Eagle Scouting

[carnation]

Our 12-year-old has been asked to join a troop that produces Eagles left and right. It's an outstanding group that starts them on the Eagle track right off.

My question-to those of you who are Eagles--how did it benefit you down the line? Of course it made you a better man, but did it lead to scholarships or anything else concrete?

Sorry this sounds so blunt and crass but if he wants to join something else, we need to know stuff like this! We have a huge family and if this is going to take a lot of money and/or time, we're not sure if he should do it...BlazerCheer and Ballerina received the Gold Award in Girl Scouting and college admissions and financial aid reps could not have cared less. They were more excited that they cheered.

[AlphaSigOU]

I was a Boy Scout only briefly (the troop disbanded) before I joined Civil Air Patrol as a cadet. The CAP equivalent to the Eagle Scout award is the General Carl A. Spaatz award; cadets who earn this award wear the rank of cadet colonel. (I only rose as high as cadet major and the Amelia Earhart award.)

CAP cadets wear Air Force uniforms with distinctive CAP grade insiginia, which can be either purchased from the BX (base exchange -- CAP members are allowed on base to purchase items from the military clothing sales store) or furnished by the squadron. The cadet program is much like Air Force Junior ROTC but CAP also performs ground search and rescue and flying.

I've always disliked any group (Boy Scout troop or CAP squadron) that are nothing but "award factories" -- IMHO, it cheapens the prestige of the award and once you get to the top, what's next?

More info on CAP at www.capnhq.gov .

[lionlove]

My little brother almost got his Eagle award but dropped out before he finished it. He was in the middle of working on it when the boy scouts had the scandal where they wouldn't allow gays to serve as scout masters. The prejudice views of the boy scouts headquarters and his own troop's scout master (who made some homophobic jokes in front of the troop) turned him off scouting and he quit before he finished his eagle scout award.

As far as cost, stuff like going camping may be expensive but I seem to remember my brother's troop working to raise money so that no one would be excluded because of money.

The financial aid forms for the colleges that he applied for mentioned scholarships for eagle scouts. In that way he wishes he had earned the award but he is glad that he stood up for what he felt was right.

[Nikki_DZ]

My bf is an Eagle Scout. I believe he rec'd scholarships and other awards towards his education. In fact, while at University of Dayton, he founded an honorary fraternity for Eagle Scouts, Epsilon Tau Pi. They are currently chartering their second chapter at Ohio State.

http://www.epsilontaupi.org/

[GeekyPenguin]

GPBoy was an Eagle Scout as well as in Order of the Arrow. I know he thought it was very worthwhile - it opened a few doors for him in job interviews because he won a lot of state awards for it. About 40% of the SigEp chapter he was in are Eagle Scouts. A lot of men in my family are also Eagles. I think it is something definitely worth doing and don't believe it is very costly - it gives them a LOT of useful knowledge and I know it's something Lee took pride in - he wore his Eagle Scout tie tack all the time and had his awards framed and displayed.

[KEPike]

I received my Eagle Scout a few months before I turned 18. I really had to work hard to get it, because I was so involved in sports and activities in high school. It was tough, but very worthwhile. I'd also agree that it didn't get me into college, or anything like that, but it has always come up in job interviews and it is definitely a point of pride.

[docetboy]

An interesting note for those who may be unaware of it:

A Eagle Scout or a Girl Scouts Gold Award Holder is eligible for advanced enlistment into the U.S. Armed Forces at the rank of E-2. (Private, Airman, Seaman-Apprentice).

Someone who has successfully earned the CAP Billy Mitchell, Carl A. Spaatz, or Amelia Earhart award is eligible for advanced enlistment into the U.S. Air Force at the rank of E-3 (Airman First Class) or into another branch of service at the rank of E-2.

[MysticCat]

By all means, support him and help him go for it!! It is a big deal.

No, it probably won't get him college or grad school (although you never know whether it might be the thing that makes a difference between him and the other guy), but it will help if he's up for scholarships or the like. It will tell others (like scholarship committees) that he has integrity, is not afraid of hard work, understands the need to be involved in the community, is well-rounded and has interests beyond the books, and can plan a project, direct others in carrying it out, and can see it through to completion.

