Prizes and Honors

The initial pool of candidates consists of the undergraduates with Berkeley grade point averages (GPAs) of at least 3.96 by the end of the semester preceding the student's graduation date. Candidates graduating in fall will be considered along with those graduating the following spring; candidates graduating in summer will be considered along with those graduating the preceding spring.

Those who wish to be considered will provide the following:

A personal essay.

The essay should be double-spaced with 1-inch margins, Times New Roman 12-point font, and not exceed 3 pages in length. It should highlight aspects of your character or achievements and describe UC Berkeley’s influence on your intellectual, artistic, athletic, or other attainments. Please include your name in the top righthand corner of every page in your essay.

Two or three letters of reference maximum.

The best letters are from instructors, supervisors, or others who know you well and can speak in detail about your work or other activities that qualify you as a Berkeley Medalist.

A resume.

Please include in the resume any accomplishments or activities that lend distinction to your University record or that contribute to the wider community. These may include research, other creative work, prizes won, campus or non-campus service, and extracurricular involvements. You may also submit an abstract of any published work. A copy of the work itself should be submitted only if it is no more than 3 pages in length.

Applications must be submitted through our online submission form:

University Medal Online Submission

Deadline: Monday, March 4th, 2024 – 5 p.m.

Letters of reference must be submitted through our letters of recommendation submission form:

Letters of Recommendation

The applications are evaluated by the Committee on Prizes. The most outstanding candidates are selected as finalists and are interviewed. The Committee refers to guidelines initiated under University Presidents Robert Sproul and Clark Kerr. It takes into consideration the following, though it is not required that every one of these be reflected in a candidate's record for him or her to be considered:

• An academically well-rounded transcript.
• Independent scholarly work completed by the candidate outside of regular classwork; e.g., publications or unpublished projects judged worthy by his/her instructors.
• Outstanding extracurricular contributions to the University.
• Evidence of qualities of judgment, ingenuity, initiative, and broad interest.
• Participation or interest in public service.
• Any other evidence of "distinction" in the opinion of the Committee on Prizes.
• The Medalist is an exemplar of the university's highest ideals.

UC Berkeley’s top graduating senior is a news story

Each year, the University Medalist is announced in the form of an in-depth profile, photos and a brief video on the UC Berkeley website, which may lead to coverage in local print and broadcast news. Here’s how it works:

If you are chosen as the University Medalist, your transcripts and application essay are shared confidentially with a writer on the campus’ Media Relations team. That writer will quickly arrange an in-depth interview with you, as well as a shorter video interview, which will be posted on the UC Berkeley website and promoted via the campus’ Facebook and Twitter platforms. It will also be sent out to local media as a press release.

It’s an intense and exciting process, but if you’re not comfortable sharing your biographical details, including your struggles and victories, with wider audiences, you may want to reconsider whether the public aspect of being UC Berkeley’s top graduating senior is for you. Here are links to previous medalist profiles so you know what to expect:

• Rejection turned out great for Berkeley's top graduating senior
• Top graduating senior an aspiring Elon Musk-minus the tweeting
• Top graduating senior champions neurodiversity

Read about the 2023-2024 University Medalist, Christopher Ying.

Read about the 2023-2024 University Medal finalists.

See a complete list of previous winners.

*Federal financial aid regulations require that all awards received by a student cannot exceed their financial aid need as determined by a congressional formula. It is possible, therefore, that the cash award for a prize could reduce some component of a needy student’s package of financial aid awards. In these cases, the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office attempts first to reduce loan or work aid; fellowships, grants, or scholarships are only reduced as a last resort.

In order to establish a reasonable degree of uniformity in the standards that are applied in granting a Departmental Citation, the Committee on Prizes has established the following policies:

Only one nominee shall be selected by each department in order that the prestige of the Departmental Citation may be maintained. In the event that the department cannot decide on a single nominee, the chairman of the department should forward the records of the nominees to the Committee on Prizes. The Committee will then make a selection, on the basis of the evidence submitted. This evidence must be submitted at least two weeks before the deadline. In no event shall the size of the undergraduate enrollment of the department be the reason for the selection of more than one nominee.

Most recipients will no doubt be majors in the department, but the recipient need not be a major if he or she has done a substantial amount of work in the department and the department wishes to honor him or her in this way. Additionally, recipients of the Departmental Citation need not be in senior standing.

Primarily, the citation should indicate excellence in the departmental field of study. Evidence of distinction in work done outside the department may be taken into account, but it should not have decisive weight.

Other activity relating to the work of the department, such as writing, experimentation, or creative work in the field, should receive due consideration.

The foregoing list is not meant to be comprehensive. A department may take into account any qualities or attainments that it finds relevant. The main consideration is that the award should reflect the judgments of the department that the recipient is, because of unusual talents and promise, worthy of being recognized in this fashion.

Recipients need to have maintained a grade point average of 3.5 in the department to be awarded a Departmental Citation.

Although there are other awards which, in their particular spheres, have features in common with the Departmental Citation, there are few cases of extensive overlapping. Indeed, there is no reason why this award, together with other awards, cannot be given simultaneously to one person. Superficially, it seems most closely to resemble the award of Highest Honors to graduating seniors, but even in this case there are significant differences. Highest Honors is explicitly attached to the student's general GPA; it is usually awarded to all students who meet this single condition, and it is limited to graduating seniors.

The Departmental Citation, on the other hand, is awarded primarily for excellence in the work of the department; it issues from the department; and it has no necessary relationship to graduation honors, although some recipients of Highest Honors will also receive a Departmental Citation.

• To be eligible, you need to be enrolled full-time in a degree-granting program for at least one regular semester of the academic year (not including Summer Sessions). Filing for a degree does not constitute enrollment for that academic year. Visiting students are not eligible to apply for prizes.
• Submitting your work to a University prize contest in no way limits your subsequent sale and publication of the work. However, work that you have previously published, with the exception of work that has appeared solely in campus publications, is not eligible.
• Any prize may be withheld if, in the opinion of the judges, no entrant or submission merits the award.
• You may enter more than one contest, but may not submit the same manuscript or portions of the same manuscript to more than one contest. If you submit the same manuscript or portions of the same manuscript to more than one contest, those entries will be disqualified.
• Entries to the writing contests, with the exception of the Roselyn Schneider Eisner Prizes in Poetry and Prose, may not include work that has previously won prizes in these or other campus contests.
• You may make only one entry to each contest.
• In the event that two or more contributions of approximately the same merit are submitted for any prize, the Committee on Prizes reserves the right to apportion the award.
• Any specific requirement expressed in connection with any of the prizes prevails over the general rules.

Please Note: Federal financial aid regulations require that all awards received by a student cannot exceed their financial aid need as determined by a congressional formula. It is possible, therefore, that the cash award or value of a prize could reduce some "Need Based" component of a student's package of financial aid awards. In these cases, the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office attempts first to reduce loan or work aid; fellowships, grants, or scholarships are only reduced as a last resort.