Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Scoutmaster Comment on value of Eagle Scout Award. I'm a life-long volunteer and believer in the value of Scouting, so you would not expect me to be impartial on the comments posted by those who negatively speculate on the value of the Eagle Scout award. My actual experience over a sustained number of years is that the Eagle Scout award continues to provide significant and broadly-recognized admissions and career assistance to its recipients. During the admissions season I receive no fewer than 10 inquiries from admissions officers asking about the attributes of applicants who have listed this credential and me as a reference. Over a long period I believe the award and my specific comments have been effective -- probably 80% of the time. The advantage does not end at undergraduate admissions though. The BSA has an organization, the "National Eagle Scout Association", which has a chapter in every major population center. I receive a request from its personnel every month or so asking for career placement assistance, which I gladly give (as I am in a professional circumstance to do so). My referrals always result in an interview and frequently in a job offer (usually the first out of school). Most of the "anti-Eagle" postings I read seem motivated to tear are the imperfect BSA as an institution. I suppose that is fair game, because they are not yet fully recovered from the reorganization and the payout of damages to provide a sense of justice. However, parents should no be fooled by such rhetoric. The Eagle Scout award continues to be a significant admissions and career placement advantage for its recipients. Take my actual practical experience into consideration before adopting the position of these BSA-haters.

Great. White men helping white men. Don't bother to deny it.

My friend is a scout leader for bsa, and her daughter was in the inaugural Eagle class. It is a great experience for a variety of people.

Yeah, what are the numbers on girls in BSA??

Anonymous wrote:OP Here and I can add more deferrals:

Ga Tech, Madison

and a rejection (which was anticipated): UT Austin

I really appreciate all the constructive comments. It is helpful. He is happy with Pitt and Ga Tech is number 1 choice if it turns into an acceptance. Boulder now off the table bc he does not want exploratory studies for that tuition.

Waiting on:
Rice
UVA
Duke
U Washington

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Scoutmaster Comment on value of Eagle Scout Award. I'm a life-long volunteer and believer in the value of Scouting, so you would not expect me to be impartial on the comments posted by those who negatively speculate on the value of the Eagle Scout award. My actual experience over a sustained number of years is that the Eagle Scout award continues to provide significant and broadly-recognized admissions and career assistance to its recipients. During the admissions season I receive no fewer than 10 inquiries from admissions officers asking about the attributes of applicants who have listed this credential and me as a reference. Over a long period I believe the award and my specific comments have been effective -- probably 80% of the time. The advantage does not end at undergraduate admissions though. The BSA has an organization, the "National Eagle Scout Association", which has a chapter in every major population center. I receive a request from its personnel every month or so asking for career placement assistance, which I gladly give (as I am in a professional circumstance to do so). My referrals always result in an interview and frequently in a job offer (usually the first out of school). Most of the "anti-Eagle" postings I read seem motivated to tear are the imperfect BSA as an institution. I suppose that is fair game, because they are not yet fully recovered from the reorganization and the payout of damages to provide a sense of justice. However, parents should no be fooled by such rhetoric. The Eagle Scout award continues to be a significant admissions and career placement advantage for its recipients. Take my actual practical experience into consideration before adopting the position of these BSA-haters.

Great. White men helping white men. Don't bother to deny it.

My friend is a scout leader for bsa, and her daughter was in the inaugural Eagle class. It is a great experience for a variety of people.

Anonymous wrote:The thing is, if your kid ends up at Pitt or GMU, their stats are likely the same as other kids attending - that's right in the mix because that's what happens.

Maybe your kid will get a lottery into one of their reaches, otherwise they'll be fine at the school they attend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Scoutmaster Comment on value of Eagle Scout Award. I'm a life-long volunteer and believer in the value of Scouting, so you would not expect me to be impartial on the comments posted by those who negatively speculate on the value of the Eagle Scout award. My actual experience over a sustained number of years is that the Eagle Scout award continues to provide significant and broadly-recognized admissions and career assistance to its recipients. During the admissions season I receive no fewer than 10 inquiries from admissions officers asking about the attributes of applicants who have listed this credential and me as a reference. Over a long period I believe the award and my specific comments have been effective -- probably 80% of the time. The advantage does not end at undergraduate admissions though. The BSA has an organization, the "National Eagle Scout Association", which has a chapter in every major population center. I receive a request from its personnel every month or so asking for career placement assistance, which I gladly give (as I am in a professional circumstance to do so). My referrals always result in an interview and frequently in a job offer (usually the first out of school). Most of the "anti-Eagle" postings I read seem motivated to tear are the imperfect BSA as an institution. I suppose that is fair game, because they are not yet fully recovered from the reorganization and the payout of damages to provide a sense of justice. However, parents should no be fooled by such rhetoric. The Eagle Scout award continues to be a significant admissions and career placement advantage for its recipients. Take my actual practical experience into consideration before adopting the position of these BSA-haters.

