Is Eagle Scout Worth It? Personal Experiences and Career Impact

[Learning Curve]

First off, sorry that this doesn't pertain to physics, but this is an academic and career guidance place.

Alright. I'm 16 and about 6 months of work away from getting Eagle scout in Boy Scouts. I have been in this situation since I was 14 . My question is does anyone have their Eagle Scout? And how has it impacted your life/career? I know I could earn it but I hate... errr... dislike my Troop (i.e. no one in the troop is my age and all are very immature). Thanks for your time.

 

[Manchot]

Wow, you perfectly described me at the age of 16. Honestly, if I were you, I'd suck it up and go for it. I decided not to, and I've regretted it ever since.

 

[Pengwuino]

Do it, some guy from my high school was eagle scout and he got all the chicks.

just kidding

he was also on the football team and was pretty cool.

 

[Learning Curve]

thx, but what i really want to hear is an impact on someone's career. I've always heard I should get it but I want someones story.

 

[Poop-Loops]

I don't have a story, but I want to know how hard is it? If it's relatively easy, just get it. It can't hurt. Hell, at least if you're ever stuck in the woods, you'll know how to survive, right? There's more to life than school/career.

PL

 

[Cyrus]

If you ever go into the military, they look very favorably on that, i.e. trying to be a pilot. They like to see those kind of extra cirricular activities, Eagle scouts, ROTC, varsity sports. Things that show you can be a leader within a group. I am sure it looks good on a college application too. Can't hurt. (oh yeah, if you wear glasses there goes your chances though , I wish I did not wear glasses or I would try to be an Air Force Pilot.)

 

[Pengwuino]

thx, but what i really want to hear is an impact on someone's career. I've always heard I should get it but I want someones story.

No one really cares when hiring. Your job specific qualities will be more important unless your career is in an industry that has less emphasis on degrees and experience then it does with teamwork and the qualities you might develop as an eagle scout. More importantly though, it instills a lot of good qualities which will allow you to ADVANCE in your career.

 

[Cyrus]

When your with your boss, and he mentions his sons a boy scout, and you say, I used to be an eagle scout, you will have an 'in' to get to know him on a personal level and not just be another employee. Come time for a raise, you might get critized a little bit less and get that raise ;-) , trust me you never know how remote things you did in your past can come up and surprise you later in your career. People tend to connect better when you have more to talk about than just work. You come off as being a well rounded individual.

 

[zwtipp05]

Get your eagle. It may not seem like it is worth much, but just being able to say you got it is very impressive.

 

[Astronuc]

I would say go for the Eagle Scout, especially since you're only 6 months away. I don't think that it will necessarily affect your career path in science and technology, in the academic sense, but it might open doors of opportunity that are not readily apparent.

For one there are many out there in the world who are Eagle scouts or who know or appreciate the level of effort to become an Eagle scout, and you might cross paths in the future.

As others indicated, if you choose a career in the military, it would be a plus to be an Eagle scout.

I have a friend who became Eagle, and it probably did have an influence on his career, and perhaps even his college program. He was more disciplined than most. I haven't asked him directly if being an Eagle scout made a difference or how it affected his path in life.

 

[hypatia]

It will make a difference, in you. I am a commissioner for the Boy Scouts. For nearly 2 decades now I have seen young men get accepted into collages and find great jobs because Scouting has been a part of there life.
It shows you have what it takes in a organization, to go a bit farther, to lead and accept responsibility.
I have been told over and over again by collage acceptance boards, they don't want you simply based on your grades.

Just a few young men who used scouting to become great men.

William C. DeVries, M.D., Transplanted first artificial heart
Neil Armstrong - Astronaut & First Man On The Moon
Gerald Ford, 38th President of the U.S.
Gary Locke, {former}Governor of Washington State
James Lovell - Astronaut
J. Willard Marriott, Jr., President, Marriott Corporation
William McCool, Physic degree, Space Shuttle Columbia Pilot
H. Ross Perot, Self Made Billionaire
Willaim Sessions, Former FBI Director
Steven Spielberg, Film Director/Producer

All are Eagle Scouts.

If your only 6 months away, I would go for it. I know its hard in a troop where there is no one your age. But you may inspire one or two of them to challenge themselfs too.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Gary Locke is no longer governor. :p

PL

 

[Student_at_CUNY]

=)

You might as well get it. It will be one more thing that will set you aside from other canidates be it for work or college. It is always a plus in anyone book .

