<p>Both of my sons have been in Boy Scout since first gade. Their goal is to be an Eagle Scout, but the commitment required is significant. Does being an Eagle Scout help college application?</p>
<p>Yes it does! So does the gold award for GS. Being an Eagle Scout means that you have committed to community service. Adcoms want to admit wholesome hard working kids. I say go for it! </p>
<p>It won’t make up for if kids are deficient in meeting the basic academic criteria for the school. But once past the initial cut, when schools have whittled down the number of applicants and are looking at lots of high-achieving kids, it can help be a differentiating factor. Many small to mid size liberal arts colleges like to list statistics about their students, such as how many Eagle/Gold, class officers, varsity athletes/captains, yearbook editors, and so on. The more holistic the applications process the more something like this matters. It’s also a GREAT topic to discuss at interviews and can help break the ice. My son is in the middle of his project now - good luck to yours!</p>
<p>^ Agree, but it really depends. It can be not just the award but what was done to get there. Some Eagle and Gold projects “tell” more than others. </p>
<p>It is a nice EC that shows some leadership too. However, you may demonstrate the same thing with other EC. So the answer would depends on your EC.</p>
<p>^It also depends on the students other ECs and awards and how they present the eagle project. </p>
<p>I’m an Eagle Scout but I did not write about scouting more than just a brief description of my project in the EC part of my common app. What I did for my project and and everything I have done in scouting is not insignificant by any means. I just felt that my other accomplishments overshadowed what I had done in scouting. As such it may have not “told” as much but I’m sure it added to my application…It would have been a compelling story to tell, a URM boy scout with a project that connected to my other ECs well. </p>
<p>But yes obtaining the Eagle Scout award will help with admissions at selective schools. That said getting eagle should not just be about the line on your resume. </p>
<p>Yes, it helps, especially at selective colleges where they may meet the academic qualifications and need to distinguish themselves otherwise.</p>
<p>According to the Boy Scouts of America website, there were 57,976 Eagle Scout awards earned in the calendar year 2012. I am sure that it is a meaningful achievement for the student, but it is not going to make a huge difference for college admissions.</p>
<p>Being one of only 60,000 or so kids is meaningful, at least as an EC. It’s far more common to be a captain of a varsity sport or a student council member than it is to be an Eagle Scout. Is it on par with having a novel published or winning a national science fair? No, but it’s nothing to look down on.</p>
<p>Wait, just having a novel “published” isn’t pull. So many self-proclaimed “teen novelists” self-publish. It’s different if a major house contracts and/or the book gets significant sales or literary attention. Which is oh-so rare.</p>
<p>My point about what was done to achieve Eagle or Gold: some kids do service that represents a greater concept and challenge- and more impact- than what others did. And have a pattern of service beyond that, that reflects more. What Eagle and Gold do represent is a long term commitment. </p>
<p>I’ve interviewed several Eagle Scouts applying to my Ivy alma mater. The projects and the work involved were impressive. However, I was left with the feeling that the student felt his Eagle Scout achievement was a slam dunk – heads and shoulders above their peers’ achievements.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong: I applaud it. But I think the students were misinformed about its relative strength and uniqueness when it comes to extremely selective college admissions. It’s a great achievement compared w/the general populace of 17 yo HS boys, but not awe-inspiring in the context of some college applicant pools.</p>
<p>Another example: in my area is a very high ranked Full IB high school. A few years ago, every student I interviewed from that school went at lengths to describe how unique & challenging their IB curriculum was and what it entailed. I found their bending over backwards to describe to me what IB was got to be over the top. “I get it already!” This was collaborated by other alum interviewers who got the same sales job. I mentioned it to one of that school’s GCs that my college sees many top IB performers. No need to educate us about what it’s about. The word must have gotten out b/c they no longer ramble about it (at least w/my college)</p>
<p>I’m an Eagle Scout and I think it helped. Obviously it won’t make up for a disastrous GPA or SAT/ACT, but you can use it to your advantage like I wrote one of my college essays on how my service project helped me pick my major and milked it for all the volunteer work (for me it added up 100+ hrs). </p>
<p>The people who feel like it doesn’t help probably aren’t Eagle Scouts.</p>
<p>Being an Eagle Scout is a great accomplishment and I have heard college admissions officers mention it as a positive indication of leadership & long term commitment. It helps. However, it really is more than just an award that matters. My son is in the process of, hopefully, completing his Eagle. I think his experience as a Senior Patrol Leader of over 40 scouts, his appreciation of democracy in action, his oversight of an Eagle Project, his learning from hard physical labor, his enjoyment of teaching others…these experiences from scouting have had an impact on the person he is today. I believe these qualities were part, along with great academics, of why he was accepted early to a highly selective school. It’s all about you as a total person. Good luck with scouting. It can be a very worthwhile endeavor…for life.</p>
<p>It’s an ok EC but it won’t help if the rest of portfolio such as GPA and SAT/ACT are not up to par. Both of my cousins are ES.</p>
<p>It used to be a more more helpful item, but in Scouting so many are now considered ‘Paper Eagles’ kids getting it at 12 or 13 that have no real leadership experience. Couple that with the helicoptering parents in many cases that drag, push or pull their kids to ‘earn’ Eagle that the award itself has lost a lot of luster. The real advantage is that those kids who do it the right way will have many experiences which will help them succeed in life. As far as ECs for college admission, I cannot believe Eagle would be any more attractive for most schools than any other leadership role in a team or organization.</p>
<p>There are some very helpful comments here that I think apply to many ECs that require significant commitment. Whether it is scouting, music, athletics, etc.I think it is easy for applicants to rely on the award/title/etc. instead of painting a picture in their applications of what the EC meant to them. taught them, how it will help them in the future. I also think kids expect ad coms to understand the level of commitment it takes to achieve Eagle Scout or state-caliber athlete, and I just don’t think they always do.</p>
<p>I have two sons who were involved in wrestling from 1st grade through HS. Like I assume ES would be, at the most competitive levels, it is an almost year round commitment. My advice to my sons was not to rely on just putting down Team Captain, awards, etc., on their application, but to paint a picture of the role the sport has played in them becoming who they are. My S who applied last year wrote a couple of his essays about wrestling - setting goals, dealing with success and failure, what it’s like studying for finals on an empty stomach because you have to make weight for a meet that weekend, etc.</p>
<p>I think the bottom line is something like ES provides a great platform for kids to tell a story about themselves. That is what ad coms want to see.</p>
<p>Thank you all. Many great points. </p>
<p>
That’s acutually not technically possible. </p>
<p>I’ve actually heard that the Eagle scout designation can help in hiring for professional jobs many years later. If the hiring manager was involved in boy scouts or has a kid who’s into it, they tend to be quite impressed by it.</p>
<p>What people often overlook is that eagle is the culmination of MANY years of progress through the ranks of Boy Scouting. It is not just a service project. There are all kinds of requirements (smaller scale service projects, badges, leadership, etc.) that must be met before a boy can even get to the point of initiating his eagle project. </p>