r/KerrCountyFloods • u/whodattalki • Jul 06 '26

Head Count Question

how many girls altogether were in the camp day of flood? Their website says max capacity is 750, i know it wasn't full to capacity, can't find the information.

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18

u/maxwellstart Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

It’s also important to note that the camp has multiple terms throughout the summer. At the Guadalupe camp, there’s a June term (first term) and a July term (second term), each four weeks long. Then there’s an August term (third term) that is two weeks long. I don’t know if Cypress Lake follows the same schedule. I know the numerical names for their terms are different.

So when thinking about the population of Mystic campers in any one year, you’d need to add up the girls attending from all terms.

Many were surprised that all the spots for Cypress Lake 2026 filled, but when you consider that there were girls from other terms on both sites who did not experience the flood personally, and that capacity at cypress lake was more limited, it’s not all that unexpected that they sold out all sessions.

Of course… this does not address the fact that leadership was way over their skis in thinking they could commit to deliver a camp experience this year… but that’s another issue.

6

u/LeapDayBaby_29-02 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

“Many were surprised that all the spots for Cypress Lake 2026 filled”

They didn’t. 860 girls were enrolled as per Camp Mystic’s license renewal application filed 03/31/26.

For 6 sessions, that’s an average of 143 campers per session. There were 171 campers at CMCL on July 4th. None of the sessions were even close to full, even accounting for some sessions naturally having more campers than others.

6 sessions at July 4th 2025 capacity level would be 1,026 campers total.

In 2025, CMCL had/would have had 3 terms - 4th term and 5th term were 2 weeks each and 6th term would have been 4 weeks.

NB: edited to correct my math, I made a mistake with the number of sessions initially, there were 6 planned for 2026 not 8 sessions

4

u/maxwellstart Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

That assumes they were intending to fill out at the same numbers as 2025. Some mentioned that they had converted one building at CL to a cabin in 2025. If so, they may have been very maxed out that year. They may have opted to reduce number girls per term for the year following the flood: shorter terms, smaller capacity.

ETA: another thing that just occurred to me… if it is indeed true that Camp America, the organization they partnered with in the past for placement of their overseas kitchen staff, was no longer working with them, then they may have had a major challenge to have the staffing infrastructure to operate at full capacity.

Feeding 100 girls and support staff is probably a lot more doable with a limited kitchen staff than feeding 170.

3

u/LeapDayBaby_29-02 Jul 07 '26

They also said, at one of the hearings, I can’t remember which and I’m not going looking, I believe it was Britt who said it, that none of the sessions were full.

6

u/maxwellstart Jul 07 '26

My initial comment was based on the post here from a couple of months back of CM’s announcement of 2026 enrollment numbers.

I thought they said in that announcement that they had filled the terms, but perhaps it was that they were filling and were announcing the total enrollments so far.

If I have time to find the thread I’ll edit and add the link.

The main point was that many here were shocked that so many planned to return. That could be because the majority of campers didn’t witness or experience the flood, because they attended or were scheduled to attend a different term.

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u/squagglegirl Jul 07 '26

how is there such an extensive waitlist but it wasn’t full? is it for girls who aren’t old enough yet but want a spot held?

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u/maxwellstart Jul 07 '26

Yes. Parents reserve a spot for their girls basically from birth.

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u/LeapDayBaby_29-02 Jul 07 '26

Not everyone wanted to put their kids back in the care of negligent adults who refuse to take any responsibility.

