Join the World's

Largest

Collegiate Hackathon.

What is a hackathon?

A hackathon is an event where students create tech projects in a collaborative environment. Students begin with an idea and work towards a complete project over the course of 24-72 hours.

When are applications due?

If you're outside of California, applications are due Friday, September 20. If you're in California, but not a Berkeley student, your apps are due Friday, September 27. And if you're a Cal student, you have another extra week, until Friday, October 4.

Can I attend without being a hacker?

Yes! We'd love for you to apply to be a volunteer or mentor; we could not make this event happen without our amazing volunteers & mentors.

What if I don't have any coding or hacking experience

Cal Hacks is the perfect place to learn! We believe that some of the next great ideas will come from the fresh and diverse minds of individuals who innovate new solutions to hidden problems — we’re inviting you to come create with us. CubStart is a pre-hackathon beginning hacker program to help hackathons be less intimidating and more accessible for everyone! We provide a mentorship program for team building, ideation, basic hackathon skills, and technical workshops to encourage those with little or no CS experience to try out hackathons and coding!

This program includes pre-hackathon workshops to help you gear up and learn all the skills you’ll need to build something you’re proud of as well as continuous individualized mentorship throughout the hackathon.

How do teams work?

Teams can be up to 4 people large. To apply as part of a team, the application will allow you to generate a team code. Make sure everyone applying as part of your team submits this team code in their application. If you don’t have a team prior to Cal Hacks, don’t worry because we’ll host team matching sessions! You may also compete solo but that will be soo much less fun.

How much will this cost?

Cal Hacks is free for all accepted hackers. We will be providing meals, caffeine, workspace, swag, and WiFi for the weekend. Travel reimbursements or bussing will be available for qualifying hackers. All you have to do is come ready to make!

Who can attend?

Cal Hacks applications are open to all high school and college (both undergrad and grad) students over the age of 18.

What should I bring?

All you need is a valid student ID, a laptop, and chargers. A change of clothes and a pillow and/or sleeping bag is recommended.

What is the schedule of the event?

The Cal Hacks 6.0 schedule will be released closer to the event but plan on arriving at the event on the evening of Friday, October 25th and leaving in the afternoon of Sunday, October 27th.

What can my team build?

Anything your heart desires! Any hardware, software, or tech-related thing you and your team can come up with! Projects will be judged on creativity, technical difficulty, polish, and usefulness.

What if I want to work on my hack after the hackathon is over?

We started The Cal Hacks Fellowship, a program that hosts several hackathon teams after the hackathon to continue building their projects to whatever stages they want to take it to next.

We offer many things like one-on-one mentorship, direct interactions with industry professionals and venture capitalists, office space at The SkyDeck and the House, equity-free funding, and access to future hack nights. We recommend all hackers to apply to our program to take their projects to the next level!