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What we're all about

The Atlas Fellowship is designed to help people understand how the world works and how they can shape it.

Who

Highly talented high school and pre-college gap year students from around the world.

~100 Fellows
Up to 500 Finalists

What

Finalists
• $1,000 in scholarship funding
• 5 free books from our Atlas Library
• Online community of award winners

Fellows
• Scholarship ($50,000 for 2022 Fellows)
• Fully-funded summer program
• Extra mentorship + fellow benefits

When

We have four summer sessions available for Atlas Fellows: June 12–23, July 3–14, July 17–28, and August 14–25, 2022.

Summer 2022

Where

Our summer program is hosted at Piedmont Commons, located right next to UC Berkeley.

Berkeley, California

Key Dates

Applications for 2022 are now closed. Thanks for applying! Join our newsletter to get updates on next year's application.

Applications will open in spring 2023.

Application Process

We had the following application components:
‍
1. Initial written application (30-60 minutes)

2. In-depth written application (5 hours)

3. Invite-only interview for our most promising candidates
‍
Applications for 2022 are now closed, but you can nominate applicants for our 2023 season.

Nomination Form

Check out our FAQ

The Details

The following benefits are available to Atlas Fellowship winners, depending on their award category. The categories a certain benefit applies to are indicated by:

Fellows

Finalists

Up to $50,000 in scholarship funding.

Finalists
• $1,000 scholarship for up to 500 winners
• Grants are distributed in the same year as award selection

Fellows
• $50,000 scholarship for 100 winners
• Scholarships will be disbursed to Atlas Fellows for use on academic expenses such as tuition. Atlas will evaluate the use of scholarship funds for other academic or career opportunities on a case-by-case basis.

11-Day Summer Program

There will be four cohorts of the program in Summer 2022, each with 25-30 Fellows. The program dates are June 12-June 23, July 3-July 14, July 17-July 28, and August 14-August 25.

Food, housing, transportation, and all other costs to participate will be covered. Learn more about the summer program.‍

Access to the million-dollar Atlas Fund to learn, experiment, and build impactful projects.

Young people's energy, imagination, and time are some of the world’s most under-utilized resources. Instead of building things that will substantially make the future better, students are often constrained on access to money (and thus, time). The Atlas Fund offers fast grants and support to Fellows to help them launch new and innovative projects.

In-person infrastructure for award winners and collaborators.

Beyond the Summer Program, Atlas plans to offer future opportunities for award winners to connect in-person—think alumni reunions in Berkeley, meet-ups at top universities in the US and UK, fully-funded travel opportunities (summer camps, retreats, conferences), and more.

College admissions preparation for top universities.

Fellows will receive support to navigate the college admissions process, including guidance on resumes & testing, essays, recommendations, application strategy, and college interviews. For those who are interested, we will also support students designing summers, gap years, and extracurriculars.

Career guidance for ambitious, impactful careers.

Award winners will work with experienced mentors to discuss career paths that might be a good fit for their skills and interests, formulate their career plans, and resolve confusions about how to have impactful and fulfilling careers. Atlas will help fellows find specific work and internship opportunities at impactful organizations.

Ongoing digital-first space of talented friends / mentors.

Stay connected with a community that cares for and empowers each other. Award winners will access an online space that helps them find collaborators, create accountability, offer/receive support, come up with ambitious, creative projects, and have conversations that bring them closer to their goals.

Access to the Atlas Library

If you've got a passion for reading about math and science, how to make better decisions, or the history and future of humankind, you're in luck. Award winners will receive mailed copies of books of their choice from our library.

Anjana Goli (14)

St. Louis, MO

Testimonial from Uncommon Sense, a program the Atlas Fellowship team ran in summer 2021

“a life-changing experience...”

As a high school student, Uncommon Sense allowed me to explore and understand topics that I had never encountered before and talk to experts in the field. More importantly, I was able to connect with a community of peers who were also curious about science, philosophy, the future, and how we can do the most good in the world.

Oam Patel (18)

Mountain Home, ID

Testimonial from Uncommon Sense, a program the Atlas Fellowship team ran in summer 2021

“one of the highest expected value weeks of my life”

In terms of rationality content alone, Uncommon Sense was one of the highest expected value weeks of my life. I met a fascinating group of talented people doing unusually useful things.

