So my cousin is graduating from high school next spring, and I asked him what colleges/universities he was applying to. Needless to say, I was a bit shocked. I know his stats aren’t very great so I was surprised he decided to apply to these schools.
What I know is that he goes to a pretty easy high school. It’s one of the lower academic schools in our county. They offer less than 12 AP courses at his school, grad rate is 92%. In their school district I’d say the school is number 2 or 3, but compared to other districts they are much far down the line. His class rank is somewhere between the top 35-45% (he wouldn’t tell me the exact #)
As for his stats, he has a cumulative gpa of 3.4 , and weighted I believe it is 3.5. He hasn’t taken any AP classes all throughout HS. His sat score (new 2016 one) is 1100, and his ACT is 17/36.
So the reason why I was surprised was because he applied to a lot of reach schools and barely any up in his alley. He applied to UCB, UCLA, UCI, University of Michigan, and Ohio State. The only one I thought was reasonable was Arizona State. When I asked him why he applied to UCB he said he applied because he was an eagle scout.
Now I understand that eagle scout is a very high honor in boy scouts, but is it that impacting when applying to colleges? My cousin participates in a lot of ECs (about 6) but he isn’t a good writer. I asked why he was confident and he said it was all bc of eagle scout. So can someone elaborate on how important it is, or is he just blowing it out of proportion?
My son is Eagle. It’s an excellent EC, especially if they remain active, but it won’t overcome grades. I’m only familiar with Michigan and it fore sure won’t get him in there with those grades. But, if he did have the grades it would push him over the edge as an excellent EC. But for us Eagle Scout is just something to do because you are interested in it and find scouts fun.
Eagle with high scores and high stats? Maybe he might get in but . . . . … .
His ACT is 17? He aint getting in.
PLUS:
He won’t be able to keep up nor do the work at those schools.
I’ve heard so many people say things about earning the rank of Eagle being a golden ticket. It’s not. It is an extra-curricular. It is a well-known extra-curricular, and is well-regarded in many circles (a significant % of students at military academies achieved the rank of Eagle) but it does not trump grades and test scores that are below the norm for a school.
There are some schools that list the number of Eagle/GS Gold Award recipients at their school along with athletes, class officers, and such. And I know for my son it was a great discussion topic at interviews, especially since he applied to many Catholic colleges and his project was a significant one for our parish.
It’s highly unlikely with the test scores stated that this application would even get read to the point of seeing the student is an Eagle Scout. No way would it be a deciding factor. It may help differentiate a student from other students that are “on the bubble” at less competitive schools but it won’t get a 17 ACT into UCB or Michigan.
BUT…because you are in NHS it means you have good grades and have done volunteering. Those ARE something to brag about.
And Eagle Scout is something to brag about!! It just isn’t going to make up for a lower GPA.
I’ve posted many times on related topics. Eagle Scout is a fine achievement, because it shows long-term commitment and leadership. It probably helps more at some schools than others. But it’s not magic. I suspect the young man in question has received some poor advice (probably from somebody saying that colleges “love Eagle Scouts”).
Note: it’s possible that this student has some other characteristic that makes his choices more reasonable–he might be a member of an underrepresented minority, for example, or have some other impressive achievement or talent–he might be a recruitable athlete. Absent something like that, though, he’s not likely to have good results at a lot of the schools on his list.
^^Agree. Eagle Scout is something to brag about. However, it is not the golden ticket to college admission when you don’t have the necessary grade/test scores .
Eagle Scout is absolutely not something to “brag about”. It is a significant achievement, but “bragging”, in my opinion, is contrary to Scouting ideals.
I hope your cousin has a safety school on his list that he will be happy to attend. Not getting in to any if the colleges on his list except possibly ASU and an ACT of 17 is low ASU.
Wow, thank you for all the responses! Yeah, I was very surprised that my cousin applies to those schools. I go to one of the most academically advanced public school in my county but maybe he applied to these schools bc of the lack of competition in his high school? I’ve wanted to suggest some colleges he could apply to but I didn’t want to seem rude or he was just stubborn.
True, but for some reason he’s very adamant about not going to a CC. He doesn’t like the environment, but I feel as if the only school he has a chance with is ASU. Also, he’s Asian, and not much of an athlete. Has zero interest in playing sports (but loves rec sports like longboarding).
And I agree that bragging is against scouting ideals; I’m pretty sure someone gave him bad advice. And thank you @Gumbymom! I hope it’s not too late for him to apply to safety schools now.