Invited to Boy's State but not attending

Hi everyone, so I just wanted to get some insight. I had an offer to go to Boy's State (in California) as well as qualifying for a national NJROTC competition in Washington D.C. that is fully paid for. The thing is, they're both a week long and have overlapping dates, and out of the two, I chose the NJROTC trip because I feel like it would be more of an experience for me. American Legion also confirmed that I would have to choose one or the other. However, I still know how much Boy's state can mean to applications, and I'm wondering if being offered to go but not attending means anything. I'm bummed to miss out on boy's state but I am curious to see if it carries any weight. Maybe something I can mention in an interview?

Boys State means as much as Eagle Scout. It seems like an unequal match but it means much.

Try to get another AMERICAN Legion post to sponsor you at another State next to yours with different schedule. This has been done before by few candidates.

If you cannot find one and I hope you do, you are better off going to Boys State. You will not get extra points for going to DC with JROTC. That’s only nice to have personally for you but I don’t think it counts in your standing towards Academies. You have to choose and I would choose the activity that will add to your WCS. Boys State is also fully paid for by American Legion.

If you don’t go to Boys State you get no credit and recognition. Only if you go you get credit. You get no credit for selection. It is the experience Academies want you to have at Boys State.

In your interviews, most BGO ALO WP Alumnus would say that you should have gone to Boys State because you already have JROTC Leadership Credit and the Academy don’t give you credit twice on something they gave already.

^ +1

If you ever choose Boys State, you won’t regret it.

Went to CA Boys State last year...

Could it be you are referring to National JLAB? My son attended last year, and thought it was very worthwhile. He had also never seen Washington, DC., so a free trip there was awesome. His FFR said JLAB is absolutely an item to include in his application, although it’s probably true that Boys State is “worth more” from a points perspective. (Why they value Boys State as much as Eagle Scout baffles me.)

He’s in a similar position as you this year. Selected to attend Boys State, but his rifle team is going to a national competition in Ohio the same week. He is team captain, so he knew he would have to turn down Boys State. He’s very disappointed. FFR told him that his selection was also worth including in his file, interviews, etc., along with the reason he’s not going. So, you’re not the only one in this situation.

I have read comments about trying to go to a neighboring state. It’s worth trying, especially since you were already selected for CA.

I think you’re making the right choice to go where you think you will grow the most, and if your team is depending on you, even more reason to go. Maybe your FFR or Admissions Rep can give you some ideas on other things you could do to increase your leadership resume.

My opinion follows: Life is short. Do what you want to do, rather than what you think would look good on your resume.
I have heard that Boy's State is a good thing to do, but I can tell you that when my DS (an Eagle Scout) was a "drag" at a Candidate Visitation Weekend (CVW), he hung out with four other Midshipmen.
All of them were Eagle Scouts, and none of them had gone to Boy's State. Based on that small sample, one might be led to believe that Eagle Scout is a little better than equal to Boy's State.

It's true that you get some bonus points for Boy's State. But those points may not be a difference maker for this candidate -- he may have PLENTY of other qualifications that will earn him max points -- or not. This is why it's hard to opine in a vacuum because each person is very different.

I tend to agree with THParent -- as long as you're doing something productive, do what you want to do. If the OP's heart isn't in attending Boy's State -- IOW, if he's doing it only for "extra points" for a SA application -- he's probably not going to enjoy it or get the most out of it.

FWIW, DS has to choose between Boys State, final week of HS baseball, NYLT (Boy Scouts) senior staff (non-negotiable), & NASS. It really came down to Boys State & NASS. He chose NASS. For him, I think it is the right decision. He is very excited about NASS (making sure a Navy career is his path) & not excited at all about Boys State. Ultimately he felt that it was important to follow through on his long-term interests/passions. It’s a decision based on his context - his Scouting has been his passion & leadership & it would be hard to explain to his baseball teammates why he was skipping out on what could be sectionals. If Boys State was a bigger deal in our area, it might have changed his reasoning but where we live (midwest inner-city) it’s not on the radar - it’s a much bigger deal in non-metro area (not sure why or if this is similar in other regions of the Country).

If having the best SA application is important to you why not ask your ALO for his/her opinion? What you WANT is not always the best choice in my humble opinion.

I agree with everyone's opinions here. They are all meaningful and in the end you should choose what you want. And for some of us, sometimes what you don't know, you get more. So it was for my DS.

My DS also had conflict in schedule. He looked into Boys State for over a year since his Sophomore year after being advised by USMA Admissions to attend if at all possible. Before then, we had no idea about Boys State. After taking the time to learn more about the program and moving things around - summer schedule, DS ended up attending USMA SLE, AFASS, and Boys State. His feedback was, Boys State was the grand finale, and going to Boys State after having gone to Academy programs was absolutely a great combination. He felt like a grown up at Boys State and understood better why the program tied in so well after having gone to Academy summer programs and to his plans to serve the country and to attend a Service Academy. DS said Boys State was his best summer experience last year. And yes he made Eagle Scout and graduated from NYLT summer before his high school freshman year and served in NYLT Camps thereafter, and has been a Council and District Camp Leader/Trainer/SPL, Junior Asst Scoutmaster, Summit Scout and Crew President, Honor Guard, Armorer at JROTC...the list goes on. The point is, if you want it you can manage to fit a lot in to your activities.

