Summer camps using the "lottery" system.... wtf?

[Anonymous]

The Girl Scouts have several camps this summer which are a lottery system... How does that make any sense? Why are they not "first come first served" like any other normal camp?

But if you volunteer at the camp then your kid will automatically get in. Except it's a day camp and you're a working parent and they have no volunteer opportunities for working parents....

Sorry rant over.

But seriously GS's, try getting into this century.

[Anonymous]

As a working parent you must know that there are tons of other summer camps available so what's the problem?

Oh, that's right, the GS camp is cheap so not only you but tons of other parents in the area want to take advantage of it. That's the reason for the lottery.

And if you are volunteering at the camp, which are usually outside in the hot blazing sun, then I do think your kid should get an automatic in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent you must know that there are tons of other summer camps available so what's the problem?

Oh, that's right, the GS camp is cheap so not only you but tons of other parents in the area want to take advantage of it. That's the reason for the lottery.

And if you are volunteering at the camp, which are usually outside in the hot blazing sun, then I do think your kid should get an automatic in.

OP Here - my daughter is a daisy and liked the theme of the one camp. She won't be going, I asked if there were other volunteer opportunities outside work hours (more than willing to help), they just don't offer any. It's crap.

And as I said in my original post, it was a vent. Clearly we have other plans, just disappointed the Girl Scouts do not have more camp volunteer opportunities for working parents who would like to help but can't 9am-5pm, M-F.

[Anonymous]

That sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent you must know that there are tons of other summer camps available so what's the problem?

Oh, that's right, the GS camp is cheap so not only you but tons of other parents in the area want to take advantage of it. That's the reason for the lottery.

And if you are volunteering at the camp, which are usually outside in the hot blazing sun, then I do think your kid should get an automatic in.

OP Here - my daughter is a daisy and liked the theme of the one camp. She won't be going, I asked if there were other volunteer opportunities outside work hours (more than willing to help), they just don't offer any. It's crap.

And as I said in my original post, it was a vent. Clearly we have other plans, just disappointed the Girl Scouts do not have more camp volunteer opportunities for working parents who would like to help but can't 9am-5pm, M-F.

Or they could raise the price of camp to reduce demand and then only richer kids can get in. But I'm guessing that's not what they want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent you must know that there are tons of other summer camps available so what's the problem?

Oh, that's right, the GS camp is cheap so not only you but tons of other parents in the area want to take advantage of it. That's the reason for the lottery.

And if you are volunteering at the camp, which are usually outside in the hot blazing sun, then I do think your kid should get an automatic in.

OP Here - my daughter is a daisy and liked the theme of the one camp. She won't be going, I asked if there were other volunteer opportunities outside work hours (more than willing to help), they just don't offer any. It's crap.

And as I said in my original post, it was a vent. Clearly we have other plans, just disappointed the Girl Scouts do not have more camp volunteer opportunities for working parents who would like to help but can't 9am-5pm, M-F.

Or they could raise the price of camp to reduce demand and then only richer kids can get in. But I'm guessing that's not what they want.

Or they could just open camp enrollment and whoever signs up gets in. When the spots are gone they start a waitlist or stop taking entries.

[Anonymous]

If you're talking about the Hogwarts camp, everyone on the wait list last year in our area (like 6 kids) got off the wait list.

I agree that it's super annoying b/c it makes it hard to plan. But, nothing about GS is easy (in my view, my DD is a junior now).
FWIW, the camp was just OK. And it required a TON of prep every day for the themed days and all the other requirements that GS has each day. We won't be doing it, or another GS camp for that matter, again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent you must know that there are tons of other summer camps available so what's the problem?

Oh, that's right, the GS camp is cheap so not only you but tons of other parents in the area want to take advantage of it. That's the reason for the lottery.

And if you are volunteering at the camp, which are usually outside in the hot blazing sun, then I do think your kid should get an automatic in.

OP Here - my daughter is a daisy and liked the theme of the one camp. She won't be going, I asked if there were other volunteer opportunities outside work hours (more than willing to help), they just don't offer any. It's crap.

And as I said in my original post, it was a vent. Clearly we have other plans, just disappointed the Girl Scouts do not have more camp volunteer opportunities for working parents who would like to help but can't 9am-5pm, M-F.

Or they could raise the price of camp to reduce demand and then only richer kids can get in. But I'm guessing that's not what they want.

Or they could just open camp enrollment and whoever signs up gets in. When the spots are gone they start a waitlist or stop taking entries.

Which would then disadvantage parents whose work schedule makes it impossible for them to register the minute enrollment opens up. DD has one camp she loves that we didn't get into one year because I forgot to put the specific registration time on my work calendar and ended up having to be in a meeting at that time.

Personally, I know it's frustrating but for a camp that is trying to keep costs low and serve a wider population, a lottery seems the most fair way to do it.

