<p>A friend's son is headed to WP. He also gained and appointment to USNA. He was telling my boys that getting his Eagle Scout BEFORE his congressional and BGO interviews was a huge help. More than band section leader, more than sports team captain...universally they asked a LOT about his Eagle Scout project, how he recruited help and led the peers, how he chose his project and what involvement in scouts since age 6 did for him. They were most impressed, he felt, that he did not drop scouts for sports as many do...and that he did not let any teen (middle school years especially) jokes and hazing about being a scout stop him. </p>
<p>He was told that getting and Eagle could help. But in his case, he thinks it helped MORE than his sports and band leadership because it was such an incredible strong individual accomplishment and his Eagle Scout project was a tough one that took him all of 10th and much of 11th grade...but he stuck it out. They also were very interested in his analysis of how leading band kids vs. sports kids vs. scouts kids varied to a great degree, but what leadership techniques he also found universal.</p>
<p>My boys may not apply to an SA and my daughter is not a scout, but I thought I would share this for any out there that are in scouts and not sure whether to pursue it. In his view, it helped. Of the 5 others interviewing, all had at least 1 varsity letter, all were team captains...but none other also had earned Eagle. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that he also:
1. Took honors and AP classes, but only 3 of the later
2. Completed only through Honors pre-cal as a senior
3. But had stellar ACT/SAT scores</p>
<p>Who KNOWS how kids are selected, but that was the inside scoop he gave (and by the way, he also said he was asked each time WHERE else he was applying, i.e. SAs and colleges, and WHY those places).</p>
<p>For those of you who won’t be getting your Eagle or who are but want something else to tack onto your application, Boys/Girls state is also a great thing for those looking to improve their applications. It’s been debated whether it holds as great a weight as Eagle Scout, but I’ve heard BGO’s say B/G State holds significant value.</p>
<p>This tends to get a lot of discussion. Those who are Eagle Scouts and get an appointment tend to make a bigger deal out of this then the facts would warrant. WP, AFA or USNA don’t publically release how they score your ECA’s or sports, so most people are simply going on hunches or guessing. BGO’s on another forum site tend to agree that it counts for about as many points as being a team captain. What also tends to happen to some in h.s. is they outgrow boy scouts and get more involved in sports or ECA’s offered by their h.s. It is still the best policy to do the things you enjoy/are good at /or feel you can contribute to your h.s. rather trying to ‘game’ the system with specific activities.</p>
<p>Service academies count band as an ECA NOT a sport, so also good to know the difference.</p>
<p>Relevant points, Time2. The young man’s point who spoke to us was that in the INTERVIEWS (especially congressional) they were very interested that he was able to and chose to maintain strong active interest in 3 very different things: band (as a section lead), sports (as a team cpt.) AND his Eagle Scout. They mentioned that many tend to loose interest in scouts because of other things and asked a lot about juggling these 3 things and about leadership techniques in those 3 very, very different ponds. When he visited WP, he was asked (informally) if he stayed in scouts just to get his Eagle. He responded that he stayed in scouts because of the friendships and outdoor activities…and that getting the Eagle was actually an incredible amount of work not truly worth the effort unless you still enjoyed scouting. I think he used scouts and sports to show that he did in fact do things he enjoyed, not just what ‘most’ boys did or what was the conformist means of being engaged.
I think that was an interesting point. Having kids in varied activities I have to say that you don’t see THAT many who are really strong Eagle Scouts and REALLY strong athletes at large high schools. I frankly don’t know where they get the time!
But in general I agree with you that kids should do what interest them…but also know that for SAs it seems rarely disputed that athletics and leadership and academics are huge. For the former two, team sports w/varsity letter and Eagle scout are nice ways to fill out that profile IF you are interested in both.
When asked about where else he was applying and why he felt the most ‘grilled’ about why he was not apply for ROTC or NROTC options. Something along the lines of: “Is your goal then to be a SA graduate or to be an Officer?”. Hmmm…
T</p>
<p>Yes, the ROTC quesiton is frequently asked to assess the person’s real motivation for applying. If you want a ‘free’ education or to attend a prestigious college that will look good on your resume, then you have the wrong motivation. If your goal is serving the country/military service, then ROTC can also be a plan B way to do that.</p>
<p>90+% of those attending service academies were varsity athletes in h.s…these are physically demanding programs so that should come as no surprise. The SA’s don’t have time to teach you how to become athletic, they expect you already arrive with that background.</p>
<p>There are several ways to demonstrate leadership during h.s…part of what the academies are looking for are those who have leadership qualities.</p>
<p>I received an appointment to Navy for this upcoming year. Along with other successes similar to those already stated, I am an Eagle Scout. Personally I felt that was one of the bigger reasons I received my nominations (one from Rep and one from Senator). In both Nomination interviews the very first question was about my Eagle Project. They went on to ask about experiences in scouting, especially those pertaining to instruction of younger scouts and troop leadership positions.</p>