After hearing a bunch of peoples’ opinions, I’ve decided to go ahead and list, but not emphasize it.
@GWTWFan I looked over the BSA requirements for those badges and didn’t see an age requirement mentioned anywhere. Must be a regional thing. TBH, that’s probably a good policy, because older scouts would get more out of it than younger ones. Even in my case, I’d have gotten more personal growth out of doing things like an Eagle project, NYLT, etc. a few years later. I’m completely sympathetic to all the leaders who don’t want scouts “rushing” through the program.
You should be listing your silver palms and when you earned them, with an explanation that they can only be awarded after achieving Eagle.
National does not have age requirements for the ranks. So your achievement shows your maturity! Congratulations!
ETA I don’t think there are age requirements for merit badges either. Since your scoutmaster and merit badge counselors signed off on the badges, they agreed that you met the requirements. If you weren’t mature enough to finish the requirements, a counselor would not have signed off.
Also your scoutmaster didn’t hold you back in completing scoutmaster conferences so obviously you deserved this. Finally, you passed your Eagle Board Of Review because you met all the Eagle Scout requirements. Age was not one of the requirements.
I have two nephews that earned Eagle in the 8th grade. They both mentioned it on their college apps and got into very competitive schools…but it was just one piece of their accomplishments.
BSA is a national organization. Local troops aren’t permitted to make their own rules. According to the national website, the minimum age to earn the Eagle is 11-1/2. I think the average age of boys who earn it is 17.
I was a Scoutmaster, and this was a topic of discussion at our monthly Round-Up meetings. Our council discouraged younger Scouts from pursuing the Eagle too quickly because they’re missing out on the experiential part of Scouting. The boys run the troop, so it’s important that they have time to develop leadership skills. Is a typical 12 or 13-year-old going to have the maturity and experience to lead a 17-year-old? Our council didn’t think so. They believed earning the award too early watered down the purpose of it.
What matters is what adcoms think of it. If they had an experience like our first BS troop – where Scoutmasters heavily coached their kids and physically completed some of the work required for the boys to earn a particular merit badge – they may not be impressed. If they had an experience like our 2nd troop, where boys worked hard and were given plenty of opportunities to develop skills, they may view it differently. You have no way of knowing which you’ll get so I would list your awards and describe any experiences that help provide depth to your app, but I wouldn’t include the years or say how old you were when you earned them.
Imo, you have to separate thinking of this as a big, raw “achievement” from what adcoms are really looking for. It’s not just getting an “award” in 8th that offers any tip. (And not to the hardest colleges to get into.) Adcoms don’t guess, “Oh, Eagle, he must be a great kid.” Something has to connect, has to show. And especially since this was so long ago. You don’t want them to say, “And then what? Oops.”
@bobince it’s not just “some major leadership positions.” It’s not getting the title of X in some club. It’s how, maybe, scouting inspired you to more, the real leadership qualities you can show, not just titles.
Anyone applying to S or H has to know they aren’t simply looking for club titles and past laurels. As an example, the kid who can show that his community experience (or some personal experience) through scouting got him involved in more service through hs, increasing levels of responsibilities, is different than the kid who just lists it, through 10th, then the same old hs box.
So, OP, how did it inspire you to “more?” And if it really didn’t, you can think abut how to fill in the blanks, right now, pronto.
@lookingforward Thank you for that insight, you’ve made a really good point that I honestly hadn’t considered. In hindsight, scouting did make me more confident in general. It was my first experience of actually being in charge of other people, and the first time I’d worked on stuff without an assigned due date (hence why I reached Eagle so early). Aside from that, scouting made me more aware of the diversity of this country (as a rich, liberal brown kid from a rich white suburb, befriending people with different socioeconomic/racial/political backgrounds changed my outlook on the world). And 70 nights of camping certainly did make me much more environmentally conscious, something that matters a lot to me.
Scouting definitely had a big impact on my personal development - each of these traits have influenced every activity I’ve done in high school up to this point. Does it demonstrate some unique or valuable insight into my personality and character? Maybe not… Like many things in my life, my scouting career looks like a laundry list. So it’s possible that adcoms would not see it the same way that I do.
