What the D. E. Shaw fellowships involve
The D. E. Shaw group has run four short fellowships called Discovery, Latitude, Momentum and Nexus.
Each brings undergraduate students to the firm's New York office for three days of case studies, expert seminars and conversations with employees about finance, technology and problem solving.
Fellowship admission has been based on a resume, academic transcript and a personal nomination of up to 150 words. The fellowship selection process does not include interviews.
The programmes provide a stipend and cover travel and accommodation. They are educational experiences, separate from the firm's internships.
No previous finance experience is needed. What matters for an application is a strong academic and achievement record, evidence of curiosity and a convincing explanation of what you would bring to the experience.
These fellowships are distinct from the D. E. Shaw group's London Insight Programme and from its paid summer internship recruitment.
This guide focuses on the four fellowship programmes and their application model.
Eligibility for Discovery, Latitude, Momentum and Nexus
The four fellowship tracks have shared one core requirement: applicants are second year students enrolled full time in an undergraduate programme at a college or university in the United States. Each track then has its own participation criteria.
Discovery
For eligible second year students who identify as women.
The programme provides early exposure to analytical work, technology and careers at the D. E. Shaw group.
Latitude
For eligible second year students who identify as Native American or Alaska Native, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander.
Momentum
For eligible second year students who identify as part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Its core learning format is shared with the fellowship family.
Nexus
Open to eligible second year students across backgrounds. The firm particularly encourages interest from students at public universities, historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and liberal arts colleges.
The previous programme rules let students apply to more than one fellowship when eligible, but attend only one if selected. If you have several options, choose the fellowship that genuinely matches your eligibility and explain the same authentic achievements in each application.
Fellowship eligibility has required full time undergraduate study at a U.S. college or university. If you study elsewhere, check the next invitation for any new regional terms.
How to find the next application
Use the D. E. Shaw campus recruiting hub for current student opportunities.
As checked on 4 November 2026, the former fellowship website redirects to that hub, which features the London Insight Programme and internships rather than an open application for Discovery, Latitude, Momentum or Nexus.
The firm has previously held different fellowship cohorts at different points in the academic year. Watch for a new invitation with its own eligibility, submission deadline and event dates instead of relying on an old intake calendar.
-
Check the live student opportunities
Open the campus recruiting hub and look specifically for the fellowship name. The London Insight Programme is a separate opportunity and should be evaluated on its own requirements.
-
Ask the campus team about the next intake
For clarification, contact the campus recruiting team with the subject “Campus” and ask about Discovery, Latitude, Momentum or Nexus. State your university and year of study to make the question easy to answer.
-
Keep your application materials ready
Prepare a one page achievement focused CV, save an up to date transcript and draft a concise personal nomination. These are the three materials used in the fellowship's document review model.
How fellowship selection works
Fellowship selection reviews three submitted documents: your resume or CV, transcript and personal nomination. There is no admission interview, so focus on the quality of your written application.
| Application item | What it needs to show | Your preparation task |
|---|---|---|
| Resume or CV | GPA, course of study and distinctive achievements or recognition | Make your strongest two achievements understandable outside your discipline |
| Transcript | Academic record; an unofficial copy has been accepted | Check the term, course titles, grades and legibility |
| Personal nomination | Interest in the fellowship and what makes you compelling, within 150 words | Tell one concrete story, establish your contribution and make the connection to this programme |
This is a document based selection process, not a coding assessment, trading game or sequence of technical interviews. An impressive project, research question, community initiative or creative achievement can be relevant when its significance is explained clearly.
The useful distinction is between achievement and evidence. “I enjoy problem solving” is an assertion; describing the obstacle, your action and the result gives the reviewer something specific to judge.
How to write the 150 word personal nomination
Use the nomination to reveal a way you think that a transcript cannot capture. A short example of intellectual initiative is usually more convincing than a list of clubs, prizes and adjectives already visible on the CV.
EverythingQuant practice benchmark: draft one version in 12 minutes, then spend 8 minutes removing vague claims and checking the word count. Aim to fit an achievement, your specific contribution and a reason for attending inside the 150 word limit.
- Open with the challenge. Name one real problem you chose to solve, why it mattered and what made it difficult.
- Show your decisions. Explain what you personally changed, tested, investigated or built.
- Close with the connection. Name a fellowship activity you want to learn from, such as an interactive case study or a conversation with researchers.
An original example nomination
The following is a fictional student example to illustrate structure. Replace every achievement and result with your own experience when writing a real nomination.
