Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 04:15     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
I’m curious about this process as well. How are merit badges verified? Is it only in the scout setting or can you get documentation to achieve these badges via other extracurriculars as well (eg. fitness badge if you participate in a sport or first aid if you volunteer as a junior EMT)?
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 22:49     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:Op here. Why do everyone mention summer camp sign up? He is at 5th grade with 1 year cub scout experience. He goes to day camps every summer because I need childcare, and he normally attends the outdoor sports and water activities. Are you all talking about special summer day or overnight camps organized by cub scout or boy scout?

He has been enjoying scout activities like camping etc run under the den leader. It has been many parents staying around at every meeting. Our troop has not talking about transition next year fall, but I assume that the den leader stays to lead us.


Yes, Scouts run summer camp programs that are just for Scouts. Most Troops will attend one for a week each summer, it's a sleepaway camp. They work on merit badges and have open programs for swimming and other things.

The den leader may move to the Troop when your den bridges, or may not. Depends on the den leader's interest and whether they have other younger kids still in the Cub Scouts Pack. You'd have to talk to the den leader to find out what their plans are. Also, sometimes there is one Troop that the entire den moves up to, and other times the den splits up and the Scouts transfer into a few different Troops. Parents don't generally stay at Troop meetings unless they are volunteer leaders.

Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:59     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Op here. Why do everyone mention summer camp sign up? He is at 5th grade with 1 year cub scout experience. He goes to day camps every summer because I need childcare, and he normally attends the outdoor sports and water activities. Are you all talking about special summer day or overnight camps organized by cub scout or boy scout?

He has been enjoying scout activities like camping etc run under the den leader. It has been many parents staying around at every meeting. Our troop has not talking about transition next year fall, but I assume that the den leader stays to lead us.


Scout camp in the summer gives them the opportunity to earn merit badges. As a cub scout it doesn't matter as much but as he progresses camp will give more opportunities that he will need to rank up quicker.


Packs and Troops are separate. Your Den leader may volunteer with new Troop or no. You all may go to different Troops! Each troops is different and has different personally, activities and level so support/ organization. Check more than one out and pick the best fit for your son - which may not be where other cubs go.

Yes, there are special camps for scouts where they work specifically on merit badges and have people sign off on them.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:56     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Some of the info posted here is incorrect. Please check the sources.

It is a lot of hard work to be Eagle ranked. It is also a a lot do fun and I love what the program is teaching my son. You should visit a few troops and learn more. Find a good troop.

Once my son said he wanted to be Eagle I got educated and starting volunteering with the troop. That has helped me learn the process so I can help him.

Swimming merit badge is one of many. Go to summer camp to earn it. My son has ADHD and is a poor swimmer. We practiced at the rec center pool at least three times before we headed off to summer camp. He was fine. Troop will require a swim test too. I love that scouts makes us practice the skill!
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:53     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:Not hard


Uh huh. In the last 125 years there have been about 2 million PhD's earned/awarded.
In the same time around 2.7 million Eagle Scouts.
While it's easier now than ever to get the award, it still takes several years of dedicated work, plus approval from community members such as religious leaders, city leaders, upstanding members of the local community, and teachers.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:47     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:Op here. Why do everyone mention summer camp sign up? He is at 5th grade with 1 year cub scout experience. He goes to day camps every summer because I need childcare, and he normally attends the outdoor sports and water activities. Are you all talking about special summer day or overnight camps organized by cub scout or boy scout?

He has been enjoying scout activities like camping etc run under the den leader. It has been many parents staying around at every meeting. Our troop has not talking about transition next year fall, but I assume that the den leader stays to lead us.


Scout camp in the summer gives them the opportunity to earn merit badges. As a cub scout it doesn't matter as much but as he progresses camp will give more opportunities that he will need to rank up quicker.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:46     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Buy a scouting manual. Every scout has to have one. It will list the age, time, merit badge, and other requirements for each rank.

There are 7 ranks from Boy Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and Eagle being the highest.

Extra merit badges beyond the 21 minimum required for Eagle rank, earns you palms. Bronze, Silver, Gold.

Often celebrities and politicians attend Eagle Award Ceremonies for publicity.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:38     Subject: Re:How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:
There are different ranks of eagle scouts, and you need to spend at least 6 months at each rank before you can advance to the next one.
During those six months you need to have a leadership position (some are more time consuming than others), achieve merit badges, and other requirements before you can test for the next level.


Just don't talk about things you know nothing about.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:37     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:DS would love to become one. How challenging is that? I just take a quick look at the requirement. For example, he probably can't earn the cycling badge because he can't even bike at age 11. Swimming is just okay, only can swim pool, but not to the point to save anyone or in ocean. Do scouts have to take lessons to learn swimming and cycling lessons on their own or den leader could teach them? He also has asd & adhd, do anyone know kids with diagnosis become eagle scout? The empathy part and volunteering part might be challenging for him to understand and executive to help others.


