Frequently Asked Questions

Stanford Sierra Camp is a family camp located on Fallen Leaf Lake near Desolation Wilderness in the Lake Tahoe Basin. During the summer, Stanford alumni and their families come up to Camp for one of 12 week-long sessions. Our summer programming is staffed primarily by 60 energetic and enthusiastic current Stanford students. The camp program includes activities such as kids' groups (divided by age ranging from 3 to 18 years old), hiking, arts and crafts, sailing, canoeing, kayaking, waterskiing, wakeboarding, tennis, volleyball, archery, naturalist walks and talks, improv, theater, faculty speakers, and so much more. In fact, if you have a great idea for a new program, we'd love to hear about it!

Stanford Sierra Camp is a family camp, which means that, unlike many summer camps, kids' counselors do not live in cabins with their campers. SSC staffers are responsible for the kids during structured kids' group hours, but the campers stay in cabins with their families at night.

Staffers are typically scheduled for a 48-hour workweek. Each staffer's schedule is the same from week to week. If you are a kids' counselor, 20-25 of your hours will be devoted to your kids' group. If you are an individual instructor (such as volleyball, crafts or hiking) 15-20 of your hours will be related to your program. Other duties include life guarding, meal shifts, working in the camp store, social hours for adults, story hours for kids, rowing, leading morning exercise, leading a talk/discussion on a topic of your interest, cleaning the lodge, and even more. Each week, all staff participate in Saturday morning cabin cleaning (approximately 5 hours of making beds, scrubbing bathtubs, vacuuming etc.), one all-staff meeting, and an introductory meeting for campers (each counselor group performs a skit for our guests). Each staffer gets one and a half days off per week.

Compensation for the 12-week season, in addition to room and board, is approximately $12,048 for the season ($564 per week) before taxes. This equates to $6,768, before taxes, for the 12-week season. In addition to the weekly base pay, staff receive weekly tips from guests. The estimated weekly tip amount will be $440 per week before taxes. This equates to a tip amount of $5,280 for the 12-week season.

*Tip amounts listed above are based on 100% guest occupancy and are subject to change.*

Summer staffers live in cabins shared with an average of 2-3 roommates. The close quarters are made up for by gorgeous views of the lake. Most cabins have been recently renovated. Some cabins have their own bathrooms and others have shared bathrooms nearby. Gender-inclusive housing is available per staffers’ preference.

All new applicant applications are due at the front desk of Frances C. Arrillaga Alumni Center or by email to apply.to.ssc@gmail.com by 5pm, the second Friday of Winter Quarter. For Summer 2023, this is Friday, January 20th, 5:00pm. You will receive an email inviting you to sign-up for an interview! All applicants are interviewed by two members of the student Interview Committee. Roughly 80 first-round applicants are invited to go on to the second-round-interview pool, joining former staffers (usually around 25-30) who are reapplying. Final selections are made after the second-round interviews, which are conducted by the Assistant Camp Director and the Summer Staff Director. Former staff and new applicants will be given equal consideration in the second round of interviews for the 60 available assignments. Decisions are made throughout March, with the staff finalized by the Friday before Spring Break. Applicants may also be placed on a waitlist in case of any position openings.

To be eligible to work at Sierra Camp, you must have attended Stanford for two of the previous three academic quarters. We are looking for students from ALL class years. International students without U.S. citizenship are welcome and encouraged to apply, too! SSC employees are eligible for working student visas. If you have a special circumstance (i.e. year-off, etc.), you can contact Summer Staff Director Katherine Gjertsen (kgjert@stanford.edu) for more information on eligibility.

Camp has amazing food. The kitchen staff creates 3 gourmet meals a day. Meals are served buffet style and there are always plenty of different options for all dietary needs. Mealtimes offer an incredible opportunity for staffers to socialize with guests. Guests love getting to know staffers and staffers have the opportunity to make valuable alumni connections.

Yes. The training, programming development, and care dedicated to each staffer is needed in turn to provide an excellent experience for each of our 12 weeks of guests. For them, it’s their one week at Camp! When you accept a position as a summer staffer, you commit to the full summer which runs from June 16 to September 11, 2023. Staff are expected and encouraged to stay at the end of the regularly programmed summer camp for Kids Camp, a weekend with students from East Palo Alto that runs September 9 - 11. Extenuating circumstances can be discussed as they arise.

Please let us know in the hiring process if you have any foreseen conflicts due to RA training or your Varsity Sport Team.

Staffers participate in two training sessions. The summer staff comes up to Camp for an orientation weekend in April and receives additional training when they report to Camp in June. Ski Dock Instructors come up to Camp for an additional training weekend in the spring. In addition, all staffers are required to attempt certification for CPR, First Aid, and Lifeguard training. Camp will arrange and pay for a SSC Lifeguarding class during spring quarter for those not already certified.

By nature of living and working on a lake, all Sierra Camp staff is required to successfully gain lifeguard certification prior to the start of summer employment, or attend class with the intent to pass. Lifeguard training components include in-pool training, as well as First Aid, Adult CPR/AED & Pediatric CPR training in a classroom setting. If swimming may be a barrier, alternative arrangements can be discussed. Feel encouraged to reach out with your questions to Summer Staff Director Katherine Gjertsen (kgjert@stanford.edu)! Camp will arrange and pay for a SSC staff Lifeguarding class during spring quarter for those not already certified.

Possible activities for days off are as limitless as your imagination and energy level. Books have been read. Thoughts have been journaled. Sleep has been had. Sun has been soaked up on the boat dock. More energetically...hiking in Desolation Wilderness, biking, trips to town, Reno, the Bay Area, Yosemite, Disneyland, Shakespeare in Ashland, the Grand Canyon, rafting, spelunking, rock climbing, taking part in fellow staffers’ programming...and so much more. The possibilities are truly endless. Often, your day-off crew becomes a close-knit community within the larger Camp community.

Yes. You are welcome to have visitors, but you must follow the Staff Guest Policy. Having personal guests at Camp is a privilege and a responsibility. Having a guest cannot interfere with your work performance and your guests are expected to comply with the same code of conduct as summer staffers. Plan ahead, as each staffer gets 6 free staff guest nights and Camp can only host a maximum of 10 staff guests on a given night. Many people's families come up to visit during the summer. Since space at Camp is limited, most families stay nearby in one of the many rental houses or hotels in South Lake Tahoe.

Yes. Wireless internet access is available throughout most of Camp. Cell phone service is limited at Camp.

Yes! So many successful summer staffers were not hired or were wait-listed the first time they applied.

There is no "ideal" staffer; we have no mold to fit. We're looking for people of all ages, personalities, majors, racial and ethnic backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations, and nationalities. The unique contributions of each individual staffer make the magic of Sierra Camp, and cause each summer to be different from all before it. As long as you are inclusive, hardworking, passionate, and excited to contribute, you can thrive at Camp.

The benefits of working at Camp are numerous: spending the summer in the beautiful Lake Tahoe Basin, making connections with successful Stanford alums in a variety of fields, leadership and customer service experience, making money and having virtually no living expenses, developing your own programs, possible internship credit for your major, working with kids, free waterskiing and wakeboarding (no experience necessary!), showcasing your talents and interests and learning new ones, making lifelong friends, the opportunity for transformative personal growth...It's an experience you'll never forget or regret. We hope you apply!