There were workshops on useful concepts, talks from highly impactful people, and it all took place with a cohort of extremely interesting peers who I’m still in contact with to this day.

Kevin Wang (16)

Boston, MA

Testimonial from Uncommon Sense, a program the Atlas Fellowship team ran in summer 2021

“changed the trajectory of my life...”

Uncommon Sense is a mixing pot of these kinds of people, important ideas and other wacky things. Like acausal trade and unlimited vegan food. The ideas I encountered at Uncommon Sense quite literally changed the trajectory of my life and opened my eyes to better paths towards impact. The people I’ve met have created awesome experiences and opportunities and have made damn good friends.

Sanat Singhal (18)

Cupertino, CA

Testimonial from Uncommon Sense, a program the Atlas Fellowship team ran in summer 2021

“allowed me to update long-held beliefs...”

Uncommon Sense might have single-handedly accelerated my life's trajectory by years. Throughout the camp, I was exposed to mental models like Fermi Estimates, Bayes theorem, and Goodhart's Law that made me a better thinker. Almost every conversation I had, whether at the beach or over dinner, gave me a fresh perspective and allowed me to update long-held beliefs. Moreover, many campmates have become amazing friends who I still keep in touch with!

Fully Funded
Summer Program

10 Days

Several Sessions to choose from

All costs covered. Including travel.

Meet wonderful people

Fun Activities

Near shopping malls

Let's do this

Sound good to you? Let's make it happen. Apply today.

With the support of an optimistic, thoughtful community of peers and mentors, the Atlas Fellowship is an opportunity to explore a variety of global issues, develop your own conclusions about which problems to work on, and get started and unstuck on your quest in doing so!

Learn more

Nominate for 2023

The Details

Scholarship

Up to $50,000 in scholarship funding.

Scholarship funding is intended to be used for university tuition (or other early-career opportunities on a case-by-case basis). Finalists will receive their scholarship when they turn 18. Fellows will have their scholarship award distributed over four years.

Summer Program

All-expenses paid, 10-day summer program in the San Francisco Bay Area.

There will be four cohorts of the program in Summer 2022, each with ~25 Fellows. The program dates are June 12-June 23, July 3-July 14, July 17-July 28, and August 14-August 25 (Fellows will be able to indicate their date preferences).

Food, housing, transportation, and all other costs to participate will be covered. Learn more about the summer program.

Atlas Fund

$1M for award winners to learn, experiment, and build impactful projects.

Young people’s energy, imagination, and time are some of the world’s most under-utilized resources. Instead of building things that will substantially make the future better, students are often money (and thus, time) constrained. The Atlas Fund offers fast grants to award winners to remove these bottlenecks.

Physical Communities

In-person infrastructure for award winners and collaborators.

Beyond the Summer Program, there will be many future opportunities for award winners to gather in-person. Think alumni reunions at HQ in Berkeley, alumni meet-ups at top universities in the US and UK, fully-funded travel opportunities (future summer camps, retreats, conferences), and more.

College Advising

Holistic college admissions preparation for top universities.

Award winners will receive personalized support to navigate the college admissions process, including guidance on resumes & testing, essays, recommendations, application strategy, and college interviews. For those who are interested, there will also be support to design summers and gap years.

Career Services

Personalized career guidance for ambitious, impactful careers.

Award winners will work with experienced mentors to discuss career paths that might be a good fit for their skills and interests, formulate their career plan, and resolve confusions about how to have an impactful & fulfilling career. Specific work and internship opportunities at high-impact organizations will be offered to students.

College Advising

Holistic college admissions preparation for top universities.

Online Community

Ongoing digital-first space of insightful & talented friends / mentors.

Atlas Library

All-expenses paid, 10-day summer program in the San Francisco Bay Area

Caring about the world and trying to steer it in good directions can be really hard. We don’t expect you to do it alone! You’ll meet like-minded students at summer programs, reunions, and in an online community. Beyond that, you’ll gain direct access to our global network of leaders, thinkers, and philanthropists who can help supercharge your projects.