Our student robotics team kept losing points because its sensor readings were unreliable. I wrote a short Python analysis to compare three filtering methods, then convinced the team to collect better tests before replacing hardware. In matched trials, the final design reduced false detections from 18 to 4.
The project taught me to question assumptions before improving a solution and to communicate evidence to teammates with different strengths.
I want to join the D. E. Shaw fellowship because I enjoy problems that connect quantitative reasoning, technology and judgement.
I would value the case studies and conversations with employees, especially learning how teams test competing explanations before making decisions.
The example works because it shows initiative, a measured result and an explicit reason to attend. Notice that the applicant does not claim deep financial knowledge or pretend to have worked in quantitative trading.
Make the draft sound like you
- Prefer one precise contribution over three broad descriptions of leadership or passion.
- Explain unusual technical vocabulary so an intelligent reader outside your major can follow it.
- Use only achievements and metrics you can personally substantiate.
- Check the actual application's instructions before submitting, especially its limit and permitted content.
Build a stronger CV and transcript package
A strong fellowship CV makes achievements easy to understand without overstating them. Keep degree, university and GPA easy to find, then highlight work that shows independent thinking, sustained effort or an unusual result.
Academic and research work
Describe the research question, your method and what you learned. For example, state how you compared model performance rather than simply saying you used machine learning.
Engineering and building
State what you built and how you checked it worked. A small system with careful testing can communicate more than a long tools list.
Creative or community achievement
Show a decision you made, the people involved and the outcome. The programme welcomes students beyond finance and computer science.
Evidence of curiosity
Include a distinctive course project, competition, paper or independent question you investigated. Give enough context to show why it was challenging.
Before you submit
- Match the GPA and programme information in the form to your academic record.
- Export the transcript as a readable file with the current academic terms visible.
- Check that dates, outcomes and awards in the CV agree with your nomination.
- Ask whether each achievement bullet makes sense without knowing your school or specialist subject.
- Count the nomination words using the final text pasted into the application form.
What happens during the three day fellowship
Fellows visit the D. E. Shaw group's New York headquarters for an educational programme built around practical problems and learning from people at the firm.
The main activities have been interactive case studies, expert seminars and sessions with employees.
Interactive case studies
Work through a decision with incomplete information, test assumptions and explain what evidence would change your mind. Prepare by comparing options using simple numbers and clear reasoning.
Seminars with experts
Listen for the main question, method and limitation in each talk. Arrive with two questions about how research ideas become practical decisions.
Conversations with staff
Ask how teams evaluate competing ideas and what a promising student project looks like. Connect questions to the person's work rather than asking only how to get hired.
Meeting other fellows
Share your approach to problems and learn from students in different disciplines. Practise explaining your strongest project in one minute without specialist jargon.
You do not need to arrive as a finance specialist. Familiarity with probability, data reasoning and the habit of questioning assumptions will help you contribute confidently to unfamiliar case discussions.
Two original case exercises with worked solutions
These are EverythingQuant practice cases for the reasoning and discussion skills useful in an educational fellowship. They are not questions from the firm's application or an admission test.
Case one: Choose a model using fresh evidence
Two student teams predict whether a simple trade succeeds. Model A is correct 64 times in 100 training examples and 51 times in 100 new examples; Model B is correct 58 times in 100 training examples and 57 times in 100 new examples.
Each correct prediction earns 2 units, an incorrect prediction loses 1 unit, and execution costs 0.2 units per decision. Which model would you prioritise for further testing, and what would you ask before deployment?
Spend 9 minutes: 3 minutes computing the out of sample payoff, 3 minutes comparing the models and 3 minutes explaining what additional evidence you need.
Show worked solution
Use only the fresh examples for the payoff estimate. Model A has a success rate of 0.51, so its estimated net payoff is 0.51 × 2 minus 0.49 × 1 minus 0.2, which equals 0.33 units per decision.
Model B has a success rate of 0.57, giving 0.57 × 2 minus 0.43 × 1 minus 0.2, or 0.51 units per decision. B looks better on the fresh sample even though A looked better during training.
Prioritise B for further testing, not immediate deployment. A sensible next step is to test both on another untouched dataset, check whether the examples represent real decisions and measure how sensitive the payoff is to costs and sample variation.
Case two: How useful is a warning alert?
An automated monitor checks 10,000 data jobs. Two percent contain a serious error, the monitor flags 90 percent of erroneous jobs, and it also flags 5 percent of jobs that are actually fine.
