Seamester Admissions | Apply for your semester at sea voyage today

Follow these steps to set your own course and embark on a voyage of a lifetime.

1.Submit your application with the $75.00 fee

The online application consists of five steps, and will likely take about 20 minutes to complete. Review the following to help prepare, as our system does not provide for the opportunity to save mid-session.

Start the Enrollment Application

Step 1: Student and Family Contact Information
Step 2: Voyage Selection and Personal References
You will be asked for the email and phone number for two references. The persons you choose should be professors, employers, coaches etc, NOT family or friends.
Step 3: Student Insight Questions
This portion is completed in short answers and will take the bulk of your time. Consider preparing and proofreading your questions ahead of time by downloading the Student Insight Questions Draft
Step 4: Agree to the Enrollment Terms and Conditions and submit your $75 application fee
Step 5: Review & Submit

2. Internal review

Once we receive your application we’ll automatically send out the reference requests and then follow up with phone calls if necessary. Once those are complete a director will review all of your materials and hopefully offer you a provisional acceptance pending the phone/video interview. Your berth deposit (typically $750) is due at that point to secure and hold your berth aboard and proceed to the interview phase.

3. Interview

Download and review a copy of the Student Handbook and when the berth deposit has been received, a Sea|mester admissions coordinator will contact you for the video conference interview which usually takes around an hour or more. Formal acceptance into the program is typically given after this interview.

4. Should You Need to Cancel

While we hope that this doesn’t happen, we understand that plans change from time to time. If you’ve already applied but need to initiate a cancellation please complete the form found HERE.

Other steps to consider before & during your application process

Select your voyage

The location and duration of our voyages differ greatly, so selecting the program that has the right balance of activities and passage making for you is the most important step. A lot of this has to do with you as a person… your interests and goals, yet if you’re not sure then call or email us with any questions that you have. We would be thrilled to talk through our options and help you decide.

Speak to our alumni

If you think that you’ve found the right voyage, we encourage you to speak to those whose wake you’ll be following. We recognize that taking the plunge and committing to joining our team is a big step. Speaking to someone who was once in your shoes can greatly help. Contact our office and we’ll connect you with some of our alumni.

Consider your total investment

Hopefully, you’ve already had a chance to consider the value of the experience, yet it’s equally important to fully understand the total cost of your attendance. Follow the link to learn more.

Cost of Attendance

Ensure you meet our eligibility requirements

The mission of Sea|mester is to deliver outstanding experience-based educational adventures for young adults. Through supportive yet challenging course design we create environments that promote self-discovery as well as social, emotional, and intellectual growth.

While the environment we create is appropriate for most, it is not appropriate for all. Successful Sea|mester students are in good physical, and emotional health and have an interest in immersing themselves fully in our community. Sea|mester is not a therapeutic program, so our experience is inappropriate for those experiencing behavioral, motivational, mental health, substance abuse, self-harm, or eating disorder issues (Please contact us prior to applying if you have experienced any of the above within 12 months of the scheduled program start date.) Sea|mester students are excited to learn new skills, experience new places and are capable of working positively within a close-knit team even when tired. They are enthusiastic, well mannered, and have a healthy dose of curiosity.

While not all-encompassing, please download and read the following Essential Eligibility Criteria Document to see whether you consider Sea|mester to be an appropriate educational experience. Feel free to call us with any questions.

Review our eligibility criteria

Understand our expectations

The social and educational atmosphere created during a Sea|mester voyage is unique and something that we take great pride in. The very nature of the program allows students to take responsibility for the running of the vessel, the program and their own lives while aboard.

Sea|mester students need to be responsible for their conduct at all times. Any student who engages in academic or social misconduct shall be subject to disciplinary action by the Program Directors and/or the Student Honor Committee. The purpose of our Student Code of Conduct is to express community standards of honesty, respect for persons and property. Each student is responsible for reading and reviewing the Code of Student Conduct, and for understanding the responsibilities he/she assumes by enrolling with Sea|mester.

Review Student Code of Conduct Agreement

Start your admissions process

Space is limited and our admissions operate on a rolling basis. Start your application as soon as you can. This will give you the best possibility of being offered a position on the team of your choice. Important to note is that Sea|mester considers student suitability as the highest priority when offering a position on our team. We do not pay commission for new referrals and would never prioritize alumni over other applicants.

