Columbia EA Arete Fellowship Application Fall 2025 (~6 minutes)
Deadline: Sunday, September 14
Decisions will be announced on Monday, September 15

Columbia Effective Altruism (EA) is excited to announce the introductory EA, Arete Fellowship!

We'll discuss how to use our careers and other resources to make a positive impact on the world, and thereby you happy :) effective altruism is a global movement and intellectual framework for doing the most good in the world. It argues for rational and evidence-based principles such as cause prioritization and cost-effectiveness.

Columbia EA will facilitate the Arete Fellowship, an 8-week, discussion-based program where we'll explore these ideas together. Our goal is to figure out how we can follow these principles in a way that promotes both global wellbeing and our own personal flourishing. For example, we'll discuss how to critically consider and explore career paths that you are individually best suited for and where you can have significant and fulfilling impact.

If you want to do good in the world and are willing to think critically about how best to do it, the Arete Fellowship is for you!

Verbose introduction here.

Logistics & Community

  • Schedule: We run weekly on Wednesday evenings 7-9: 1 hour fellowship followed by 1 hour dinner & social. The social is optional but a free dinner will be provided.
  • Duration: The fellowship will run for 8 weeks this semester, beginning September 17, with a 2-week hiatus for EA Global NYC and midterms (4 sessions Sep 17 - Oct 8, then 4 sessions Oct 29 - Nov 19).
  • Format: Multiple sections, each consisting of 3-5 attendees and 1-2 facilitators, will be hosted concurrently on Wednesday evenings.
  • Community Dinner & Social: After each weekly fellowship session, we'll host a dinner + social in the same location (food and games provided). You're welcome to join us for the subsequent dinner and social even if you don't apply to our fellowship!
We care about building a diverse cohort of fellows. We strongly encourage interested students to apply regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, ability, and academic background.

You can view the 8-week fellowship syllabus here!

Please feel free to ask any questions you might have by reaching out to us at cu.effective.altruism@gmail.com. You will be automatically added to our mailing list.
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First Name *
Last Name *
Email  *
Expected Graduation Month and Year *
School & Major/Academic Interest(s)
*
Have you watched/read a short introduction to effective altruism?
*
Here are a few good, quick introductions:

An interview with William MacAskill by Vox
An article from 80,000 Hours, a career-advisory think tank
A talk from researcher and grant-maker Ajeya Cotra
Have you skimmed the Fellowship syllabus?
*
~1-2 minutes
Describe a time when a conversation led you to change your mind on an important belief or opinion. What was the belief and how did the conversation change your thinking?
*
~5 sentences / ~2 minutes
What aspects of the Fellowship most interest you, and how do you hope to benefit from this program? Please describe your specific goals and how the fellowship might help you achieve them.
*
~5 sentences / ~2 minutes. Specifics will help us help you!
List 2 questions you find most interesting that are related to effective altruism (or related topics incl. philosophy, philanthropy, and rationality). *
Examples:
What are concrete steps I can do to use my career for good?
At what point does additional income stop making a person happier? 
How could statistics be used practically to better achieve my goals?
Do shrimp deserve moral consideration?
How did you discover this program? 
*
Any comments or questions? Thanks for applying!
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