importance of eagle

jhredsox · 11-09-2008, 12:14 AM

i'm thinking about quitting scouts, since it takes a fair amount of time
i'm two ranks away from eagle (star), and eagle would take a year and a half or so if i stay with it (and also an increased participation in scouting, due to the 100+ hour project)
i was wondering what you guys think, since next year's junior year, and i don't want to be killing myself with 3 ap's, 7 clubs, and 3 sports, if i should stop scouts...i'm thinking i have enough for ec's, but i'm not sure if getting eagle scout would override that stuff, and that's where i was hoping you guys could help...how important it would be

(to give you a little background i'm a sophomore, high-mid 700's/800 for sat scores, 4.7 or so, and looking to go to stanford)

thanks a bunch

(and sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but i'm a new user and i need to decide very soon on this scouting thing)

happymomof1 · 11-09-2008, 06:48 PM

There have been a number of threads about the value of the Eagle scout award. It is a huge time commitment, so no one in their right mind would tell you that you should do it just to improve your college applications.

On the other hand if you are truly committed to scouting, and you have an Eagle project that you want to pursue, this award is indeed highly respected by colleges and universities.

It looks to me like your plate is pretty full. Seven clubs! How on earth do you find time for all of that? You are correct that it is time to simplify your life a bit. You know in your heart whether or not you want to continue through the Eagle scout rank or not. Follow your gut on this one and don't look back.

Wishing you all the best.

country day · 11-09-2008, 07:53 PM

I am an Eagle Scout. It is a great honor, but it is a huge time commitment. Honestly the only thing that being an Eagle will help you with is if you wanted to join the army (possible for me). It is a thing to put on your resume, but it isn't going to get you into a school.

mowmow721 · 11-09-2008, 08:00 PM

I think a single "excellent" EC, i.e. Eagle Scout will look better than 7 random clubs, even if you have positions in those clubs. Focus, not quantity. 7 club memberships demonstrates nothing except you really like joining clubs- Unless, of course, you're passionate about 7 unrelated activities, which I don't think is true.

jhredsox · 11-09-2008, 08:35 PM

well they're fairly related...

- mun/debate (i'd say i'm most passionate about those)
- math/science (for that i really only have to show up to the competitions, so once/twice a month)
- advisorary board for local library (pretty involved, but meetings only once a month)
- key club/student council (for the two, a total of 5 meetings, plus 5 hours a month?)

the thing though is that i really don't want to stop those clubs...quite frankly, i enjoy them a lot more than boyscouts

so i realize eagle won't get me into a college, but i'm trying to see how much of an extra boost above what i currently have (high grades/sat's/amc, 7 clubs, 3 sports)

i have a friend who told me just the other day that he got into yale, and some other super reach schools with a 3.2 and eagle (he ended up going to uconn, but that's a different story)...so i just wanted to investigate a bit

chinnychinchang · 11-09-2008, 08:42 PM

^really? what was his SAT and other ECs though? Those could have been something spectacular for him. Also, it depends on what you do for your eagle.

SmallCollegesFTW · 11-09-2008, 08:42 PM

I am an Eagle, and I know a number of others, some much older. They all have stories where Eagle helped them get somewhere. One said he walked into a job interview after eagle, and the interviewer looked at his resume, and said "I see you're an Eagle Scout, tell me about your project". The person was offered a job an hour later at the end of the interview. I have heard variations of this story from other people number of times. You can use it your whole life on apps and interviews, it is a very valuable asset to have.

country day · 11-09-2008, 08:59 PM

I'm not saying it isn't a bad thing to have. If I were you I would stick with it, unless you don't like scouts.

vossron · 11-09-2008, 09:09 PM

Eagle or Gold is one of those things that can tip to acceptance at most any school if you're borderline, but there's no way to know if it would in any given case.

jhredsox · 11-09-2008, 10:00 PM

hmm...at least I've shown some commitment through the 3 or so years of work to get to the 3rd highest rank

doing boy scouts would also entail switching troops, since the one i'm currently at drives me nuts with the insane amount of crazy kids. i think without getting eagle, it'd be much easier for me to keep a gpa near 5 at a hard school and still do multiple sports (the running ones). on the weekends where i'd have campouts, i would be tired as hell after them because of already going through a school week. i think i'll talk to some kids in the new troop and see what the experience is like. but if anyone else has any other input on how much eagle helps, that would also be highly appreciated.

thanks everyone so much.

J'adoube · 11-10-2008, 01:55 AM

My cardiologist did his residency at Johns Hopkins and the one thing on his curriculum vitae that the interviewer mentioned and talked about, besides all the medical stuff, was that he was an Eagle Scout. This is almost 10 years out of high school. Something to think about.

ar31791 · 11-10-2008, 05:38 AM

I earned the rank of Eagle Scout last year. I feel I definitely put a lot more effort into it than I could have put into any other sport or club at my school. After completing a 309 hour service project, I'm definitely proud of my accomplishment.

I think admissions understands the importance of Eagle a lot more than people here will say. Why would you let some kid on a forum who hasn't even applied to college yet tell you that Eagle is worth nothing? My entire essay was based on my "trail to Eagle" and everything I got out of it.

TL;DR - I'd suggest Eagle Scout since I am one, and you can still do most of your other ECs while still in Scouts.

Muffy333 · 11-10-2008, 06:18 AM

Stanford is REALLY hard to get into from Connecticut though. You have great numbers and I'm sure you will get into some Ivy-caliber schools with or without Eagle. Stanford gets a lot of high caliber applicants with Eagle, so it won't be that amazing thing that puts you over the top. Anyway, if the only reason you want to do Eagle is to get into Stanford, maybe it isn't worth the time? An extracurricular should be something that you ENJOY, otherwise it'll be just another stress factor.

vossron · 11-10-2008, 10:03 AM

"at least I've shown some commitment through the 3 or so years of work to get to the 3rd highest rank"

Yes, but consider carefully if want to mention it, since it could also show the lack of commitment to get to Eagle.

akhman24 · 11-10-2008, 12:43 PM

Not everyone has the leadership, maturity, and ability to obtain the rank of Eagle. That is why it is such a distinguished award. You apparently don't have all of the qualities that it takes to achieve the rank of Eagle, and that's okay. Not everyone has it in them.