Prize drawings in 2026 start as early as the first week of the survey!
More than 100 prizes will be awarded during the survey, starting in February 2026 as early as the first week of the survey! Students selected as a winner in a prize drawing will get an email from surveys@ucsc.edu. Prizes will be for gift cards for a variety of local Santa Cruz shops and restaurants, as well as other popular merchants, ranging from $10 to $100, and will include:
- Bookshop Santa Cruz gift cards!
- Santa Cruz Downtown Dollars! – for many local restaurants and shops
- Pacific Cookie Company gift cards!
- Woodstock’s Pizza gift cards!
- Trader Joe’s gift cards!
- Apple gift cards!
The vast bulk of prizes in the 2026 survey are for local shops in the Santa Cruz area! Listing of these prizes here, however, is not an endorsement of any particular business, and prizes will depend on availability and may be subject to change.
Completing the survey early increases the chances of winning a prize!
Students can win (and have won) multiple prizes during each year of the UC Undergraduate Experience Survey, especially students who completed the survey early! Prizes are provided in appreciation of students’ time spent on the survey, and thanks to the support by the Division of Student Affairs and Success for this survey.
Prize winners during the 2024 survey
This survey takes place every two years. Congratulations to the following winners from the 2024 survey! Thank you for sharing your experiences (and pictures) by taking this survey. Enjoy spending your prize winnings!
April 2024 Prize Winners!
- Prize Winner: Brian Sabbath – Computer Science, Porter College
- Prize Winner: Erica Okene – Psychology, Oakes College
- Prize Winner: Ethan Nuñez – Business Management Economics, Cowell College
- Prize Winner: Jason Mack – Computer Science
- Prize Winner: Jesus Medina – Education and Literature, Cowell College
- Prize Winner: Joaquin Hernandez – Psychology
- Prize Winner: Alexander Castaneda – Politics
- Prize Winner: Alexis Cruz – Business Management Economics
- Prize Winner: Christopher Mathura – Latino Studies and Environmental Studies
- Prize Winner: Charlie Pollock – Robotics Engineering
- Prize Winner: Diamond Hodges – Psychology and Sociology
- Prize Winner: Dillon Hadden – Plant Science
- Prize Winner: Eliza Beam – Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
- Prize Winner: Isabel Bernal – Ecology and Evolution
- Prize Winner: Isaya Chou – College Nine
- Prize Winner: Kai Ando – Environmental Studies, History of Art and Visual Culture
- Prize Winner: Robin Lambidakis – Business Management Economics
- Prize Winner: Abby Siecienski – Human Biology, Crown College
- Prize Winner: Makena Koontz – Literature, Porter College
- Prize Winner: Grace Viggiano – Literature
- Prize Winner: Kayla Nguyen – Crown College
- Prize Winner: Arya Sharma – Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology
- Prize Winner: Franchesca Boongaling – Art & Design: Games + Playable Media
- Prize Winner: Andrew Rivas – Economics and Mathematics
- Prize Winner: Abby Miller – Neuroscience, Merrill College
- Prize Winner: DeShonne Keller
- Prize Winner: Evan Brannon-Wu – Computer Science
- Prize Winner: Elizabeth Terrell – Psychology
- Prize Winner: Meghan Pugh – Politics, Rachel Carson College
May-June 2024 Prize Winners!
- Prize Winner: Gemma Estevez – Oakes College
- Prize Winner: Sonia Salunke – Cognitive Science, Crown College
- Prize Winner: Milo Arndt – Business Management Economics
- Prize Winner: Mazzy Jones – Agroecology
- Prize Winner: Meghan Pugh – Politics, Rachel Carson College
- Prize Winner: Caitlin Smith – Computer Science
- Prize Winner: David Guerrero-Pantoja – Computer Science Game Design
- Prize Winner: Molly O. – Human Biology
- Prize Winner: Heydi Trujillo – Latin American and Latino Studies / Sociology, Merrill College
- Prize Winner: Brady Lin – Computer Science: Computer Game Design
- Prize Winner: Syd Lyle – Art & Design: Games and Playable Media
- Prize Winner: Mariana Diaz Infante Ulloa – Business Management Economics
- Prize Winner: Carlos Ramirez – Business Management Economics
- Prize Winner: Klaus Stephenson – Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Prize Winner: Francis Sta. Ana – Psychology
- Prize Winner: Kevin Sun – Computer Science, Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics
- Prize Winner: Daisy Amparo – Chemistry
- Prize Winner: Jocelyn Lee – Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology
- Prize Winner: Alyssa Bustamante – Environmental Studies, John R. Lewis College
- Prize Winner: Neo Sud – Computer Science
Additional Prize Winners in 2024!
In addition, during spring 2024 there were also dozens of prize winners of Downtown Dollars as well as many additional winners of giftcards for Starbucks, Apple, and Bookshop Santa Cruz!