But the choice is always yours so follow your heart! If going to DC is what you really want, go for it and don't look back.

I'm just going to echo the oft-repeated sentiment that equating Boys State with Eagle Scout is absolutely preposterous.

I have one who went to Boys State. A week of a good experience, learned a lot, etc.
I have another one who's an Eagle Scout. Years of work and learning and service and leadership.

How these two equate in the mind of any admissions board is beyond me. I'm not complaining because the DS who's a USNA candidate wasn't in Boy Scouts, so I'm glad Boys State will serve him. But to equate the worth, value, and training involved and received?? Not even close.

I agree with you 200% and it shouldn’t be Weighted the same. My DS has been in Scouting for 8 years and spent significant time and made many sacrifices over other things he wanted to do. We live in New York Metro so there’s a lot of other things to do. But you can’t be everywhere and do everything you like with same amount of commitment. So he had to choose. And fortunately he enjoys scouting in addition to 4 Varsity Sports he did.

And how that equal 1 week of program bothers me and it shouldn’t. But that’s the way Academies do their score card so it is what it is.

Again, ppooba is a grown up and he should decide what he truly wishes. He will choose well, maybe we now gave him too much to think about ^^

Why be bothered? Both programs are superb - perhaps not equal - but, superb nonetheless.

My son was not an eagle scout. He also can't high jump 7 feet, or run a 4.4 40. Slacker.

Here, here. I call my son a slacker all the time!

PlanAhead said:

How these two equate in the mind of any admissions board is beyond me.

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Over Twenty Five years as a BGO AND a Boy's State grad and current staff member so pretty familiar with the landscape here.
In my estimate, the Admissions Board is NOT comparing the actual work/leadership of Eagle Scout with the one week of Boy's State but rather considering that for many/most places, Boy's State selections are an evaluation from throughout a school and the school administration and legion post evaluate the candidates to select the very best/most deserving boys. In my personal case, my local legion post sent just one from my high school which had approx 400 juniors. Clearly, I was singled out as a leader by the education community. In my role within my legion post, we have the school nominate 4 or 5 boys for the two spots that we sponsor and then our post interviews them to try to find the best potential leaders.
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Son #2 (USNA class of '11) was both an Eagle Scout and a Statesman (before I was involved in the legion/Boy's State) and I know that they're very different - like comparing apples and Steel I beams. I can also tell you that a number of my USNA classmates and I met at Boy's State before we met again at USNA. .
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Don't get too hung up on the "Credit" given to different activities. Should a letter of recommendation from an Admiral be weighted the same as, less than or more than a Team Captaincy? How about Leadership of a Church charitable or service group? How high should they weight the Debate Team. . . and should it be the same as or more/less than Academic Decathlon team?

My DS was also selected for Boys State last summer. He had a conflict with NASS. He chose NASS because that is what he wanted to do. He was heading into his senior year thinking WP was his first choice. After attending NASS and AIM he made a complete switch and placed USNA and USCGA as his top choices. So, even though it may have cost him some points it was incredibly beneficial to point him in the right direction.

I would echo the response that, all things being equal, choose the one that excites you the most. Life is short and the academy application process is long and excruciating. Choose the experience and the memories that mean the most to you.

By the way to the idea of trying to go to Boy's State in another state, from what I can tell you, that one is pretty difficult/ remote. Now if the Boy has a parent/grandparent who is a member of a legion post in the other state then you might have a chance.
The Boy's State that I am a staffer for is among the largest with close to a thousand statesmen and as far as I can tell, all are either from this state or at least go to school here. I am also the Boy's State lead for my County American Legion and all of our posts get boy's nominated from schools in the town/area of the post. I doubt that the high schools would nominate a boy from another state when they have their own students to promote/serve.
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Now there is another potential route in at least some states -Some Boy's State organizations allow parents to pay for boys that are not sponsored by a legion post. If you try contacting the specific Boy's State group, you could check into that.

By the way, USNA Admissions will often move a boy to a different session of NASS to allow attendance at both events.

Can someone tell me, or show me, where Eagle Scout and Boy's State are weighted equally. As far as I know, USNA has never revealed its WCS formula. I know that this statement has been floating around here for awhile, but have never heard the source.

Even if Eagle Scout and Boy's State have equal value on WCS, I would suggest that Eagle Scout carries more weight on the intangible side, particularly when Noms/Appointments is trying to make the hard choice between two "equal" candidates.... If you are an Eagle Scout, make sure that your BGO knows, and if appropriate, work it into your Personal Statement. I will admit to the personal bias, as an Eagle Scout and Board Member on our local Boy Scout Counsel, I view Eagle Scout as more significant than Boys State, and will always comment on Eagle Scout award in my BGO write up.

I am not sure of the weight that each Academy awards for attending Boys State. However, I will say that BS was life-course changing for my DS. He has always been leadership and service oriented but was unsure as to his direction. A Service Academy had never entered any college discussion with our DS. But upon his return from Boys State something significant had changed. He was inspired to pursue a career as a military officer. After 9 months of hard work he now holds offers of appointment to USNA and WP. DS says it was one of the best weeks of his life.