There are four categories of academic honors that College of Chemistry undergraduates are eligible to receive:
Honors to Date Transcript Notation — determined by GPA and other College of Chemistry-specific criteria; indicates you are on track to achieving Honors in General Scholarship upon graduation if you continue to earn a cumulative GPA that ranks you in the top 20% of College or Chemistry students. Granted at the end of each term.
Dean's Honors List — determined by GPA and other College of Chemistry-specific criteria; granted at the end of each term.
Honors in General Scholarship — determined by GPA; granted upon graduation.
Honors in the Major — determined by participation in the College of Chemistry's Honors Thesis Program and by GPA; granted upon graduation.
Honors to Date Transcript Notation
Honors to Date is noted on the transcript and indicates that you are on the path to earn Honors in General Scholarship upon graduation. This notation will appear on the transcript after grades are reported each semester and is based on your overall grade point average. The notation is listed underneath the list of courses completed for that term. If you do not qualify for Honors to Date it will not be noted on your transcript. However the notation will appear for previous terms where Honors to Date was earned.
To be eligible for Honors to Date, College of Chemistry students must:
- Complete at least 9 units for letter grade at UC Berkeley for that term
- Obtain an overall GPA for all terms cumulatively equal to or higher than the GPA that is required for Honors in General Scholarship (top 20% of CoC students)
Dean's Honors List
The Dean's Honors List acknowledges outstanding work at the end of each term and is noted on the transcript underneath the list of courses completed for that term.
All eligibility criteria must be met at the time that the Office of Registrar acknowledges the achievement. Grades must be submitted by faculty by the end of the third week after the term ends. If you believe you may qualify for Dean's Honors, notify your instructors to ensure your grades are submitted by the end of the third week after the term ends.
To be eligible for Dean's Honors List, College of Chemistry students must:
- Complete 12+ units of letter-graded units in that term
- Obtain a term GPA in the top 10% of all College of Chemistry undergraduates in that term
- No grades of I or NP
- No courses for which a grade was not submitted for that term (NR, M, or blank)
- No repeated courses during that term
Honors in General Scholarship (Graduation)
To be eligible for honors in general scholarship at graduation, a student must:
- Complete a minimum of 50 units at the University of California (minimum of 43 letter-graded). This includes courses taken via UC EAP, UCDC, courses completed at other UC campuses, and UC Berkeley Extension or Concurrent Enrollment.
- Complete a minimum of 30 units at Berkeley
- Achieve a UC Berkeley GPA that ranks the student in the College of Chemistry's top 3% for highest honors, the next 7% for high honors, and the next 10% for honors.
At the end of each academic year, the Office of the Registrar determines the minimum GPAs for honors for each college and school on campus. These GPAs determine the criteria for honors for the next academic year.
Grade Point Average Ranking:
- Top 3% Highest Honors
- Top 7%, High Honors
- Top 10%, Honors
Undergraduate Honors for Academic Year 2023-24:
- Highest: 3.990
- High: 3.915
- Honors: 3.818
Honors in the Major
The College of Chemistry's Honors Program offers students an opportunity to earn Honors in the Major by doing research for at least two terms in the same group, accumulating 8+ units of H194 credit, achieving at least a 3.4 cumulative GPA, and writing an honors thesis for credit based on their research in their final term.
*Please note that you may be concurrently enrolled in H194 and the Honors Thesis course during your last term.
Your research adviser may be a UC Berkeley faculty although not necessarily in the College of Chemistry, or a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In either case, the subject of your research and your senior thesis must be in the general area of your major studies.
How to sign up to write an Honors Thesis:
- Discuss the scope and outline of your thesis with your research adviser; obtain their consent to proceed
- Enroll in Honors Thesis units in your last term (H193) via the H193 enrollment form, available in 121 Gilman. The H193 form must be accompanied by an abstract; both must be signed by your research adviser.
- When you are ready to enroll in H193, please submit the honors thesis form and feel free to contact Shamaya Pellum, with any questions: spellum@berkeley.edu
GPA Ranking for Honors in the Major:
- 3.8 - 4.0, Highest Honors
- 3.6 - 3.7, High Honors
- 3.4 - 3.5, Honors
Upon graduation, students may earn both Honors in General Scholarship and Honors in the Major. Both are noted on the transcript.