Eagle Scout rank as a hook for admissions

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There were more posts. What happened?

I think OP reported to Jeff to delete. The posts that she did not like.

[Anonymous]

I think website crashed overnight and data is missing - most threads, not only this, are missing posts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A dime a dozen in NOVA. Shows kid can follow directions and jump through hoops and be submissive under scout master's leadership and I'm not talking necessarily se#uall*

While Eagle Scout is cool, I get where you're coming from. My son's about to earn Eagle Scout, and while we are proud of him, it seems that if you're able to check the boxes, you too can get Eagle. In fact, my son's troop leadership brags about having so many Eagle Scouts. If almost every boy in my son's troop didn't earn Eagle, I may be more impressed. That said, Scouts has been a godsend for my son. It's where he found his place. I get that Scouts did a lot of bad stuff in the past, but I think this has been fixed- if it had not been fixed, our son wouldn't be in Scouts. Their mantra/mandate is absolutely no 1 on 1 between a scout and leader. There always has to be another leader and/or another scout. I believe this is how schools work now too.

[Anonymous]

If you think it's dated, you aren't familiar with the current curriculum. My daughter is in a troop and it's great. Many leadership building, service opportunities. Positive role models, new exposure to various subjects, etc.

[Anonymous]

In 2019 there were a bit more than 61,000 Scouts who earned the Eagle Scout designation.

That's a lot for sure. But, in 2018-19 -- there were over 1,006,000 kids who played high school football, heck there were just shy of 100,000 girls who played high school lacrosse. Do you think that kids put that they played a high school sport on their college applications? Mine sure did. Did they learn more playing a high school sport, or participating in a high school activity than they learned along the way to becoming an Eagle Scout? The simple answer is "no way".

The biggest thing though is that Scouting is something that regular kids, and kids with initials on their school records, and kids who are simply small or unathletic, and kids who are nerds, and kids who are handicapped can all actively participate in.

Two of my kids became Eagle Scouts. Both were pretty normal guys in high school. Played sports, participated in clubs and activities, had girlfriends, and did okay academically. But, they also participated in a fairly small (about 40 kids) boy scout troop (no girls yet that happened a couple years later), and even a troop that size had a number of kids who were not like them. The best part about Scouts (from a parent perspective) for my kids was doing things where they hung with kids who they never would have connected with in school or sports/activities. I do not know where they would ever have gained those experiences outside of Scouts. So -- yes they can now still play a mean game of Magic the Gathering thanks to younger nerd Scouts in the group. But, more importantly, that kind of thing means that they can (and do) interact well with all sorts of folks.

I would also add -- a big aspect of the normal process of advancement with Scouts is dealing with kids and adults who you do not know well. For example, kids work with a merit badge counselor to earn a particular merit badge. This involves doing the work, and having conversations with an adult who checks that they completed their required tasks and basically will have a series of conversations with them. That is not an easy thing for a 12-15 year old to do. It takes practice, but think about how helpful that is as they start to do things like interview for a job. An kid who advances through to Eagle Scout will have basically done 40-50 interviews by the time they reach that stage. For some kids it is no problem. But for lots of kids it takes practice and they get that in Scouts.

Finally -- while most things in Scouts are not about camping and outdoors, it is still a big aspect of the program. My kids love to camp now and often will swing by to pick up their tent and backpack and take off for the weekend. It is nice to know that they have that ability. My oldest did a 3 week hiking trip in 5 national parks outwest (Utah, Idaho area) with 2 friends this past summer. A great experience -- never got a motel room, never ate in a restaurant. Drove from park to park. Camped every night. Drank purified water. Ate what they cooked -- mostly packaged camp meals, dried sausages, fruit/veggies they bought between parks, and fish they caught.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article:
https://blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2020/10/14/can-being-an-eagle-scout-help-you-get-into-college/

In short, it won’t make up for a weak package or poor scores. But it can help push an applicant over the edge, given the multi year commitment required to attain the rank.

Excellent article that features specific feedback from 17 universities. Now that Scouting is co-Ed, it will be great to see girls attaining the Eagle rank (the first cohort were granted this year).

Girl Scouts is an amazing organization, with so many opportunities for girls to learn a wide range of new skills, serve their community and to lead. The Girl Scout Gold Award is at least as difficult to earn as Eagle Scout and just as prestigious. Considering the mess that BSA is and will continue to be, if I had daughters I'd stick with Girl Scouts. The only reason BSA even started allowing girls to join was because they were going bankrupt and losing members. Unfortunately, attaining Eagle Scout garners more attention than earning the Gold Award for many people simply because of outdated ideas about scouting and the boys earn it so it must be better attitude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In 2019 there were a bit more than 61,000 Scouts who earned the Eagle Scout designation.

That's a lot for sure. But, in 2018-19 -- there were over 1,006,000 kids who played high school football, heck there were just shy of 100,000 girls who played high school lacrosse. Do you think that kids put that they played a high school sport on their college applications? Mine sure did. Did they learn more playing a high school sport, or participating in a high school activity than they learned along the way to becoming an Eagle Scout? The simple answer is "no way".