 

[Learning Curve]

Thx. and this is what I always hear whenever I talk to anyone. Still, I want to know a real story .

 

[dlgoff]

As I understand now days, things like being an Eagle Scout is important for getting college scholarships.

 

[Learning Curve]

For some. My best friend is going to Middle Tennessee State University. He is an Eagle Scout with a 3.7 from high school. He took all honors courses but yet he only received one small scholarship to go there.

 

[dlgoff]

For some. My best friend is going to Middle Tennessee State University. He is an Eagle Scout with a 3.7 from high school. He took all honors courses but yet he only received one small scholarship to go there.

I wonder if he would have gotten the scholorship if he wasn't an Eagle Scout.

 

[Learning Curve]

nah it was the state lottery :P

 

[mathwonk]

As a 60 year old professor, I think having obtained my eagle scout badge had absolutely no impact on my career, but I could be wrong. Maybe the discipline of finishing a long program in spite of obstacles such as not liking my scoutmaster, and dealing with his little napoleon complex, and his tendency to make himself feel important by ordering children around, helped me later in life to deal with other difficult situations.

But in the long run, eagle scouting was so minuscule an accomplishment to me personally that I honestly have not even thought about it for decades. I did not feel this way at the time, and I think my mom enjoyed seeing me get it.

It involves little real accomplishment but lots of time spent satisfying rules and regulations, which is unfortunately similar to progreess in real life business and school situations.

In fact the whole scout's program can degenerate into a little pre - army training camp or worse. A good one will emphasize outdoor camping and helping others.

I sacrified basketball for scouts one year and greatly regretted that tradeoff.

But if you are this close, it is a good idea to finish it just to learn how to put something behind you without abandoning all the work you have done.

Then find a more fulfilling hobby, like science fairs, or combine it with one like taking inner city kids camping.

A good life lesson though is to finish projects you start.

 

[Learning Curve]

What my issue is its not that it's a challenge or something good to spend time doing. I honestly thinks it's a waste of my time when I could be finishing homework instead of going to meetings. I really could care less about it. I don't see how it could help me. Yes, it has taught me some discipline in life. And yes, I can survive on my own in the wilderness, but earning Eagle Scout is not going to teach me anything I don't already know.

 

[southloven]

What my issue is its not that it's a challenge or something good to spend time doing. I honestly thinks it's a waste of my time when I could be finishing homework instead of going to meetings. I really could care less about it. I don't see how it could help me. Yes, it has taught me some discipline in life. And yes, I can survive on my own in the wilderness, but earning Eagle Scout is not going to teach me anything I don't already know.

I wish I was not too late but judging by the time stamp I most likely am. Yes It will Help I wrote such a long response to this message that the site timed me out. Bottom Line I have gotten 3 jobs because of mine and anyone who is wondering the same as this guy needs to Find a boy scout forum to post on not a physics forum.

Marcus
Eagle scout Class of '99 - Occoneechee Council

 

[ehrenfest]

First off, sorry that this doesn't pertain to physics, but this is an academic and career guidance place.

Alright. I'm 16 and about 6 months of work away from getting Eagle scout in Boy Scouts. I have been in this situation since I was 14 . My question is does anyone have their Eagle Scout? And how has it impacted your life/career? I know I could earn it but I hate... errr... dislike my Troop (i.e. no one in the troop is my age and all are very immature). Thanks for your time.

I would just move on (meaning forget the Eagle Scout) if I were you. I am not an Eagle Scout and in fact I never made past the first level of Boy Scouts whatever that is called although I remember making it climbing up a few levels as a Cub Scout. As someone interested in an academic career, I think it was totally a waste of time. In the academic world, it will not help at all have "Eagle Scout" on your resume and in fact it would be kind of a joke. You can put it on your college application and it might give you a boost but after that no employer or school will care. The skills you learn while becoming an Eagle might be useful as general life tools but you need to choose a career pretty far from academia for them to be useful.

So, in conclusion, if you are interested in making a career out of the kinds of things you do in boy scouts (building things by hand, trekking through the outdoors, etc) then being an Eagle Scout will help you later in life but otherwise not really.

 

[Darkiekurdo]

This topic dates back to 2005. :')

 

[ehrenfest]

This topic dates back to 2005. :')

Haha...I should read the time stamps in the future.

 

[southloven]

So, in conclusion, if you are interested in making a career out of the kinds of things you do in boy scouts (building things by hand, trekking through the outdoors, etc) then being an Eagle Scout will help you later in life but otherwise not really.

