@Themommymommy
I missed your dental school admission post earlier in the day (went back to it when I saw you get congratulated).
That’s great. Congratulations.
I really really like my dentist. I think that he also likes me, as I provide him with so much work that he never has to worry about his car payments. I also have a crush on his dental assistant. I figure that any woman who has her hands in my mouth for so much time, well, it’s like we have a relationship!
More seriously, it’s a great opportunity to do good. You must be very happy.
Thanks @AsleepAtTheWheel and all who have sent their notes of congratulations. I am really excited for my son. It has been a very nerve wracking process. So now both kids seniors and have their next years plans in the works. My husband and I now need to figure out what we are going to do with all our spare time and space. Are we not empty nesters if we still have a dog and a few unwanted mice in the house?
Congrats to your son @themommymommy ! I keep thinking our admissions ordeal is almost over but I guess there might be grad school.
S16 is trying to complete the application that crashed last night but it appears to still be down (it isn’t a Common App school). Also, may add a couple of the more competitive UC’s to that app if we can tonight.
Is it your conclusion that with the devaluing of the Boys’ Scout organization that the years-long commitment it takes to reach Eagle - which is known by admissions officers, even if not held to be estimable or distinctive in value - lacks the merit and recognition of long-term involvement and recognition that other activities (sustained activities of any serious type) are given during applications consideration?
Or is it merely “Eagle Scout doesn’t mean what it used to”?
Just anecdotal but since 2013 Eagle Scouts I know from my son’s troop have been admitted to UVA (lots), W&M (several), Columbia, VA Tech and Clemson. Of course they all excel in other areas but I don’t think the Eagle award hurt them.
@Waiting2exhale I don’t think Boys State exists in every part of the country-- maybe around 2/3 of the states? But it’s a moderately big thing, insofar as there’s a selection committee (for example, only roughly one boy per high school goes, here), and it involves leadership training, and government and citizenship experiences. S got to meet our governor (with whom he was singularly unimpressed), and one of our state’s US senators. They got to sit in on an emergency legislative session, and a bunch of other things I forget now.
There’s also Boys’ Nation, to which 2 delegates from each Boys’ State group are nominated, and which is held in Washington DC a few weeks later. So that’s a bit bigger of a deal.
Like Boy Scouts, it tends to imply certain political leanings (the American Legion, which sponsors Boys State, isn’t known for wildly Progressive politics), but the boys themselves are all over the map.
@petrichor11 My son went to Boys State. He was on the journalism track so he got to meet and interview most of the speakers. He had a great experience at Boys State and may volunteer at some point if he can work it out with his schedule.
S hung out with a bunch of the journalism guys, and said in retrospect it looked really fun-- but they never got to sleep! They were busy constantly. He decided to go a different direction and ended up a county commissioner, which was a fairly low ranking job. But he ended up nominating a lot of the Supreme Court justices, and wrote most of the guys in his group’s campaign speeches.
Funny thing is, that’s pretty much his career goal-- he doesn’t want to be a political candidate, he wants to be the behind-the-scenes guy.
@petrichor11 I have heard that Boys State and Eagle Scout are usually "weighted"the same. DS16 was also interviewed for Boys State , but was not selected. There’s a lot of inconsistencies around the country regarding the selection process and number of boys selected. It is frustrating to me , and I’m sure due to my own bias, that an activity that occurs over a week is viewed as equivalent to an activity that requires years of involvement, community service , leadership and government and citizenship education and requirements. But such is life. And @AsleepAtTheWheel you are exactly right. Unless one is involved with scouting , one has no clue the level of commitment , time or effort required to achieve the rank of Eagle. And to me, that is very sad that someone devalues something they know very little about.
From my experience in the early years of Girl Scouting, it seems on par with a competitive sport. Since my daughter is doing competitive gymnastics, I don’t think we will be able to keep up scouts for much longer. If people haven’t been involved, they may not realize how much work it is.
I know the people who went to Boy’s State and Girl’s State from my school- all super smart, involved kids. The process was rigorous, there was an interview and everything. They all throughly enjoyed it.
I wonder if in the case of the officer speaking to CarolinaMom, that there may be a relative abundance of Eagle Scouts in certain regions. I would think in southern states that it is a particularly popular activity, and perhaps at that school they see quite a few (as Eagle Scouts tend to be high achieving, and probably statistically more likely to apply to Honors.) Thus the perceived need for differentiation.
My S was a boy scout for only a couple years and my D was a girl scout until third grade and then dropped it to devote more time to other things. That being said, even if I did not have any direct experience with boys or girls scouts, I know that to be an Eagle scout or a girl attaining her gold award is a monumental accomplishment! It takes so many years of time, energy and commitment similar to any other extracurricular that you devote a decade or more to! If that doesn’t carry any major weight then I just do not understand their mindset. I have not heard much about boys state or girls state but I am sure it is rigorously competitive.
@GoodGrief16 It wasn’t so much what she said as the tone she used when she said it. It probably wouldn’t have been so frustrating had she not just stood in front of the audience and told the story of how her daughter “formed a French club that never met, but hey it looked great on her resume .”
