you believe you possess the "something else" that is particular to the fellowship(s) to which you intend to apply and how your affiliation with the particular fellowship(s) will enable you to better achieve your aspirations.
- Proposed Academic Program (600 words). Describe the graduate degree you propose to undertake during your fellowship(s) and at what institution(s). Please follow the guidelines provided by the fellowship(s) to which you intend to apply. For example, if applying to Marshall, please provide two, two-year plans. Describe why this is the appropriate course of study for you (e.g., are there particular faculty you want to work with, are there particular research centers at this institution that you would like to engage with, etc.). If your proposed academic program requires a thesis, outline what you might focus on. Have you been in touch with anyone at these universities?
- Connection to Your Future (300 words). How will the graduate degree(s) you have identified build on what you have done to date and prepare you for your future professional goals?
- Leadership (500 words). All the national fellowships that support graduate study value leadership. Please describe a time when you exercised leadership, regardless of whether you were in a position of authority. What changed because of your actions? What impact did your efforts have on others? Please be as specific as possible.
- Engagement (300 words). If you are awarded a fellowship, in what ways will you engage with your local community and/or new institution(s)?
- Recommendations. Who would you ask for letters of recommendation? If you are applying for the Rhodes, please list eight names, including titles and brief descriptions of how you know each individual. If you are applying for any of the other fellowship(s) please list four recommenders, including at least one that could speak to your leadership qualities.
In the intent to submit application, you will also be asked to identify one Bowdoin faculty mentor. The application will automatically generate an email to that individual, asking them to submit a letter of recommendation on your behalf. Please make sure you have already discussed this recommendation with your mentor before you complete your intent to submit application.
