hi, wondering your take on how strong being an eagle scout is to notre dame,
thankss
Eagle is very strong for every school.
“Very”? No, it’s not “very” like a true hook at most schools. Not like being a recruited athlete or development or legacy even , at most schools. There are schools that weigh it heavier than others. But it’s not a strong hook at the highly selective schools.
I’ve known excellent candidates to ND who would have been no surprise acceptances if they had been accepted even without Eagle Scout designation. Having attained Eagle did not tip the decision their way. One of my brood that I directly worked on applications was an Eagle and I don’t think it made much of a difference. It was very disappointing.
Notre Dame values service, kindness, and to some degree sportsmanship. So being an Eagle Scout shows you have qualities they are looking for. It’s a strong positive.
However, while the Eagle Scout award is a great way to show off those qualities, it isn’t the only way. So in itself, it is not a tip or a hook.
Agree with @Groundwork2022 on this. It is not the Eagle Scout rank as much as what it says about you as a person - service, teamwork, respect, honor, consistency, character. I think Eagle matters more at ND than many other schools - by virtue of the types of candidates they are looking for. As a result, ND has one of the largest pools of Eagle Scouts in its student body among top universities (I have read between 8% - 10%, including Girl Scout equivalent rank).
My son (ND Class of 2022) is an Eagle Scout - and he has run across many others in his class.
The one piece of advice I would pass on here is not to focus on the Eagle Award itself, but on your service project and what you gained out of the whole Boy Scout experience. The Eagle Award alreadys says that you navigated that path well - but providing some personal perspective is important.
But to echo other comments above as well - unless you are otherwise well qualified for admission to Notre Dame, Eagle Scout will not be much of a factor. It is just one, among many, extracurricular and leadership activities that excellent applicants bring to the table. But a valuable one for a Notre Dame applicant!
Best of luck!
^I agree. I don’t think it was the rank as much as what he wrote about his project that helped my son get into a couple of very selective schools.
My son who’s an Eagle scout and ND freshman in the band recently told me it seemed like half the guys he’s met in the band are Eagle scouts. Not sure if that means they got in because or despite of though. All 3 of my sons are Eagle scouts and all 3 worked scouting activities – mostly what they learned about themselves on their high adventure trips and leadership positions in scouting – into their various college applications.
When we visited we had an awesome meeting with an assistant director of the band. My son mentioned that he was an eagle we were told that there are 70 eagles in the band. So I can’t determine if that means they are really regarded highly so it helps admissions or there are just so many top students who are also eagle that it doesn’t matter much.
A semi-official on-line scouting site had a feature last year on how the Notre Dame band uses scouting principles every day in its work. It notes that 15% of the band are Eagle Scouts. Not sure I can put links in this reply but if you google “scouting Notre Dame band” you should find the article pretty easily.