How much does Eagle Scouts help in college application?

[Anonymous]

I don’t think anyone here could possibly know, but I think any activity that requires many years of sustained dedication is great especially if it’s more rare. I did not have an Eagle Scout, but did have a 4th degree black belt and another kid that was a nationally registered EMT in high school. Both did very well in admissions, but they also had the gpa, stats, lor, and presumably strong essays too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Its not that impressive. The projects I've seen have been things like, build a bench or put shelving into a storage shed. A lot of scouting hours and badges can be faked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just curious, how many percentage of graduating seniors are Eagle Scouts, including boys and girls? 1%?

Looks like in 2023, 29,269 earned Eagle. (2024 final report isn't out yet, at least that I could find)
Google tells me about 3.1 million kids graduated high school in 2023.
So... looks like your guess is good - just under 1%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Its not that impressive. The projects I've seen have been things like, build a bench or put shelving into a storage shed. A lot of scouting hours and badges can be faked.

Sure, Jan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Its not that impressive. The projects I've seen have been things like, build a bench or put shelving into a storage shed. A lot of scouting hours and badges can be faked.

Sure, Jan.

It’s unlikely to make a difference at the end of the day. It’s nice but it’s no magic activity that is better than anything else.

DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If no any other national award, will it help for selective schools? Does it count as honor or EC?

It helps with Service Academies as in their rubric, you get points for it.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea.

But when I did hiring (DOJ attorneys), I perked up when I saw it on a resume. We had several Eagle Scouts in our Division, and they were all really good. For me, unless there were red flags, an Eagle Scout probably gets an interview (and fwiw I'm not a big fan of the history of the boy scouts and how that organization works and what it's goals are). DH is SES and we've talked about this and he agrees. They tend to not be the most socially sophisticated lawyers -- but they work hard, accept responsibility for things, and just generally speaking don't let you down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Its not that impressive. The projects I've seen have been things like, build a bench or put shelving into a storage shed. A lot of scouting hours and badges can be faked.

It’s not just the project. It’s 21 badges, each of which has 10 requirements often with multiple subparts. Plus rank advancement requirements that are really tough to meet for each rank (at least five ranks). It is so so much. Not sure my son will finish and he’s about 90% done after 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Its not that impressive. The projects I've seen have been things like, build a bench or put shelving into a storage shed. A lot of scouting hours and badges can be faked.

Sure, Jan.

New poster: I agree. I think it is great for showing sustained commitment, acts of service, and learning various things...BUT it is just an activity and lots and lots of kids have long term activities that show similar types of things. The Eagle Scouts we know are at VT, W&M, etc type of schools...and one ivy league but the ivy league kid was hooked. I suspect that the actual "edge" this conveys is from zero to minimal, depending what else the other kids are doing. For example, if a kid is a teen member of a school board for 7 years, this also shows learning various things, acts of service and sustained commitment. I think scouting parents believes this is a massive achievement when in reality most kids applying to highly rejective schools have significant achievements...and scouting isn't overshadowing other activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DS is 15 then can he still join the Eagle Scout?

Absolutely, he can. But he won’t have enough time to become Eagle Scout. If that’s not his goal, there are still a lot of fun.

Any way to speed up the process?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Thanks for responding, was just curious to see everything they mentioned. Have a friend with an Eagle Scout, I know it’s a long path.

I saw the same one. I remembered Eagle Scout and EMT as the two 9s. Maybe national award in something obscure also.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If DS is 15 then can he still join the Eagle Scout?

Absolutely, he can. But he won’t have enough time to become Eagle Scout. If that’s not his goal, there are still a lot of fun.

Any way to speed up the process?

What? No.

A big part of it is growing and learning over the course of many years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If no any other national award, will it help for selective schools? Does it count as honor or EC?

No one on here really knows, it's not like college acceptances come with a letter that tells you why you got in. You don't know what helped or not. It's anyone's guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Its not that impressive. The projects I've seen have been things like, build a bench or put shelving into a storage shed. A lot of scouting hours and badges can be faked.

Sure, Jan.

It’s unlikely to make a difference at the end of the day. It’s nice but it’s no magic activity that is better than anything else.

DP

+1
It shows sustained commitment. But no more than a black belt in martial arts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I follow a former college admissions counselor on Instagram and he just today gave his out of ten rankings for different activities- none scored a ten, but Eagle Scout was one of the few 9s he gave.

Can you share where to see this?

I follow so many of these accounts- sorry, I can’t find it or I’d link it. But Eagle Scout is super hard, shows years of dedication and work. I would agree that it’s gotta be a boost!

Its not that impressive. The projects I've seen have been things like, build a bench or put shelving into a storage shed. A lot of scouting hours and badges can be faked.

Sure, Jan.

It’s unlikely to make a difference at the end of the day. It’s nice but it’s no magic activity that is better than anything else.

DP

+1
It shows sustained commitment. But no more than a black belt in martial arts.

yea, it didn't help my kid. DC had super high stats (1590 SAT, 4.0unwgpa, 4.92 wgpa at a magnet program), a couple of ho hum activities as far as top colleges are concerned, but was an Eagle Scout. Denied at the top tier schools. It didn't help that DC was a cs major.

Still, DC is doing great at internships (several offers) and interviews really well. They have good leadership skills, and they do think Scouts was helpful.

I'm just thankful for the Scouts because it was the only thing that he did that got him outdoors and active. They loved the camping trips.