Field camp is a really good thing

Field camp has become less commonly required for geology majors in the last ~10 years. That's a bad thing. In our department, we offer students a choice of either completing a field camp course with another university or completing a research project as part of a senior thesis. I believe most undergraduate geology students should take field camp, and that the undergraduate education in geology is incomplete without it. Field camp is excellent preparation for graduate school, for geotechnical jobs that require field experience, and a minimum of 5 semester units is required to qualify for the exams to become a Professional Geologist in California. Here are lists of over 100 field courses and field camps offered across North America and a few outside the US (even a couple in the southern hemisphere for those who want a winter field camp between November and February). Students in our department have attended – and gave rave reviews on – several of the field camps given through the South Dakota School of Mines & Techonology (specifically Hawaii, Montana, Iceland, Turkey, Morocco & France). 

Choosing a field camp & what to expect

This post has links to articles giving advice on how to choose a field camp and articles discussing what to expect at field camp. When choosing a field camp at another institution, consider finding a group of friends that might want to go with you so that you can apply together. That way, when you're starting out you already know at least a few people. However, one of the comments I hear frequently from students on their return is how great it was to meet students from so many different places. 

Field camp isn't cheap

Please see this post that points you to a few resources that might help. You can reduce the cost by 1) attending field camp at your home institution so that you don't have to cover the cost of tuition at another university; 2) attend a field camp close to home to reduce the amount of travel needed to simply get to the field camp site; 3) attend a field camp in which you're actually expected to camp in tents (many offer cabins or other accommodations that increase the total cost); or 4) choose a field camp in a location that you can find cheap air tickets to/from.