[Anonymous]

Because making it first-come-first-served means that everyone jams up the lines trying to register the minute enrollment opens.

There's really no perfect system, and lottery seems as fair as anything else.

[Anonymous]

Probably to circumvent the assholes that get in line early, or get up at 12:01 AM to register on-line.

[Anonymous]

Once again, parent want someone to take her kid and do cool stuff with her but don’t ask me to help.

DD has lotteried in every year for the GS camps she wants to attend with no problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent you must know that there are tons of other summer camps available so what's the problem?

Oh, that's right, the GS camp is cheap so not only you but tons of other parents in the area want to take advantage of it. That's the reason for the lottery.

And if you are volunteering at the camp, which are usually outside in the hot blazing sun, then I do think your kid should get an automatic in.

OP Here - my daughter is a daisy and liked the theme of the one camp. She won't be going, I asked if there were other volunteer opportunities outside work hours (more than willing to help), they just don't offer any. It's crap.

And as I said in my original post, it was a vent. Clearly we have other plans, just disappointed the Girl Scouts do not have more camp volunteer opportunities for working parents who would like to help but can't 9am-5pm, M-F.

Or they could raise the price of camp to reduce demand and then only richer kids can get in. But I'm guessing that's not what they want.

Or they could just open camp enrollment and whoever signs up gets in. When the spots are gone they start a waitlist or stop taking entries.

Which would then disadvantage parents whose work schedule makes it impossible for them to register the minute enrollment opens up. DD has one camp she loves that we didn't get into one year because I forgot to put the specific registration time on my work calendar and ended up having to be in a meeting at that time.

Personally, I know it's frustrating but for a camp that is trying to keep costs low and serve a wider population, a lottery seems the most fair way to do it.

New poster here, longtime GS troop leader and a camp volunteer for five summers.

I agree with the bolded text above.

This is how the web page for Camp Crossroads (known as the "Hogwarts camp") explains why they use a lottery and not a "first come, first served" process. This is a good summary not just for that one camp but for any GS lottery camp. The bold type is mine:

"We just have too many girls interested in attending. With a lottery process any application submitted during the lottery window has an equal chance of being selected. We have an application window of at least 10 days. This means that every family has ample opportunity to submit an application -- not just those lucky enough to be sitting in front of their computer the exact minute we begin accepting applications. The other advantage is that we can restructure the camp based on the volume of applications received for each age-level."

I hope that helps OP and others get a sense of how GS thinks about lotteries.

And I would note that in this area (GS Nation's Capital council), while there are some camps with lottery registrations, others do have first-come, first-served, first to get in the application registrations of the type OP would prefer; that just wasn't the case for the particular camp that interested OP's daughter. I'm sorry that was the case, OP, but I hope you'll look into other camps out there. If you want to volunteer but work 9-5, take a look at Camp Firefly, which is in the evenings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a working parent you must know that there are tons of other summer camps available so what's the problem?

Oh, that's right, the GS camp is cheap so not only you but tons of other parents in the area want to take advantage of it. That's the reason for the lottery.

And if you are volunteering at the camp, which are usually outside in the hot blazing sun, then I do think your kid should get an automatic in.

OP Here - my daughter is a daisy and liked the theme of the one camp. She won't be going, I asked if there were other volunteer opportunities outside work hours (more than willing to help), they just don't offer any. It's crap.

And as I said in my original post, it was a vent. Clearly we have other plans, just disappointed the Girl Scouts do not have more camp volunteer opportunities for working parents who would like to help but can't 9am-5pm, M-F.

She might get in. I can’t volunteer either, but still putting her in the lottery because she likes that theme. Maybe our DDs will end up together this summer!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Girl Scouts have several camps this summer which are a lottery system... How does that make any sense? Why are they not "first come first served" like any other normal camp?

But if you volunteer at the camp then your kid will automatically get in. Except it's a day camp and you're a working parent and they have no volunteer opportunities for working parents....

Sorry rant over.

But seriously GS's, try getting into this century.

I'm not sure what the best solution to this is when camps are super popular. There have been camps that my kid wanted that were available to the first people in line, and the line lasted overnight. I know wealthy parents who paid someone to stand in line, and middle class parents where one parent stood in line, and one stayed with the kid, but for my moderate income single parent there was no way. At a for profit like Girl Scouts that tries to serve a diverse group, that's not the right way.

I've also seen camps that require people to sign up online, and people get closed out in minutes. Works great if you have an office job, and can figure out a way to schedule 30 minutes to try the online system. Not so well in other jobs.

And then, I know super popular camps that give spots to families who pay extra to join the attached community center, or who donate to the church or . . .

To me the lottery is more equitable than any of those.

[Anonymous]

How does she participate in school year Girl Scouts if you don't have time to volunteer?