Eagle Rank - College Apps / Scholarships

[thesat5]

The troop I am involved in has a handful (well 3) of scouts who are very aggressive in rank advancement. Even with the SM's encouragement to slow down, they are full speed ahead.

My question is the date they earn the Eagle Scout Rank.

If a Scout earns their Eagle Rank before they enter High School how is that looked upon on College Applications, College Scholarship Applications and the military?

What if they earn it between completion of 8th Grade and actually starting 9th Grade (high school), does that make a difference?

Does anyone have any experience in this?

[smtroop168]

The troop I am involved in has a handful (well 3) of scouts who are very aggressive in rank advancement. Even with the SM's encouragement to slow down, they are full speed ahead.

My question is the date they earn the Eagle Scout Rank.

If a Scout earns their Eagle Rank before they enter High School how is that looked upon on College Applications, College Scholarship Applications and the military? Same as it would if they earned it in HS

What if they earn it between completion of 8th Grade and actually starting 9th Grade (high school), does that make a difference? No

Does anyone have any experience in this?

Actually if they earn Eagle earlier, then they can earn Palms so any application that says Eagle with 3 or so Palms tell the reviewer they stayed in scouts and continued to earn awards.

I hope this isn't a silly reason why the SM wants to slow them down

[FrankJ]

Colleges look at what you have done recently. Eagle earned in MS with no equally impressive activity after shouldn't get much weight.

On the other hand you should not be doing things just to pad the college resume. Not in my definition of scout spirit.

[Mrw]

Scouts and Eagle were just a check box on the application when my guys were applying for college (large midwestern state university). There was no date associated with it.

[King Ding Dong]

If it makes a difference to the admissions department then it is probably a school you wouldn't want to send your son to. The same with a company that looks upon you with suspicion as an antisocial misfit if you do not have a Facebook or Twiter account.

[thesat5]

The SM is just wanting to make sure the scout gets the credit he deserves when it comes to colleges and/or scholarships. That is all. We have talked to a High School Counselor and he tells us that every scholarship and college is different. His recommendation is it looks better to receive it while IN high school.

[Quailman]

If you try to slow them down, you risk discouraging them. If you discourage them you risk them losing interest and not making Eagle. Don't slow them down. Don't discourage them. It's not about the scholarship or college application. It's about building character and citizenship skills and men of strong moral fiber. Encourage them.

If you want to encourage them and help them get something that will look good on college and scholarship applications, learn about the NOVA awards. Wait until they make Eagle, and then encourage them to be the first in their troop (I don't know of any yet in my council, let alone troop) to earn a Supernova Award.

Eagle is not the destination. It's part of the journey.

Oh, and SMs who try to slow down scouts for any reason whatsoever should be placed on the IV list.

[FrankJ]

Points on a college resume is not a good reason to pick an ideal time to earn Eagle. If it is just a check box on the application it doesn't really matter. If it is part of an interview, earned in MS won't carry much weight unless it is backed up with other accomplishments. IE continued to support my troop, earned palms, served in leadership roles. Then it looks great if some one is actually paying attention. Essentially earning it in MS & waiting to latter to earn it on paper would look worse it put that way & you have not done anything else.

Maybe more important the college app is scholarship apps where they are looking at more than check boxes. Once again just putting eagle with the meat to back it up shouldn't count for much.

[FieldSports]

My sons experience was in the interview for college. He mentioned his Eagle scout award and the rest of the 25 minutes of the total 30 was discussion about all his experiences. Camping, Jambo, NYLT, his project. No mention of dates and the admission officer never got to his other standard questions. The Eagle only opens the door. PS he got "Early Acceptance"

To answer your question: No it does not matter when. You assume that the average college admin or scholarship person knows about the Eagle process. They do not. They only know of the stature of the award, not the potential for timing. I am sure someone will site one example of "young" Eagle, who suffered from "fill-in-blank". Your answer should be "they look for what you have done with your Eagle" and not when.

Sounds more like someone is just trying to find another excuse to slow these young men down.

Personal Soapbox: Those that wait till they are 17.99 years old are the ones I worry about. IMHO, they procrastinated and demonstrate poorer leadership abilities then those that earn it "young". Motivate, provide the resources, and most of all get the h*ll out of their way. Stepping(pushed?) off the box.