I absolutely do not think it should be part of your essay. No. Your essay is meant to give an insight into your personality that isn’t easily discovered by looking at stats. Put it in additional information. I do agree with the poster who said that achieving Eagle Scout is supposed to show ongoing commitment. Nevertheless, you did earn it, and it is important, even if you did it in middle school. I do not think it should be emphasized though. It will be conspicuous that you did not continue.
I was given good advice by a senior CC’er when my daughter was a junior, who said that you should not list middle school acheivements, unless they were ongoing and of substance. She listed her musical instrument as “2007-present” because it was her main EC. You don’t want them wondering why you are no longer involved with Boy Scouts.
Again, OP, you’re missing my point. You’re gong to need to “show” the attributes. “Show, not just tell.” What shows, eg, that you care about the environment or diversity?
You need a idea of what these tippy tops look for. Take some of that energy and dig into what those target U’s say they look for. Be savvy.
@lookingforward If you’re curious about specific evidence of these attributes today, I guess here’s a couple recent examples:
– “Taking initiative” - wrote a filing program to automate debate research that nobody was doing (background - for one of my debate events, you give a speech based on research you’ve collected. Unfortunately, nobody did much research, so it hurt our competitive success)
– Leadership - taught novice debaters (it’s a lot more complicated than it sounds, especially all the jargon and arcane rules in policy debate), I’ve tutored peers in almost every subject (mostly informally tho), I’ve recruited and led peers to success at several competitions
– Environment - co-founded an environmental club at my school (it died after a few months due to lack of interest - not of importance for college, and yes, I’m aware that this is in large part my fault, but this is just an example of me “caring” about the environment… if that’s what you were trying to get at?), also I’m a lot more active since doing Scouting in terms of hiking and outdoorsy stuff
– Diversity - I haven’t really done much on this one, so I won’t mention it on a college app… but since you ask, since middle school I’ve branched out and my friend group encompasses far more racial/economic diversity than in MS/ES. Obviously not a huge accomplishment (in fact, it’s not even something to be proud of) or anything, but it is an area of personal growth that scouting helped me with
None of these are noteworthy enough for a college app, so I won’t be writing essays or anything like that on them. I can’t point to scouting being the sole cause of any major accomplishment of mine outside of the program. But it certainly was a factor in everything I’ve done since.
Again, I’m not writing an essay on or emphasizing it in the app, so I guess this isn’t that big of a deal. It’s not the centerpiece of the app, not even close. But I do think it’s worth mentioning.
When my daughter was applying to college she put it down as “2006 - 2014 - Girl Scouts, Gold Award earned 7/14” We did not include months unless it was a very short term activity. I would think you could do something similar and then don’t mention it again unless it has bearing on something you’re writing about in an essay. In our town, the Scout year is based on a calendar year so unless you quit in the fall of 8th grade, you would still be considered a scout in 9th grade, even if you just attended one meeting.
@HMom16 By that logic, I’m still technically in scouting (I help friends with eagle projects, and show up to a meeting or service project once every few months). But I feel like it would be dishonest to list it that way, because Common App requires that you specify hours/week and weeks/year for a listed activity. Perhaps if I relegated scouts to the “Additional Info” section which is just a big text box where I can put anything I want, then I can do what you’ve suggested. But again, it feels really dishonest and I don’t want to lie my way into college. Your daughter was obviously active for most of those 8 years, which I feel makes our situations quite different.
First of all being an Eagle Scout won’t get you into a college. It is a very nice EC and nothing more. And it IMO would be perfectly appropriate to mention your accomplishment and note that once you have achieved Eagle Scout that you have continued your involvement in scouting at a decreased level.
But in the end it is your application and do what you feel comfortable with.
I live in a fairly liberal town and many people here do not have a very good opinion of the BS. This is because of the views on gays, their lack of religious tolerance and their relative lack of diversity. I would definitely mention it but as others have said I would not dwell on it
@bobince - I should have been more clear. The information was stated that way on her resume (which she attached) and in additional information. She only put the actual time under the activities section of the common app.