Enrollment Process FAQs

The returning family 24-hour priority registration window will open on September 16^th at 10:00 a.m. and close on September 17^th at 10:00 a.m. The application will be closed after this window so we can process the initial applications received, and we will reopen the application the following week for additional registrations.

In recent years, our overnight camp program has become quite popular, developing lengthy waiting lists each year (numbering 150-200+ campers each summer since 2021). We are aware that to optimize one’s chances of getting in, it has been necessary for parents to be available precisely when our registration opens – and to race through the application to reserve a spot. However, it is not always possible for families to be able to register right when registration opens due to professional or personal obligations, lack of consistent internet service, and other factors; we want to make this process a more fair and equitable experience.

For Summer 2025, Camp Alonim will utilize a 24-hour stress-free registration window for returning families with a randomized registration mechanism (lottery). Registrations for returning families will be accepted – without being processed – during a 24-hour window.

All applications received during the 24-hour window will be considered equal, regardless of the time your application is received within the window; whether it comes in at 10:01 a.m. after registration first opens, 2:00 p.m. that day, or the next morning at 9:59 a.m. before the window closes. Enrollment applications will not be processed on a first-come, first-served basis and will instead be processed in the order created by the randomized registration mechanism (lottery).

Each session will have a separate lottery.  Registrations within the session lottery will be randomized by household after the 24-hour window and processed in randomized order with the goal of giving campers their top choice session (see more about alternate choices below). If the number of registrations received in the first 24 hours for any given session/age group exceeds capacity, some campers will be placed on a waitlist using our randomized process and will be registered in their second or third choice program (if one was indicated). If the number of registrations received in the first 24 hours for a program does not exceed the program capacity, all of the campers will be registered until the session is filled.

We will aim to send enrollment confirmation emails within 72 hours of the close of the 24-hour window, but it may take up to a week.  Please be patient, as this is a complex administrative process.

Signing up for multiple sessions will not be available when registration first opens. In recent years, approximately 50-75 campers sign up for multiple sessions upon the opening of registration. In digging into our recent enrollment history, we found that about 8 in 10 of these campers do not end up attending camp for more than one session. The “extra” session(s) were canceled before our February 1^st deadline to cancel with full refunds.

Why is this a challenge? Holding those spaces prevents other families that are ready to enroll from doing so, often placing them unnecessarily on waiting lists. In addition, the stress and frustration those waitlisted families feel contributes to the ongoing “race to click” cycle, as families that are waitlisted one year (even if they eventually do get a spot in camp), then join the “race to click” culture for the next year, hoping to avoid the stress of having been waitlisted.

While we know it can be difficult to solidify your plans for camp in the fall, we are asking you to do just that. The practice that has developed of signing up for multiple sessions while finalizing your family’s summer plans has unfortunately been hurting Camp Alonim, not helping it. It prevents new and returning families from being part of our camp family, creates a false capacity problem that often sends families to other camps, and adds an unnecessary burden to our year-round administrative team.

Our priority at the opening of registration will be to fit as many campers into their desired session as we have space, allowing for as many children as possible to experience the magic of Camp Alonim. If you want your child to attend multiple sessions, you may be able to add those sessions later in the registration season, space permitting. Please email us at alonim@aju.edu if you plan for your child to attend more than one camp session so we can alert you when the opportunity is available to add a session.

Yes! Please select your top choice session on the Session Selection page of the camper application. We will have a question later in the application that asks about your second or third choice of session. You can enter those choices there. If your child is waitlisted for your top choice session, we will automatically enroll them in an indicated back-up session, space permitting, and keep them on the preferred session’s waiting list. You will be able to switch into your preferred session if a space becomes available.

Each session will have a separate lottery. Registrations within the session lottery will be randomized by household. If a family comes up tenth, for example, in the randomized system, all children in the household applying for that session will be registered at the same time. If there is a conflict with your family’s enrollment (such as one child’s age group has space, but another child’s is full), we will contact you to let you know.

If you have more than one child, and they will attend different sessions, your household will be entered once into each applicable session lottery.

To allow for as many spaces to be available as possible, families must decide what session they are attending ahead of time and choose one session on the Session Selection page of the camper application. We are always happy to change a camper’s session later, space permitting.

Some campers who are hoping to return to camp with friends from the previous summer may not receive a spot in the same session. With our waiting list challenges from recent summers, this is not new. Similarly to previous summers, campers may remain on a waiting list in the hopes to get into the same session as a friend or they may enroll in a different session that is available. If there is space for friends to be together in a different session than your original selection, you may request to change your session and space permitting, we are happy to make that change. Session change requests must be sent to alonim@aju.edu.

Yes!

Our camper application will be closed from September 17^th at 10:01 a.m. until Wednesday, September 25^th at 10:00 a.m. At that time, the camper application will reopen for returning and new families. These applications will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Welcome to Camp Alonim! Registration for new families will begin on Wednesday, September 25^th at 10:00 a.m. Applications received September 25^th and going forward will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.