Sorry but I just can't let this go... if you never got your eagle how can you say it would not help you.

I got a jot a internship at one of the largest Architectural Firms in North Carolina purely because of my eagle scout and it helped me in the current job I have now (one of the highly coveted government jobs). Seems to me that an Assistant City Manager, My boss and Interviewer, had his Eagle and knew how hard it was to get and what a commitment it was at such a young age. Its not what I learned from getting my Eagle that has helped me. It gives in site as to the kind of person you are and your ability to stick with something when you start it.

 

[ehrenfest]

Sorry but I just can't let this go... if you never got your eagle how can you say it would not help you.

I had never heard of it helping anybody before I read your post. That was the basis for my comments.

I got a jot a internship at one of the largest Architectural Firms in North Carolina purely because of my eagle scout and it helped me in the current job I have now (one of the highly coveted government jobs). Seems to me that an Assistant City Manager, My boss and Interviewer, had his Eagle and knew how hard it was to get and what a commitment it was at such a young age.

I really don't that happens very often...but I could be wrong. I am most familiar with academic careers and for that realm I can say firmly that an Eagle Scout will be of little or no use in advancing through the ranks.

 

[D H]

Sorry but I just can't let this go... if you never got your eagle how can you say it would not help you.

First, I know this is a necromanced thread. I am responding because of all those who are saying that making it through Eagle has no benefit. Maybe for a math professor, no. For many, many other fields, it is a big deal. A friend of mine, my age (> 50) is an Eagle Scout and the fact that he is one goes on his resume to this day. Would you even think of putting that you graduated from high school on your resume? No. It would just look silly. So would putting down the fact that you made some lesser rank in Boy Scouts on your resume. On the other hand, putting that you made Eagle nearly 30 years ago on your resume does not look silly. Attaining Eagle certainly has helped my son, who received a full-ride scholarship for college and a first-choice assignment in the military upon graduation. His Eagle award helped him get both. I introduced my friend to my son at my son's wedding this past weekend, and they immediately connected in part because they are both Eagle Scouts.

 

[Moonbear]

I really don't that happens very often...but I could be wrong. I am most familiar with academic careers and for that realm I can say firmly that an Eagle Scout will be of little or no use in advancing through the ranks.

And just what is your basis for such a firm conclusion, knowing neither anything about what is involved in attaining an Eagle Scout status nor having held an academic position (my understanding is you are still an undergraduate student, are you not?).

From what I understand of what goes into an Eagle Scout badge (I have a friend who is an Eagle Scout), I think it would help prepare one for an academic career. It requires leadership skills that would help one advance through any career, including academia. As far as I understand, it also requires taking the initiative to undertake a fairly challenging project and see it through to completion, not unlike the challenges academics face in developing research projects. I believe it requires other valuable things, like learning to communicate with others, something highly valued in an academic career. Anything that can help one build leadership and interpersonal skills and is evidence that one can intiate a project and see it to completion are beneficial in any career path, academia included.

Nobody is going to see Eagle Scout on your CV and immediately hire you because of it, but it seems like it would provide experience and skills that would help in getting hired and later on getting promoted. There are other ways to obtain those skills too, but one shouldn't dismiss this particular approach.

 

[ehrenfest]

First, I know this is a necromanced thread. I am responding because of all those who are saying that making it through Eagle has no benefit. Maybe for a math professor, no. For many, many other fields, it is a big deal. A friend of mine, my age (> 50) is an Eagle Scout and the fact that he is one goes on his resume to this day. Would you even think of putting that you graduated from high school on your resume? No. It would just look silly. So would putting down the fact that you made some lesser rank in Boy Scouts on your resume. On the other hand, putting that you made Eagle nearly 30 years ago on your resume does not look silly. Attaining Eagle certainly has helped my son, who received a full-ride scholarship for college and a first-choice assignment in the military upon graduation. His Eagle award helped him get both. I introduced my friend to my son at my son's wedding this past weekend, and they immediately connected in part because they are both Eagle Scouts.

OK. Your point is well-taken.

necromanced

Good word.

 

[russ_watters]

My earning of Eagle Scout was certainly a factor in my acceptance at the Naval Academy.

You're right that after college it doesn't matter on its own (it isn't on my resume today), but you truly are the sum-total of your experiences. It helps you achieve one thing and that thing helps you achieve another and so on.