The biggest thing though is that Scouting is something that regular kids, and kids with initials on their school records, and kids who are simply small or unathletic, and kids who are nerds, and kids who are handicapped can all actively participate in.

Two of my kids became Eagle Scouts. Both were pretty normal guys in high school. Played sports, participated in clubs and activities, had girlfriends, and did okay academically. But, they also participated in a fairly small (about 40 kids) boy scout troop (no girls yet that happened a couple years later), and even a troop that size had a number of kids who were not like them. The best part about Scouts (from a parent perspective) for my kids was doing things where they hung with kids who they never would have connected with in school or sports/activities. I do not know where they would ever have gained those experiences outside of Scouts. So -- yes they can now still play a mean game of Magic the Gathering thanks to younger nerd Scouts in the group. But, more importantly, that kind of thing means that they can (and do) interact well with all sorts of folks.

I would also add -- a big aspect of the normal process of advancement with Scouts is dealing with kids and adults who you do not know well. For example, kids work with a merit badge counselor to earn a particular merit badge. This involves doing the work, and having conversations with an adult who checks that they completed their required tasks and basically will have a series of conversations with them. That is not an easy thing for a 12-15 year old to do. It takes practice, but think about how helpful that is as they start to do things like interview for a job. An kid who advances through to Eagle Scout will have basically done 40-50 interviews by the time they reach that stage. For some kids it is no problem. But for lots of kids it takes practice and they get that in Scouts.

Finally -- while most things in Scouts are not about camping and outdoors, it is still a big aspect of the program. My kids love to camp now and often will swing by to pick up their tent and backpack and take off for the weekend. It is nice to know that they have that ability. My oldest did a 3 week hiking trip in 5 national parks outwest (Utah, Idaho area) with 2 friends this past summer. A great experience -- never got a motel room, never ate in a restaurant. Drove from park to park. Camped every night. Drank purified water. Ate what they cooked -- mostly packaged camp meals, dried sausages, fruit/veggies they bought between parks, and fish they caught.

Good perspectives on Scouting. My son's been in scouting for 10 years- he's in high school and started in 1st grade.

[Anonymous]

Scouting still exists? Who knew?

[Anonymous]

As an alumni interviewer, I don't ask about scouting and the admissions officers almost never inquire. It's a participation trophy. Most who persist and succeed to Eagle rank have no other superlatives to present.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an alumni interviewer, I don't ask about scouting and the admissions officers almost never inquire. It's a participation trophy. Most who persist and succeed to Eagle rank have no other superlatives to present.

That's about saying that alumni interviewers opinions actually matter when most of the time they don't.

The issue is some kids are very active in it and others rarely attend. Its a good question to ask about their actual participation. There are lots of positives to scouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an alumni interviewer, I don't ask about scouting and the admissions officers almost never inquire. It's a participation trophy. Most who persist and succeed to Eagle rank have no other superlatives to present.

It as about as far from a participation trophy as they come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an alumni interviewer, I don't ask about scouting and the admissions officers almost never inquire. It's a participation trophy. Most who persist and succeed to Eagle rank have no other superlatives to present.

It as about as far from a participation trophy as they come.

+1 Clearly PP has no familiarity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As an alumni interviewer, I don't ask about scouting and the admissions officers almost never inquire. It's a participation trophy. Most who persist and succeed to Eagle rank have no other superlatives to present.

That's about saying that alumni interviewers opinions actually matter when most of the time they don't.

The issue is some kids are very active in it and others rarely attend. Its a good question to ask about their actual participation. There are lots of positives to scouts.

Achieving an Eagle Scout is a pretty definite indication that a kid was active. My son used about 4 of his 10 activity lines on the common ap for different types of involvement in scouting activities....Eagle, Senior Patrol Leader, Philmont Rayado ...

[Anonymous]

Hooks are things that meet priorities of the school. Lots of schools state priorities around serving populations that are diverse, first-gen, and low income these days. Some priorities are specific to institutional priorities. For example, GMU stated a goal to increase computer science students.

A lot of people try to tell themselves that they have a hook, but if it doesn't align with a stated goals, it probably isn't a hook for that school.

Are there schools that have stated a mission to increase the number of leaders in their classes? I'm not sure. Instead of seeing Eagle Scout as a "hook" in the admission process (because it probably isn't), see it as the honor it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hooks are things that meet priorities of the school. Lots of schools state priorities around serving populations that are diverse, first-gen, and low income these days. Some priorities are specific to institutional priorities. For example, GMU stated a goal to increase computer science students.

A lot of people try to tell themselves that they have a hook, but if it doesn't align with a stated goals, it probably isn't a hook for that school.

Are there schools that have stated a mission to increase the number of leaders in their classes? I'm not sure. Instead of seeing Eagle Scout as a "hook" in the admission process (because it probably isn't), see it as the honor it is.

Nothing that there is nearly 70,000 of can be a hook.