Among the jobs flagged by the monitor, what proportion really contain an error? Should a team treat every alert as proof of failure?
Spend 8 minutes building a table of true errors, correct alerts and false alerts. Explain the result in one sentence to a person who has never studied statistics.
Show worked solution
There are 200 erroneous jobs and 9,800 good jobs. The monitor catches 90 percent of the 200 errors, giving 180 correct alerts; it also flags 5 percent of the 9,800 good jobs, giving 490 false alerts.
Of the 670 flagged jobs, 180 truly contain an error. The proportion is 180 divided by 670, approximately 26.9 percent.
Only about one in four alerts identifies a real error, even though the monitor catches most actual failures. A strong response would suggest prioritising alerts, investigating the false positives and considering how the low base rate affects operational decisions.
In both cases, the arithmetic is only part of the skill. Practise saying what the numbers mean, which assumption matters most and what evidence you would seek next.
Stipend, travel and career outcomes
The fellowship format includes a participation stipend alongside travel and accommodation for the in person experience in New York. Treat the amount and booking arrangements in a future invitation as the terms that govern your own cohort.
The programme is an educational experience rather than a paid summer internship or an academic credit course. Fellows can apply separately for internships and other jobs, whether or not they have attended the fellowship.
A fellowship gives you structured access to the firm's people, ideas and problem solving approach. It does not automatically produce an internship interview, an internship offer or university credit.
For students who want to explore career options afterwards, the next useful step is to identify a specific role and apply through normal recruiting.
The separate EverythingQuant D. E. Shaw Interview Guide focuses on preparation for employment interviews, not fellowship admission.
A focused preparation plan
Prioritise the application over lengthy interview preparation. The highest value work is selecting evidence of achievement, refining your 150 word nomination and becoming comfortable discussing unfamiliar problems.
| Session | Action | Completion check |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Eligibility | Check your enrolment and the fellowship track; open the current campus portal | You know which track fits and where to monitor applications |
| 2. Evidence | Choose two achievements and write down your own actions and outcomes | Both can be explained clearly in 60 seconds |
| 3. Documents | Update the CV, verify GPA and export your transcript | Every date, grade and result agrees across materials |
| 4. Nomination | Draft and revise the 150 word answer | It gives a specific achievement and reason for attending without generic claims |
| 5. Case discussion | Solve both original practice cases and explain the assumptions aloud | You can justify your decision and identify a useful follow up test |
Once the application is sent, keep exploring finance and technology on your own terms. A small original project or a thoughtful question about research methods will give you more to contribute during seminars and conversations.
Frequently asked questions
Do the D. E. Shaw fellowships require an interview?
The fellowship selection model uses the resume, transcript and personal nomination, with no interview. Employment and internship applications are separate processes that do involve interviews.
Do I need to know finance or be a maths major?
No previous finance experience is required, and the fellowships welcome students from different academic disciplines. Use your own work to demonstrate curiosity, judgement and achievement.
Can I join if I study outside the United States?
The previous fellowship eligibility required full time undergraduate enrolment at a U.S. college or university in the second year. Check any future invitation for updated geographic eligibility before applying.
Can I apply for more than one fellowship?
The fellowship rules permit applications to multiple tracks when you meet each track's eligibility criteria. An accepted applicant can participate in only one fellowship.
Is a professor nomination required?
The fellowship application model requests a personal nomination of at most 150 words alongside a CV and transcript. Build that answer around your own demonstrated achievements and reasons for attending.
How much is the stipend?
The fellowship programme has included a stipend and covered travel and accommodation. Use the terms in the next invitation to budget for a particular cohort.
Does attending secure a D. E. Shaw internship?
The fellowships and internships are separate opportunities. You can pursue internships through the firm's normal recruiting process with or without fellowship participation.
Can I earn university credit?
No. The fellowship has been a short educational experience rather than a course that awards academic credit.
Official information and next steps
Start with the live D. E. Shaw campus website for new student programmes.
For the original four fellowship formats, the firm's earlier campus flyer explains the activities, eligibility and travel benefits.
D. E. Shaw campus recruitingCurrent student opportunities, contact details and the live application pathway D. E. Shaw fellowship programme flyerEarlier official overview of Discovery, Latitude, Momentum and Nexus, hosted by Harvard D. E. Shaw group careersInternship and employment opportunities, separate from fellowship selection Explore EverythingQuant guidesFind related firm guides and quantitative finance preparation topicsFor questions about a future fellowship intake, contact the campus recruiting team at the campus recruiting team. Include your year of study and the fellowship name.