When can I apply for the Renaissance Scholar Prize?
Although you may apply for the Renaissance Scholar designation during and after your sophomore year, you may apply for the prize only during your senior year. Prizes will be awarded after a post-graduation review of each prize applicant's grade point average and time-to-degree completion.

Is this a scholarship?
No, this is not a scholarship. The Renaissance Scholar designation is an academic honor, awarded upon graduation to students who meet the criteria. The prize is awarded to students for the purpose of post-baccalaureate study. Prize recipients must show evidence of enrollment in a graduate program of study - this applies to students matriculating to USC during or after the 2002-2003 academic year.

What does it take to be designated as a Renaissance Scholar?
To become a Renaissance Scholar, students must pursue at least two distinct academic disciplines (major/minor or dual major combination) that are in widely separated fields. Students must first have their academic program certified by a faculty panel as meeting the guidelines for depth with breadth. To be designated a Renaissance Scholar, students must also graduate within 5 years at USC, with a minimum 3.5 overall grade point average, with a minimum 3.5 grade point average in the major(s) and/or minor(s) course requirements, and with university honors.

How do I know whether or not my major and minor (or dual major) combination is sufficiently broad to qualify me as a Renaissance Scholar?
The first step to being considered for the Renaissance Scholar honor is to submit the details of your academic program to the Renaissance Scholar Faculty Review Panel. You may do this by completing the online application form found on this website.

Once you have requested certification of your academic program, the faculty panel will review the two disciplines you are studying. Certification will be based on the extent to which the two fields of study are widely separate and distinct, and require you as a student to stretch intellectually.

If my major/minor combination is certified, does that mean I am automatically a Renaissance Scholar?
Certification is only the first step. In addition to the certification, you must graduate within 5 years at USC with university honors and you must have no less than a 3.5 overall grade point average and no less than a 3.5 grade point average in the major(s) and/or minor(s) course requirements.

I have gone abroad twice. USC counts those classes as pass/no pass. Many of my classes for both fields of study were taken abroad. For the purposes of the prize competition, will you average the grades of the classes I took abroad as well as the ones from USC, or will you only average the classes I have taken at USC?
Courses taken through the USC Overseas Studies Program are considered USC units. They are graded CR/NC. Marks of CR/NC do not affect a student’s grade point average. For the prize competition and for Renaissance Scholars honors determination when you graduate, we will look at your cumulative USC GPA, your major GPA(s), and your minor GPA(s). Please keep in mind that your major GPA will factor both lower and upper division course grades. When your record is reviewed for graduation, you must also be eligible for University Honors to receive the Renaissance Scholar designation on your transcript. To be eligible for undergraduate honors at graduation, a minimum overall grade point average of 3.5 for cum laude, 3.7 for magna cum laude and 3.9 for summa cum laude is required. Students must meet these averages, both on residence work attempted and on combined transferred and residence work attempted. The honors award is then determined by either the GPA for the residence work or the GPA for the combined transferred and residence work, whichever is lower.

How soon after I apply for certification will I know if I've been certified as a Renaissance Scholar candidate?
Certification decisions are made within one month after receipt of the application. However, for certain combinations of major and minor, applicants may be contacted for additional information.

Can graduate students apply for the Renaissance Scholar designation?
No. Only undergraduates who are enrolled in undergraduate major-major or major-minor combinations may apply for the Renaissance Scholar designation.

If I am certified as a Renaissance Scholar candidate and I graduate in the fall semester, can I still apply for the Renaissance Scholar prizes to be awarded the May before I graduate?
No. If you graduate in the fall semester, you may apply for the Renaissance Scholar prizes to be awarded in the spring of the following year. However, you will still need to keep apprised, read, and comply with all of the deadline requirements and updates that are published on the Renaissance Scholars website. 

When are prize winners announced?
Prize winners are announced at the end of the spring semester before commencement. 

I plan to take time off to do something else immediately before graduate school, such as a job, or the Peace Corps.  Do immediate post-graduation plans have to be concrete or could the prize be deferred, along with graduate plans, and then accepted upon enrollment in a graduate program?
Your immediate plans do not have to be concrete however, once your undergraduate degree has been posted, you will have up to 5 years to show us evidence of enrollment in a graduate program.  This policy applies to students who matriculated during and after fall 2002.

Whom do I contact for more information?
You may call the Office of Undergraduate Programs at (213) 740-1741 or contact us for more information.