merit badges needed for eagle scout rank

[macmom]

Hi one of my sons just earned the life rank and is trying to decide which merit badges to work on this year at summer camp. His goal is to complete all the merit badges he needs to earn eagle rank this summer. Is the eagle merit badge requirement eagle required badges PLUS 10 more merit badges earned at the life scout rank OR is it eagle required merit badges plus another 10 earned at any rank? Hope someone can clarify this - thanks!

[Twocubdad]

A cumulative total of 21 including 12 required and 9 elective. Of course, as a Life Scout he must already have at least seven required and four other elective MBs.

 

But where's the fire? Unless he's already earn a bunch of the 10 MBs he needs for Eagle, or is hard against his 18th birthday, that's a pretty big bite. What's he doing for fun at camp?

[Eagle92]

Well for Star he needed the following:

 

#3 Earn 6 merit badges, including 4 from the required list for Eagle.*

 

And for Life he needed the following:

 

Earn 5 more merit badges (so that you have 11 in all), including any 3 more from the required list for Eagle.

 

So 11 down, including 7 Eagle Required, 10 to go, including 5 eagle required.

 

As 2Cub has asked, Why the hurry? What fun is he having at camp? I hate to say it, but folks are so focused on gettin the MBs they forget the realy purpose of summer camp: Having fun.

 

 

[bt01]

There are several required MB that you can not get at summer.

[moosetracker]

bt01 is correct, not all MB can be earned at camp. The 3 MB's that have 3 month tracking are usually not done at camp, unless it is a kick-off that you must find an Merit Badge Councilers (MBC) to finish up, or you need to find an MBC and start them early.. But if you start with a local MBC why not compete them with the MBC.. (Which is why they are rare to find at camp).. Then it depends on the camp which other ones they may or may not do..

 

If your son is pushing 18 and has had too much fun, and now must buckle down, then the following doesn't apply.. If he is younger, especially younger then 16, then the following advice does apply..

 

It is a much better journey to meet some MBC's along the way outside of camp, first you have more time to learn the merit badge, second you get to use summer camp for a few merit badges and then go have fun..

 

The journey to Eagle should not be looked at as something similar to a Bandaid that needs to be ripped off as fast as possible so that it doesn't hurt.. It should be a slow, enjoyable winding journey, where you meet great people, go on great adventures to different places, and occasionally take time to do a merit badge or two along the way.

 

If your son is focused on the Eagle advancement only.. (or you are focused on it for your son & pushing him along.) Your son has missed the whole true picture about what Boy Scouting is all about.. It would be a shame for him to loose out like that..

[sherminator505]

Welcome to the campfire.

 

It's a good thing you posted now, given the time table you provided (although I also wonder about the rush...).

 

One thing your son needs to be aware of is that some of the required MBs require a 90-day record of some sort. If he hasn't earned those yet, and he wants to finish by summer's end, those should start now.

 

Also, what's the status on his Eagle project?

[macmom]

thanks to all who responeded, we've gotten the info needed

[qwazse]

Macmom,

 

Congratulations, and you have every right to be proud. Restating what the posters said, all badges earned at any rank count for the total of 21.

 

Although I'm against pushing Life scouts to knock off their rank requirements in 6 months (unless, they're 17 1/2!), if a boy likes earning MB's let him have at it!

 

One thing I encourage boys to do is start on Personal Management and Personal Fitness before camp. Why? Because camp can cause unique challenges for fitness of body and wallet! When they meet with their counselor at the end of summer they can evaluate how things went. (E.g., did spending go a little overboard at the trading post? Could you find a chin-up bar in the woods?)

 

Other than that, have the boy identify the badges where camp is an ideal place for learning because you don't have access to the facilities at home. Hopefully one or two of those will be required. If not, have him start getting counselors' names and numbers and making some calls.

[Venividi]

Hi macmom,

Welcome to the forum

 

Ultimately the decision of which merit badges to take at what time and with which counselor is between your son and his scoutmaster. However, you can guide and advise him based on what you want your want your son to get out of his time in scouting. You have to ask yourself if you want your son to get requirements out of the way as quickly as possible, or if you want him to really learn the skills.

Because "quantity" of badges in a short amount of time comes at the expense of "quality". More than once I have heard boys laughing about how easy Personal Management or Citizenship MB's were at summer camp. However, they got short changed actually learning important life skills.

Keep in mind that advancement is a method, not an aim. It is a tool that can be used to incent boys to learn more and accomplsh more than they otherwise might have. You might want to read through BSA's training module for MB counselors, which gives an explanation of the benefits that boys receive when they work directly with a caring adult in their local comunity. Here is the link: http://www.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/18-125.pdf

 

Good luck to you and your son.

[clemlaw]

>>>>Other than that, have the boy identify the badges where camp is an ideal place for learning because you don't have access to the facilities at home.