My son got nominated for this year’s Boys State program. And upon further review, it seems like a really cool opportunity, especially given his interest in government and policy. I’d be curious to understand how colleges perceive it from a valuable “summer experience” perspective. There are so many options and often it’s hard to distinguish which ones are truly impactful/respected vs. just nice to experience.
If he’s considering a service academy, especially USMA, attending Boys State (Nation) is given a point value in the Whole Candidate Score used to determine appointments. The RAND Corporation did a study on service academy admissions several years ago to identify whether the application scores that USMA uses as admission criteria could predict success both in the USMA and as an officer. From the 50-page paper produced, here is the list of points awarded per EC category at the time:
My son attended NJ Boys State about 8 years ago. Besides the great learning experience, fun and friends he met, Fordham and NYU admissions officers both commented on it that it was extremely beneficial. My son was not a great test taker, but was admitted to both schools with decent merit $ and middle of the road stats. So from our perspective, definitely helped.