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This will be a life-changing experience.

Our enrollment application asks for the essentials—your contact info, emergency contact information, health status and passport details. We also want to know about you, your interests, your physical and emotional readiness, and why you’ve chosen to study in the field.

Students are accepted on a rolling admissions basis until the program is full. We will contact you promptly after you submit your application, typically within two to three business days.  

Admissions Policies 

The health and well-being of our students and staff and the effective education of our students are important to us. The wilderness environments Wildlands Studies programs live in and travel through are remote, dynamic, and physically and emotionally challenging. These environments, along with the educational activities conducted and the living and traveling conditions encountered, require all students to be fully committed to and capable of working hard, taking responsibility for themselves, and working effectively in the group to achieve the goals of the course. 

Our student health review process helps us support students’ health and safety and determine whether a current condition is appropriate at Wildlands Studies. It’s important that students provide accurate and honest health information so we can learn of conditions that our instructors need to know about. Our admissions staff may need to further discuss health issues with the student, their parent, or their health care provider. Wildlands Studies reserves the right to deny admission to anyone that Wildlands Studies, in its sole discretion, believes is unable to meet the physical, psychological, cognitive, social, or safety demands of our courses. 

You can learn more about our admission criteria by contacting our office.

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No prior field experience required.

Never studied in the field before? No problem. All you need is to have completed a relevant lower-division class, maintain a 2.5 GPA and have the ability to study in the field. We’ll teach you everything you need to know about field methods and data gathering techniques.

Prerequisites
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More experience, less cost.

Join us for an incredible, immersive learning experience in the outdoors for less than you might pay for a quarter of college tuition. When you add up tuition, books, housing, food and transportation, Wildlands Studies programs cost about the same or significantly less than attending university for the same academic term.

How to apply.

Applying for a Wildlands Studies program is a simple, three-step process.

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First

 Read the program details.

Programs
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Next

Apply and complete the online application.

Apply
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Finally

Pay the $150 application fee. You can use a credit card or send a check payable to: Wildlands Studies, PO Box 2098, Aptos, CA 95001.

As part of your application, please write a short, 500–word essay describing:

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1. Who you are, your interests, likes and dislikes.

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2. Why you want to join a particular program.

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3. What you expect to learn.

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4. The attributes, abilities and interests you will share with other students on your team.

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5. How participating in this program will complement your academic career and goals.

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Program fees.

There are three kinds of fees associated with each program.

• Application Fee, $150, due with your application, secures your spot in a program, nonrefundable upon acceptance.

• Program Fee or academic tuition, paid at the due date, typically twelve weeks prior to the program start date.

• In-Country Fees, which cover such costs as local transportation, camping, lodging, park and nature preserve fees, use of study facilities, rental of group equipment and most other fees related to logistics except food. In-Country Fees are due with the Program Fee, about twelve weeks prior to the start of your program.
 
You are responsible for your own flight costs, food, personal expenses, hiking boots and other outdoor equipment.
 

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Alumni discount.

Participating in a Wildlands Studies program is such as amazing experience that you may want to participate in a second, third or even fourth program. We’ll help make it easier to do so with a $150 discount for your return engagement.

Refunds and cancellations.

We sure hope you can join us. To withdraw from a Wildlands Studies program, you must submit your request in writing.  
We adhere to our refund policy:

Program Fee Refund: 100% refund granted with written notice sixty days prior to the program start date. No refunds for any reason after this date.
In-Country Fee Refund: 75% refund granted with written notice forty-two days prior to program start date. No refunds for any reason after this date.
Application Fee Refund: Non-refundable upon acceptance in the program of your choice.  

Refund Policy