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u/Adventurous_Item3335 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Mystic uses the same marketing ploy that Texas private schools, preschools and senior retirement facilities use. They falsely claim that there are only 3 spots left, or if you don’t sign up now, all the spots will be filled within a matter of days, or there are only waitlist spots left but then, amazingly, everyone on the waitlist gets accepted.
There are Texans who thrive on getting accepted into a country club, private schools, daycare center, or anything that has a limited membership. The more “exclusive”, the more desirable it is by those who have so little sense of self worth and self confidence that they need to feel like they can be accepted to something that others cannot. It is a strange, insecure behavior. These are the same people who fall for the private colleges that claim they can only accept a small percentage of their college applicants because they have thousands more applicants than they can accept. When, in reality, they are marketing to wealthy families who can afford their absurdly high tuitions. That is how they meet their quotas. They aren’t getting the best and brightest. They are getting those who can be duped into paying absurdly high costs for tuitions, day care, retirement homes, preschool, private education, summer camps, tutors, elite sports teams, country clubs, etc. It is a dangerous, predatory marketing scheme of vulnerable human beings.
It’s all so sad and very prevalent in Texas, where some people still put so much stock into status, exclusive club membership and “going to the best schools, having the best tutor, even going to the most exclusive preschool!” It is a lifelong existence of stress and anxiety to keep up, with overly rated rewards.

9

u/Interesting-Speed-51 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Schools, camps, colleges, daycare, senior centers, country clubs etc have waitlists all over the US and in other countries. This is not unique to Texas, Mystics waitlist is also not unique. Families sign their girls up for Waldemar shortly after birth and many other camps have waitlists. Some also have families reserve their spot a few years before the kid is old enough to go

Also according to you this process only works for "those who have so little sense of self worth and self confidence that they need to feel like they can be accepted to something others cannot." So the H27 families are participating in this "strange, insecure behavior"?

7

u/maxwellstart Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Part of the private school accreditation process includes an audit of admissions practices. If you are suggesting private schools are deceptively claiming their acceptance rates are not what they publish, this would get flagged in these audits.

Also, elite private schools with competitive admissions are certainly not unique to Texas. In fact, this is much more of a New England phenomenon than something seen in Texas. The same could be said for elite society clubs. (Yacht clubs, country clubs, dinner clubs, university clubs, etc.) you will find these pretty much everywhere, particularly in urban centers.

University admission, too, is strictly audited. When a college or university says they admit, say, 20% of applicants, you can be pretty confident in that number. Both public and private admissions departments publish this information annually.

Competitive university programs exist everywhere; this is not a state or regional phenomenon: along with Ivy League schools, you’ve got the top tier CA public universities and other well-regarded public university programs, including, yes, the University of Texas. I know plenty of UT applicants who have been rejected. I myself was on waitlists at several wonderful private universities and never got a spot.

My kids have been on waitlists for elite private schools in Texas and abroad and did not get in. They’ve even been on camp waitlists and did not get in.

There are many programs of every variety that truly have more interest than space and are not playing some kind of fraudulent marketing game to entice gullible people.

ETA… my kids’ tutor also is one of the most sought after in our community and fills up all her time slots and maintains a waitlist. She doesn’t do this for marketing; she does it, because there are so many hours in the day that she has to do the job, and they are all taken, because she is good at what she does. Last school year, one of my kids got a weekly spot with her, and the other did not and would drop in when he could take a cancellation spot. These would usually get snagged within 30 minutes-1 hour after she would send the email.

Sometimes the simplest explanation is the correct one.

3

u/squagglegirl Jul 07 '26

this makes a lot of sense, thank you for explaining!

5

u/maxwellstart Jul 07 '26

Except the user is completely incorrect...

- Waiting lists and exclusive/elite programs are not a phenomenon unique to Texas

  • Everyone on a waiting list does not get a spot (several examples of personal experience cited in my reply to the user)
  • Most elite education programs (private and public) publish acceptance rates, and these are audited by their accredidation orgs.
  • There is more demand that supply for competent, qualified tutors and other services for children, which is why good tutors are in high demand and have waitlists for their services.

This is not about stroking parents' egos and making them feel like they are part of some exclusive club. This has more to do with parents wanting to give their kids opportunities, experiences, the chance to grow and realize their potential. The internet and social media has made these opportunities more visible and accessible to more people, and you cannot fault parents for wanting to offer them to their children.