Less than 1% of boys who start Boy Scouts become an Eagle Scout.

In the history of scouting, there have been about 2.7 million Eagle Scouts, and almost 1 million of those in just the last two decades, which shows how much easier they made it to get now, becoming more worthless as a result.

Being an Eagle Scout 40 years ago was the same as having a PhD in many ways, as far as rarity and looking good on resumes. Now it's more like an online B.S. degree.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 18:45     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Seems like all the eagle scout projects are like “I made this sign post” or “built this box to leave books in”
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 17:51     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:Op here. Why do everyone mention summer camp sign up? He is at 5th grade with 1 year cub scout experience. He goes to day camps every summer because I need childcare, and he normally attends the outdoor sports and water activities. Are you all talking about special summer day or overnight camps organized by cub scout or boy scout?

He has been enjoying scout activities like camping etc run under the den leader. It has been many parents staying around at every meeting. Our troop has not talking about transition next year fall, but I assume that the den leader stays to lead us.


Cub scouts transition to formal Scouts in spring of 5th grade. Scouts has official summer camps where they can get merit badges and meet other rank requirements. Scouts has way less parent involvement, many parents drop off, it's the older scouts providing leadership along with a handful of uniformed adults. I wouldn't assume your den leader stays in the same role, ours moved into a backend role where he doesn't interact with kids for example.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 16:47     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Op here. Why do everyone mention summer camp sign up? He is at 5th grade with 1 year cub scout experience. He goes to day camps every summer because I need childcare, and he normally attends the outdoor sports and water activities. Are you all talking about special summer day or overnight camps organized by cub scout or boy scout?

He has been enjoying scout activities like camping etc run under the den leader. It has been many parents staying around at every meeting. Our troop has not talking about transition next year fall, but I assume that the den leader stays to lead us.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 16:40     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:DS would love to become one. How challenging is that? I just take a quick look at the requirement. For example, he probably can't earn the cycling badge because he can't even bike at age 11. Swimming is just okay, only can swim pool, but not to the point to save anyone or in ocean. Do scouts have to take lessons to learn swimming and cycling lessons on their own or den leader could teach them? He also has asd & adhd, do anyone know kids with diagnosis become eagle scout? The empathy part and volunteering part might be challenging for him to understand and executive to help others.


You just have to not quit and stick to it. You don't need to excel.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 16:35     Subject: How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:DS is in the process right now, and one thing he's focused on is getting through as much as possible in middle school before the demands of high school come along. It seems very doable, especially with summer camp.


Our troop operates like this unofficially, most kids are trying to finish requirements through middle school and then they make Eagle at 15 or 16. My DS is 11, and I think it'll be an uphill battle for him because his weekends are full of sports. Meanwhile, his friend who has basically no other ECs can fulfill requirements just because he's always available to attend all activities. BUT the kids have to want to advance too - and that means somethings going to campouts or meetings without your friends.


DS does sports that we have been able to work around most scout camping. However he will miss 1-2 every year and it's been fine. He went to summer camp for the first time this year and he missed many things to do it because of the dates. To your point, he REALLY wants to do it and I do think that makes a difference.
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 16:35     Subject: Re:How challenging to be eagle scout?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Eagle is about persistence and growth. The merit badges are probably the easiest part, you just have to decide to complete them. It takes time and some discipline but they are not hard. There are no tests assocaited with them. The pamphlets are now available online so you have the resource you need for completing most of the MB. Scouts in the DMV area are noramlyl able to knock out most merit badges at summer camp. Most Troops in this area have counselors for all the Eagle required merit badges in the Troop. There are merit badge classes offered through rec centers and programs in this area.

There is a check list that you need to complete for each rank. It takes time but it is more about following the checklists.

Leadership is the most time-consuming part of ranking up, you will need to serve in a leadership position for at least 15 months. What this means can be Troop dependent. In our Troop, the scouts in leadership positions are responsible for planning meetings and camping trips. They learn a lot about how to think about what goes into planning a meeting and what goes into planning a trip.

The hard part of earning Eagle is having access to the merit badges you need, this is a big challenge for kids in various parts of the country but not an issue in the DMV, and the persistence to complete the steps. The Eagle project can be hard for a Scout but is doable if they leave themselves enough time.


Really. I earned eagle (and had many friends do as well) in a small rural southern town. Maybe hard for inner city, is that the implication?


There are FB groups for MB opportunities and many parents looking for a MBC for any number of Eagle and non-Eagle MB because there are no Counselors in their District. It seems to be a problem all over the country.