<p>I was wondering what value is placed by adcoms on Eagle Scout status as an ec. My son can either take the effort to finish it off in the next year or so, or spend his time on other ecs that may be better (eg, editor of paper, boy state, nhs, etc.). What say you all? Is it worth it to get the eagle Scout designation, or should he spend his time on the other stuff?</p>
<p>My S is an eagle scout. I think that in my son's case it helped at some schools, and other schools could have cared less. Only one school gave a merit scholarship to him for leadership and community service. Frankly, if he did not get that scholarship, they would probably have offered another merit scholarship with a different label b/c his stats were above the top 25% anyway.</p>
<p>My opinion about the eagle scout is another story. I am very proud of my son's accomplishments in scouting. More importantly, my son is proud of himself. I think the latter is the reason to work at it. Also, you can only earn eagle before your eighteenth birthday, but you carry that award with you for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>Thanks northeastmom, we are obviously very proud of our son and his scouting career as well. I did not mean to imply that it was just a matter of admissions value.</p>
<p>The question was posed here to discern (or try to) what weight it carries w/ adcoms. We know how we will value it (very highly) and the invaluable things he has learned in the process. As he starts to refine his list, and put his credentials into perspective of others in the applicant pool, we are trying to figure out how much weight his Scouting activities (and eagle honor if he recrives it) will carry.</p>
<p>Thank you for your input and relating your experience.</p>
<p>I'd like to hear more.</p>
<p>We too have an Eagle Scout at our house and are very proud. It was a trememdous amount of work to complete, time NOT spent on other outside activities. Do we regret the time he spent getting it..........no! Nor will he overtime. When many kids drop out of scouting, the Eagle Scout has stuck with it for many years. In this day and age, one would think that it would be a significant factor. </p>
<p>But as I read posts on boards of top schools about EC, I rarely see Scouting mentioned as EC for accepted students. We have been talking about this in our house for a few weeks now and tentatively/sadly say that the Eagle Scout award just doesn't seem to carry the weight it once did. Our culture is all about quantity (#of AP,s) and uniqueness and the Eagle Scout is aboutservice diligence, perserverance and respect. I am not sure that the adm con are looking for the traits represented by an Eagle Scout anymore. While the Eagle Scout represents a complete package, Admcon seem to miss this point.</p>
<p>I hope that other folks opinions prove us wrong.</p>
<p>There's been a few threads about this in the past few months, and if you do a search for them I'm sure you'll find them and get a lot more answers than I could ever give you. I'm an Eagle Scout and will be attending college next fall. I was accepted at American U, George Washington, Boston U, and Tufts; but most likely will be attending Tufts. I received Deans Scholarships at American and Boston U for $15,000 and $10,000 respectively, I think largely due in part to my Eagle Scout. These were "leadership" grants, and frankly the only other leadership position on my app was being president of the Frisbee Club, which I think hardly would have qualified me for those awards. Everyone's experience in scouting is different, which I feel makes Eagle Scouts attractive candidates for college admissions. Being an ES is far more rare than editor in chief or the president of a few clubs, which again I think makes it a valuable EC. I remember reading a thread on this sometime ago (which again you should probably be able to find) that quoted a Princeton adcom; and he stated that the Eagle Scout was the perfect EC, because it showed the right amount of leadership, dedication, and perseverance that they were looking for in applicants. I'd say definetly go for the Eagle Scout, and supplement it with the right amount of after school activities, which shouldn't be too hard to balance. Good luck and congratulations to your son for getting this far.</p>
<p>Thank you allenstewart, I did do a searchand I think I got the answer t o my question. I am pretty new to cc, so I am sorry that I was redundant. This topic has received a fair amount of attention before.</p>
<p>Thanks again.</p>
<p>I can just second that I believe my Eagle Scout son was given some of the sholarships and perhaps even an admittance that was tipped by his Eagle Scout project. I think that the schools that put a high value on Public Service will put a high value on the Eagle Scout commendation.</p>
<p>Some won't care. But the ones that do are the ones my son would prefer to attend.</p>
<p>I will agree with what curioser stated. There was one school where my son's gpa did miss the guideline for an academic scholarship. He was offered that academic scholarship, and I know that this school puts a high value on community service. I think that they offered it b/c of his Eagle Scout award, and his community service projects. My son received other scholarships, but only one was labeled a leadership/community service scholarship, so I am assuming that he would have received the other scholarships if he were not an Eagle Scout.</p>
<p>STAY IN SCOUTS! The honor of Eagle is incredible for the individual (if not for college admissions). Besides, your son can probably find ways to pursue NHS, boys state, etc in addition to scouts. You just have the find ways to play around with that schedule. I'm an Eagle and participated in Varsity Volleyball, Film, and community service (1000 hours worth) at the same time. But my biggest honor is definitely my Eagle Scout award, which I take much pride in. </p>
<p>Go for quality and not quantity. Colleges want to see commitment and passion - not a laundry list.</p>
<p>I'm doing my Eagle project right now.. just do a blood drive and something fantastic and just write an essay about it... don't drop out! Life or Eagle? theres a big difference... Eagle is one of my best Extra curriculars and I'm still president of like 2-4 clubs... but it really doesn't match up to Eagle.. Remember Neil Armstrong was an Eagle and like 4 presidents.</p>