Great. White men helping white men. Don't bother to deny it.

Anonymous wrote:The Facts:
Son UW GPA 4.0. NEVER made below an A (even middle school). WGA 4.5 (only classes that are weighted are AP level) Top 1% class (everyone with a 4.0 gets rank of 1 so % rank based on WGPA)
9 APs total after Senior year including good mix of science (AP Physics 1,2 and C), math (Calc BC), computer science, humanities (history, government)....
1550 SAT one sitting May of junior year (balanced math/verbal score)
Attends specialized engineering courses through CC and Magnet program
Eagle Scout with lots of leadership positions and projects through the scouting program
Lots of EC focused on computer science that he does because he loves them and does totally on his own (has website blog with details of all projects that is very well written)
Community service since 9th grade (even through covid) at same organization - has many hours
Awesome LOR from computer science teacher and AP physics teacher and community leader
Coherent, funny, on topic essays

Deferred Purdue CS
Offered Exploratory Studies CU Boulder
Admitted to Pitt CS and GMU CS with honors
Admitted to VCU CS

Waiting to hear from GT, UT Austin, Wisconsin Madison, U Washington, Rice and not expecting good results based on the deferral and exploratory studies garbage can offer.

If choices end up being Pitt, GMU or VCU so be it but that seems ridiculous. She has so much potential. Pitt seems to be the winner so far

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Anonymous wrote:OP, I did not read the entire thread, but I hope you are staying positive for your kid. He has some excellent admittances and I would not be surprised if he gets offered a spot at Purdue.

UT Austin, Rice, and University of Washington were never going to happen. Georgia Tech is a toss up, but probably also a "no". Wisconsin seems like he should have a good shot.

I went through this with my kid last year. You need to be VERY positive about all of his acceptances and remind him why he likes those schools.

Huh. Why?? (not OP).

The kid has PERFECT stats.

So do thousands of others. (Tens or hundreds of thousands in TO world.)

You seriously think there are "hundreds of thousands" of high school seniors with perfect 4.0 uw GPAs AND who have taken 9 AP courses to include AP Physics, AP Calc BC, etc. AND who are Eagle Scouts AND have the equivalent of OP's kid's other accomplishments? No way.

NP here—hi OP. There may not be hundreds of thousands but there is certainly at least a hundred thousand. Public high schools give out 4.0s like candy. 100,000 would still be less than 1% of graduating seniors. So PP is right that there are hundreds of thousands of stellar students competing for the same spots. And there isn’t just one kind of “perfect.”

Come again?

It’s not less than 1%, but more like 2.5%. There are about 4 million graduating students—and that’s just the US. Point still stands, there are at least 100,000 students as stellar or more so than OP’s kid.

By GPA alone, sure. But you're conveniently ignoring the fact that the student has taken/is taking 9 APs across a range of subjects - to include ones likes AP Physics and AP Calc BC - on top of other achievements (Eagle Scouts, etc.). Are there thousands of equivalent kids? Yeah, probably. But 100,000? Again, no way.

Noooooobody cares about Eagle Scouts. It’s 2023, not 1995. Unless you get the 0.174% of admissions reps who are old men who were themselves Eagle Scouts and still think it’s a big deal that should factor into highly competitive admissions.

Whether or not you value scouts, everyone knows becoming an Eagle Scout takes hard work and commitment. Both attributes are likely valued by AOs.

+1

+2 The anti Eagle Scout crowd has no idea of the time and commitment involved and the resulting positive influence it has on the young person with discipline, work ethic, and philanthropic ideas/actions. I suspect individual bias is the impetus behind these negative views but such is life, especially in 2023.

Nobody is saying that Eagle Scout is not an accomplishment, people are saying that it isn't going to move the needle to get your kid into an elite university. My guess is that this has been true since the 90s at least.