And those are just the "tangible" benefits. The "intangible" benefits -- the self-confidence, life-skills and experiences -- are, as the ad says, "priceless."

Yes, I agree that "award factories" can be off-putting. But the reality is that a very small percentage of Boy Scouts make Eagle. (I think it may be less than 5%.) While this troop may turn out lots of Eagles, that certainly is not the case nationwide.

And it may be a terrible thing to say, but in my experience, Eagle Scout is treated as a class all on its own -- you're right when you say the Gold Award in Girl Scouting isn't considered on a par with Eagle. Pop Quiz: Ask twenty random people what the Gold Award is. Then ask twenty random people what the Eagle Scout award is. I'm willing to be you'll get lots more correct answers from the second group than from the first. May not be fair, but its true.

Let me put it this way: Just two days ago, my brother-in-law, whose nephew is about to earn his Eagle, commented (without any prompting from me ) that I should be proud of earning my Eagle. Its not the first time I've gotten comments like that. I've known men in their sixties and seventies (including my father) who have commented that they still regretted not earning their Eagle. It's the only twenty-some year old honor that I would even think of putting on a resume. And in my office, I have only two "certificatey" kinds of things other than diplomas and a law license: my Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia shingle and my Eagle Scout certificate.

Rhetorical question: if he were in college and wanted to join a fraternity, would you ask "Of course it made him a better man, but will it lead to job opportunities or anything else concrete? "


Like I said, by all means help him go for it!!!

[sugar and spice]

One of my friends was an Eagle Scout and he ended up getting a scholarship for it. I can't tell you much more than that, though.

I think it's also true that the Eagle Scout award is more known than the Gold Award and so it will tend to up his chances with a college admissions committee (or in similar situations) -- the majority of whom probably don't know what the "Gold Award" is.

[AchtungBaby80]

Originally posted by sugar and spice
I think it's also true that the Eagle Scout award is more known than the Gold Award and so it will tend to up his chances with a college admissions committee (or in similar situations) -- the majority of whom probably don't know what the "Gold Award" is.

I had a friend in high school who was an Eagle Scout. It was a huge deal--there was a write-up in the paper about him and everything. I don't know if being an Eagle Scout will get you scholarship money (but as others have said, it's possible!), but it is a thing of prestige and I definitely don't think it would be time wasted earning it.

[John]

Attaining the rank of Eagle is one of my most proud accomplishments. Becoming an Eagle Scout isn't just about reaching the "top" - it's about all the experiences along the way. I wouldn't trade those experiences or memories for anything.

I was very active in scouting from when I was 11 until around the time I started college. I was also quite active in school activities as well - clubs, sports, prez of the honor society, etc. In my opinion, being active in scouting and being active in extracurricular activities didn't really compare. In the long run, scouting has benefited me far more than anything else I was involved in at the time. I believe that the man I have become is in large part due to the experiences and values that I learned as a scout. Scouting has truely had a big impact on my life.

Expense-wise it isn't too bad. But I suppose that depends on a few things. Class A uniform along with several scouting related t-shirts for when only a class B uniform is needed. You'll need to buy those a few times as your son grows out of the clothes. Camping equipment - the sleeping bag & backpack will probably be most costly of all the equipment. Good hiking boots if the troop does any long hiking trips. Cost for summer camp & weekend camping trips. Depending on the size of the troop there will probably be older kids who already grew out of some uniforms, so you can get them for free. Some troops can cover the cost of dues (I believe it was $1 a week), the weekend camping trips and a good portion of summer camp expenses for the scouts with fundraisers.

Significance / recognition: I don't know much about how things are in girl scouting or the differences between girl scouting & boy scouting, but back when I was a scout a number of people had told me that being an Eagle Scout was given significant consideration by college admissions staff. My personal example of this, not related to college admissions: I accomplished quite a bit in high school - high grades, honors classes, president of the honor society, varsity scholar, a distinguished scholars award.... none of that seemed to garner much recognition from the community "higher ups" such as the mayor, etc. On the night of my Eagle Scout court of honor I received letters & certificates of recognition from all kinds of people including the mayor, state senators, local organizations (such as the VFW), local business executives and even from Bill & Hillary Clinton. I have a filing cabinet drawer full of this stuff.