Start your application

Waitlist Policy & Process

Sea|mester enrollment is rolling, and berths are limited, so availability for a student’s first-choice voyage may shift to waitlist status at any point throughout the application process. It’s hard to anticipate when this shift may occur, so, to increase the likelihood of acceptance, we encourage students to punctually:

Complete the application requirements, including references, counseling questionnaire, and scholarship form (if required).
Remit the required berth deposit upon receiving provisional acceptance.

When we receive deposits for all available berths, we start a waitlist divided by gender and populated on a first-come, first-served basis defined by the date and time the berth deposit was received. When a space becomes available, our team will immediately assign the open berth to a student based on their position on the waitlist.

Waitlist FAQs

Do I need to pay my deposit to gain a place on the waitlist?

Do I need to complete the interview to gain a place on the waitlist?

What is the likelihood of a berth becoming available once a voyage has a waitlist?

This question is tricky to answer because it is dependent upon a range of factors. Historically there is a higher chance of a berth becoming available if:

You are one of the first students on the waitlist.
The makeup of the student body is weighted more heavily toward your gender.
The voyage entered waitlist status in advance of the tuition due date (90 days before the start date).

The reasons for points one and two relate to the law of averages, whereas the reasoning for point three is a little more nuanced. The berth deposit holds a student’s berth up until the tuition is due, but no further. When tuition is overdue, we work to clear as many students from the waitlist as we can. From a purely financial perspective, we expect to see more attrition at this point than we would once a student is fully paid. That said, life is uncertain, and a lot can happen over this 90-day lead up to the voyage starting date.

Can I commit to a berth on my second choice voyage while remaining on the waitlist for my first choice?

What happens when a space becomes available?

When you reach the top of the waitlist for your gender, we will attempt to contact you by phone and email to set up your interview.

The interview must be completed within 72 hrs of our office informing you of the opportunity. We temporarily hold the berth for you over this time, but will assume that you are no longer interested and have canceled your application if you do not respond. For this reason, we recommend that waitlist students inform us if there is a period of time that they know they will be non-contactable.

Once accepted, tuition due dates are as follows:

If accepted more than 90 days before the voyage start date, tuition is due on the standard date (90 days out).
If accepted less than 90 days before the voyage start date, an additional deposit amount of $2000 USD is due within 24 hrs of acceptance. Full tuition is due within 10 days of the interview date but no later than the voyage start date.

If my plans change, can I request to have my waitlist deposit refunded?

All deposits will be refunded automatically (or applied to a future voyage) for any unsuccessful waitlist applicant. A waitlist applicant can request a refund for their deposit under the following situations:

Within 69 days of the voyage start date, IF your deposit was received more than 90 days before the voyage start date.
Within 14 days of the voyage start date, IF your deposit was received less than 90 days before the voyage start date.

The berth deposit is not refundable if a student cancels outside of the above scenarios or declines an available berth. Rather than penalize students unnecessarily, this policy’s goal is to deter students from occupying a waitlist position if they are not 100% committed.

What happens to my waitlist deposit if a berth never becomes available?

Is my application fee refundable?

Access, Inclusion, Diversity & Equity (AIDE) Vision

As part of GXG, Sea|mester is dedicated to the continued pursuit of greater access, inclusion, diversity, and equity.

As an experiential program, we strive to create an environment that promotes personal growth and believe that this is only possible when each individual is respected and accepted for who they are.

We welcome everyone, irrespective of gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics that add to the diversity of our team. We believe it is a shared responsibility to respect others and to maintain a physically and emotionally safe environment for all.

Commitment & Actions

We recognize that working toward our AIDE Vision will take commitment and positive action and that the goal itself is inherently intangible.

We are committed to taking the following proactive steps, yet will not be afraid to adjust our strategy as we learn more along the journey.

Review organizational goals to ensure action on Access, Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.
Encourage active participation in the conversation. Introduce racial equity and justice modules into GXG’s staff training and student program curriculums.
Amplify voices. Create a structure where those within our organization who have experienced or witnessed discrimination can share their stories.
Share resources on antiracism and anti-discrimination for both staff and students.
Focus on Financial Aid opportunities to diversify our student body.