Reservations

Application Evaluation

Stanford Sierra Camp is a program of SAA-Sierra Programs, LLC., with application priority given to Stanford University alumni. Alumni applying to Camp must be current members of the Stanford Alumni Association. If not members already, alumni may join as life members. Non-alumni pay a $300 use fee if they receive a cabin assignment. Applications from non-alumni and university affiliates are ranked below all alumni applicants, regardless of application submission date.

We require consecutive years of application to remain active on the waitlist for Camp. In mid-November, repeat waitlist applicants will receive an email from the reservations department with a “returning applicant” form, with their consecutive years of application and flexibility credits listed. Applicants should return this form promptly, as a timely response will impact status in the 2025 waitlist lottery. * The deadline for repeat waitlist applicants to complete and submit their “returning applicant” form is Tuesday, January 7, 2025. If you did not receive a form or letter, please email us.

Individuals who take a year off from applying will lose all their application credits that they have built up and would have to start the process over. As a result, it's important to apply to Camp every year to ensure you retain your application credits.

Lottery

Applications time-stamped by midnight, Tuesday, January 7, 2025, are grouped into cohorts based on the number of consecutive application years. Due to the popularity of Sierra Camp, all applications are entered into a lottery in which applications are ranked within their cohort by random, computer-generated numbers. This lottery determines an applicant’s rank on the waitlist: First-year applicants are ranked below applicants applying for their second, third, or fourth consecutive year; the more years one consecutively applies to attend Camp, the higher one's ranking.

While it may take an average of four years to be offered a permanent spot at Camp—depending on an applicant’s flexibility in accommodations and weeks—once a spot is assigned, that applicant is guaranteed to attend their placement every summer moving forward.

Flexible Application Credit

Applicants will receive a flexibility credit if they are available for at least eight weeks of the summer program, request all lodging options that will accommodate their immediate family, and apply before the January deadline. To retain the flexibility credit, applicants must be available for each of their requests through March 31 of that year. If you decline an offer of accommodation made to you before March 31, you will lose your flexibility credit from that year and a credit from a previous year, if applicable.

Selection

Applicants will be notified by email of their cabin assignments or waitlist status after February 20, 2025. Families on the waitlist will be notified as cancellations occur.

If you’re offered a “fill-in” spot, this means that you are granted a ONE-TIME placement to attend Camp for the summer due to a returning camper taking a “stop out” for the year. Accepting a “fill-in” spot at Camp does not help or hinder your place on the waitlist but offers you an opportunity to enjoy Camp programming for the summer! Since a “fill-in” is not a permanent spot at Camp, you must continue to apply on the waitlist each year until you receive a returning accommodation in one of our weeks.

Payment

Payment in full is due by March 1st, 2025, for weeks 2–7, and March 15, 2025, for weeks 8–13. Reservations will be canceled if full payment is not received by the due date. Payments are refundable only if written notification is received at least 30 days prior to the guest’s scheduled arrival, and cancellations are subject to a $500 cancellation fee. Credit card payments are not accepted for Stanford Sierra Camp.

Stopping Out 

The “Stop Out” program allows up to 42 current reservation holders the opportunity to take a one-year leave of absence. In turn, this opportunity provides a chance for the equivalent number of applicants on the waitlist to make a one-year visit to Camp. When assigned to these one-year vacancies, "fill-in" families do not lose their ranking on the waitlist for that year.