Everyone says elite colleges want to see ECs that involve passion and commitment. Eagle Scout does that.

Anonymous wrote:The Facts:
Son UW GPA 4.0. NEVER made below an A (even middle school). WGA 4.5 (only classes that are weighted are AP level) Top 1% class (everyone with a 4.0 gets rank of 1 so % rank based on WGPA)
9 APs total after Senior year including good mix of science (AP Physics 1,2 and C), math (Calc BC), computer science, humanities (history, government)....
1550 SAT one sitting May of junior year (balanced math/verbal score)
Attends specialized engineering courses through CC and Magnet program
Eagle Scout with lots of leadership positions and projects through the scouting program
Lots of EC focused on computer science that he does because he loves them and does totally on his own (has website blog with details of all projects that is very well written)
Community service since 9th grade (even through covid) at same organization - has many hours
Awesome LOR from computer science teacher and AP physics teacher and community leader
Coherent, funny, on topic essays

Deferred Purdue CS
Offered Exploratory Studies CU Boulder
Admitted to Pitt CS and GMU CS with honors

I am from Indiana and my brother went to Purdue.
what the heck are they doing there now that they are not accepting a kid with these stats????
Admitted to VCU CS

Waiting to hear from GT, UT Austin, Wisconsin Madison, U Washington, Rice and not expecting good results based on the deferral and exploratory studies garbage can offer.

If choices end up being Pitt, GMU or VCU so be it but that seems ridiculous. She has so much potential. Pitt seems to be the winner so far

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally weird school choices

I agree. Sorry but those choices are so random.

Anonymous wrote:Totally weird school choices

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Long time Scoutmaster Comment on value of Eagle Scout Award. I'm a life-long volunteer and believer in the value of Scouting, so you would not expect me to be impartial on the comments posted by those who negatively speculate on the value of the Eagle Scout award. My actual experience over a sustained number of years is that the Eagle Scout award continues to provide significant and broadly-recognized admissions and career assistance to its recipients. During the admissions season I receive no fewer than 10 inquiries from admissions officers asking about the attributes of applicants who have listed this credential and me as a reference. Over a long period I believe the award and my specific comments have been effective -- probably 80% of the time. The advantage does not end at undergraduate admissions though. The BSA has an organization, the "National Eagle Scout Association", which has a chapter in every major population center. I receive a request from its personnel every month or so asking for career placement assistance, which I gladly give (as I am in a professional circumstance to do so). My referrals always result in an interview and frequently in a job offer (usually the first out of school). Most of the "anti-Eagle" postings I read seem motivated to tear are the imperfect BSA as an institution. I suppose that is fair game, because they are not yet fully recovered from the reorganization and the payout of damages to provide a sense of justice. However, parents should no be fooled by such rhetoric. The Eagle Scout award continues to be a significant admissions and career placement advantage for its recipients. Take my actual practical experience into consideration before adopting the position of these BSA-haters.

Great. White men helping white men. Don't bother to deny it.

Anonymous wrote:Long time Scoutmaster Comment on value of Eagle Scout Award. I'm a life-long volunteer and believer in the value of Scouting, so you would not expect me to be impartial on the comments posted by those who negatively speculate on the value of the Eagle Scout award. My actual experience over a sustained number of years is that the Eagle Scout award continues to provide significant and broadly-recognized admissions and career assistance to its recipients. During the admissions season I receive no fewer than 10 inquiries from admissions officers asking about the attributes of applicants who have listed this credential and me as a reference. Over a long period I believe the award and my specific comments have been effective -- probably 80% of the time. The advantage does not end at undergraduate admissions though. The BSA has an organization, the "National Eagle Scout Association", which has a chapter in every major population center. I receive a request from its personnel every month or so asking for career placement assistance, which I gladly give (as I am in a professional circumstance to do so). My referrals always result in an interview and frequently in a job offer (usually the first out of school). Most of the "anti-Eagle" postings I read seem motivated to tear are the imperfect BSA as an institution. I suppose that is fair game, because they are not yet fully recovered from the reorganization and the payout of damages to provide a sense of justice. However, parents should no be fooled by such rhetoric. The Eagle Scout award continues to be a significant admissions and career placement advantage for its recipients. Take my actual practical experience into consideration before adopting the position of these BSA-haters.