Now for something more directly related to college admissions - at one point I was seriously considering an application to the Air Force Academy. I did a lot of research into it and ultimately decided that was not what I wanted to do. But while I was still considering the possibility, through scouting contacts it took only a few days to secure my congressional nomination to the Air Force Academy "just in case" I decided to apply.

Aside from all that & more about scouting in general - not all troops are the same. I feel as though I was fortunate to be in a very active & successful troop. The troop put out a good number of Eagle Scouts, we won top awards at scouting events - but more important than all of that, we had the best times. I've seen troops which were run like military units, or like schools outside of school - our troop was not like that. Along with summer camp for a week in the summers we also spent another week camping in west virginia, we went skiing in the winter, the troop spent a weekend camping on an aircraft carrier, one halloween weekend we spent in Salem, MA (what better place to spend halloween?), we met and served as honor guard at an event for Henry Kissenger. Myself and a friend from my troop went to the 1989 national scout jamboree, with our council's jamboree troop, where during one of the events Steven Spielberg told a huge audience about the "movie" he made while working on a scout merit badge - how scouting influenced his life and how when he became an Eagle Scout was one of the proudest moments in his life. We camped on an airforce base (for around $1 a day, not per person but for the entire troop!) for about a week while hiking around Washington, DC, and we can't forget about the co-ed camping trips with the girl scouts - they were always fun times... and the list goes on...

I have never once heard from anyone I know or knew that they regretted the time they spent in scouting. I have heard many times from friends who weren't in scouting that they wished they had joined.

Becoming an Eagle Scout may not be the determining factor that gets your son into college, or earns him financial-aid/scholarships. But it can be a significant help. And not only could your son list being an Eagle Scout on his college applications, future job applications, scholarship applications - there are also scholarships specifically for Eagle Scouts.

But regardless of all that and whatever other life benefits the rank of Eagle may bring -- the scouting experience in an of itself is enough to say that getting involved in scouting is a great thing to do.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I was a Brownie, and I loved it. It was so much fun. I earned some merit badges which I still have. I now wish that I had flown up to Juniors as my sister did. The Juniors had even more fun.

I really don't know about Eagle Scouts, but it seems like many successful people earned that distinction. I'm not sure if they are successful because of the skills they learned as Eagle Scouts, or if they had those skills and applied them to becoming Eagle Scouts. Either way, it seems to be a wonderful accomplishment.

[Bro2B]

I'm an Eagle Scout as well. I never regretted the time I spent in the troop. I earned mine when I was 14, and I had been in Scouting since I was in elementary school through Cub Scouts. As far as the benefits I derived from it , it made me a better man, but it really helped me develop my leadership qualities, since a requirement for the upper level ranks is to hold a position of leadership for 6 months or a year.

The most important lesson it taught me is personal responsibility and time management. That's cool your kids cheered - I cheered too, and got a full scholarship for it (which unfortunately didn't include housing, but covered tuition, including out of state, and books). Well, I guess I'm not saying that being an Eagle Scout made me a better cheerleader even if I did end up being a Div IA athlete on scholarship. But through my membership in NESA (National Eagle Scout Association) I was awarded a scholarship that helped pay for my housing. So that's a concrete benefit I enjoyed.

In my chapter there were a handful of other Eagles and I guess we kind of "flocked together," since we had that other bond in addition to our brotherhood. The biggest thing about Eagle is it is considered a big accomplishment and can open doors in terms of jobs, it tells you a lot about the strength of someone's character that they can stick to an arduous and at times, time-consuming task and in the end they can finish what they start.

[Munchkin03]

I've never heard anyone say that they regretted being a Boy Scout--not even Mr Munchkin, who quit his troop because the guys there would say virulently racist and homophobic things, and it appeared to be getting worse. His predecessor, however, was an Eagle Scout--he wasn't the nicest guy, essentially he was a jerk, but the Eagle Scout thing was the best thing he had done during the time that I knew him.

As far as money, it depends on the troop. Boy Scouts as a whole tended to be a lot lower maintentance than the Girl Scouts.

[FuzzieAlum]

Omigosh! Carnation, your question actually brought the mysterious John Hammell out of the woodwork. For that alone, you better get your son into the troop!