<p>I think what matter most is not what you do, but how you present it. Make sure to make an excellent activities resume outlining the higlights of your scouting career and emphasize it in your essays. You mentioned that it doesn't seem liek many successful college applicants are Eagle Scouts- it could be something that makes your son unique. Being an Eagle Scout is a great accomplishment and I think your son should stick with it if that is what would make him happiest.</p>
<p>I dont deny that eagle scout is an impressive accomplishment, and I encourage all scouts to puruse this goal. Being a Scout myself, I can say that being eligible for the award probably did help at several of my schools but right off the bat I can tell you that the big private schools do NOT care at all...</p>
<p>mariopuzo I agree with you. The Big name private schools (Ivies and Little Ivies, etc) do not seem to recognize the Eagle Scout as an accomblishment that shins brighter. The point where the Eagle award seems to stand tall is with the schools that are looking for the individual who has a solid rounded background.</p>
<p>If a child has made it to Life Scout, it would be unfortunate not to continue on to Eagle for the personal accomplishment and the LIFETIME HONOR. With college admissions being such a goofy and unpredictable "game", no one can take away the lifetime success of receiving an Eagle Scout award. The day may come when that honor will have greater meaning then the college the student attended.</p>
<p>I agree with jelomom. Also, My son received some nice letters from company CEOs. They wrote comments stating that in the future they hope that my S will consider working for their company, and becoming a part of their corporate family. There are plenty of others that do value an Eagle Scout award.</p>
<p>One additional comment for DuckPondParent in considering a potential Eagle Scout project.</p>
<p>Decide on your son's project carefully and do something with some real bones to it that can be written up with interest. College applications seem to like the" one thing" that makes you different and the actual Eagle Scout Project could become that one thing. Be prepared to write about the hours spent, the motivation behind choosing the project, and positive effect on the community as a part of your college application.</p>
<p>What I am saying is, don't leave it all packaged up as the Eagle Award, rather emphasis the project as a huge community service commitment.</p>
<p>Our mistake was that my son built an Adirondack Lean-to for the local YMCA camp, with over 500 hours of work, but we didn't talk enough about this individual project and the significant impact it had on the youth who were able to use it. Had we presented it more prominently outside the Eagle attainment, I think it might have had more resonance.</p>
<p>DuckPond, is your son a sophomore? I hope so, because if he is a Junior already, and will not be completing the Eagle until next Spring, it will really have no impact on college applications.
If he is indeed a sophomore, with proper and timely planning, he can start on some aspects of the project now, and complete the actual work-hours during the summer, in which case, he will have more time for other leadership/school activities during the school year.</p>
<p>As some others have indicated, Eagle Scout can be an impressive EC -- at any college. At some colleges below first tier, it may even lead to automatic merit aid. Use Google to find out about such colleges or perhaps the Scouts know.</p>
<p>When it comes to the most selective colleges, for Eagle Scout to carry much weight, your son's application would have to describe his project in depth. This could be done via a supplemental recommendation or his essay. His interview also can help highlight this information.</p>
<p>What will be very important will be demonstrating exactly what your S did, how he became interested in the project, and how independently he worked on it, and what the impact of the project was on him and on the community.</p>
<p>This is the same type of information that such colleges require in order for them to figure out the impressiveness of any EC. </p>
<p>For the very top colleges, for him to be competitive with his ECs, he'd need more than being an Eagle Scout. He'd also need at least one other strong extracurricular. For instance, an Eagle Scout whom I know who was accepted to a top Ivy also was state ranked in two competitive academic teams in different subjects.</p>
<p>Wish I could figure out how to do the quotes. But, I couldn't agree with Northstarmom more. For an Eagle Scout award to tip the scale, your son will need to be prepared to present it with strength on his application. Of course, one would hope that there are activities outside of Scouts to round out the picture.</p>
<p>"When it comes to the most selective colleges, for Eagle Scout to carry much weight, your son's application would have to describe his project in depth. This could be done via a supplemental recommendation or his essay. His interview also can help highlight this information.
What will be very important will be demonstrating exactly what your S did, how he became interested in the project, and how independently he worked on it, and what the impact of the project was on him and on the community."</p>
<p>At the US Service Academies being an Eagle Scout (for Boys) or Gold Scout (for Girls) is a big boost.</p>
<p>There is a seperate question on the applications asking if you have attained that Rank.</p>
<p>They are looking for Candidates that have pursued the Citizenship Training, Physical Fitness and Character Development that are the purposes of the Scouting Programs.</p>
<p>Wish I could figure out how to do the quotes.</p>
<p>But, I couldn't agree with Northstarmom more. For an Eagle Scout award to tip the scale, your son will need to be prepared to present it with strength on his application. Of course, one would hope that there is some activity outside of Scouts to round out the picture.</p>
<p>"When it comes to the most selective colleges, for Eagle Scout to carry much weight, your son's application would have to describe his project in depth. This could be done via a supplemental recommendation or his essay. His interview also can help highlight this information.
What will be very important will be demonstrating exactly what your S did, how he became interested in the project, and how independently he worked on it, and what the impact of the project was on him and on the community."</p>