Questions to Ask at an Eagle Scout Board of Review
For the adult volunteers on an Eagle Scout board of review, whether the troop committee asked you or the district sent you, who want to walk in with more than 'tell us about your project'. The list runs in the order a board tends to go: an opening that settles the candidate, the Scouting years, leadership in the troop, the service project, the Oath and Law in daily life, and what comes after Eagle. A board is a conversation about the Scout's experience and never a retest of knots or first aid, so take a few from each group and let the answers lead.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Opening
Why did you want to become an Eagle Scout?
Why ask it
Most candidates start with a parent, an older brother or sister, or a troop where everyone was expected to. Follow up with when the goal became theirs and not someone else's, because that turning point is usually the real answer.
What does being an Eagle Scout mean to you?
Why ask it
A rehearsed line about honor and responsibility is common and harmless. Ask for one thing they will do differently because of the rank, and the answer becomes their own.
Tell us about your life outside Scouting: school, work, family, whatever fills your week.
Why ask it
The board is recommending a whole person, and the application lists only titles and dates. It also gives a nervous Scout two minutes on ground they know before anyone mentions the project.
Who helped you get to this table, and what did each of them do?
Why ask it
Listen for names and specifics: the leader who drove to every campout, the counselor who made them redo the budget. A Scout who can say exactly what they were given is well on the way to giving it to someone else.
Was there a time you came close to leaving Scouting, and what kept you in?
Why ask it
Plenty of Scouts who reach this rank had a year when sports, a job or boredom almost won. The reason they stayed tells you more than the list of badges, and 'my mom made me, and later I was glad' is an honest answer that deserves respect.
Your application includes a statement of your ambitions and life purpose. Which part was hardest to write?
Why ask it
Have the statement in front of you and quote one line back. Scouts often write it late and in formal language, so this is the chance to hear the same thought in their speaking voice.
Scouting years
Think back to your first campout with the troop. What would that Scout make of you now?
Why ask it
That Scout is easy to picture even years on: overpacked, homesick, a little afraid of the older ones. Ask what changed first and who noticed, because the distance between the two is the candidate's own account of what the troop did for them.
Which outing will you still be telling stories about in twenty years?
Why ask it
Let them tell it at full length, since it is likely to be the happiest answer of the evening. A board member who was on that trip should stay quiet and let the Scout's version stand.
Which merit badge taught you the most, and which did you enjoy least?
Why ask it
The badge they disliked is the more revealing of the two. A Scout who can say why it bored them, and that they finished it properly anyway, has told you how they handle required work.
Which of the Eagle-required badges took you longest to finish, and what held it up?
Why ask it
The ones with long record-keeping are the usual answer: the weeks of chores, the budget, the fitness log. Ask what finally got it done, and resist quizzing them on the content, because the counselor already signed it.
What is one skill from Scouting you have used somewhere that had nothing to do with Scouts?
Why ask it
First aid at a ball game, cooking for the family, reading a map when the phone died. You are asking where the skill came in handy, which is different from asking them to demonstrate it, and that keeps the board on the conversation side of the line.
Tell us about a trip where the weather, the gear or the plan failed. What did you do?
Why ask it
Stories of things going wrong show judgment better than any question about judgment. Notice whether the Scout describes what they did or what the adults did, and ask about their own part if it is missing.
How did you keep Scouting going alongside school, sports or a job in the last couple of years?
Why ask it
Older Scouts are often stretched thin, and the board is not there to recount attendance the unit leader has already accepted. What you can hear is how they chose what to give up, which is a fair preview of how they will manage the years ahead.
If you ran the troop for a year, what would you keep and what would you change?
Why ask it
One job of any board of review is to learn how the unit is serving its Scouts, and a candidate at this rank has seen years of it. Write the answer down and pass it to the troop committee, leaving the Scout's name off if the criticism is pointed.
Leadership
Which positions of responsibility have you held, and which one taught you the most?
Why ask it
The application lists them with dates, so keep the recital short. The position that taught the most is often not the highest one: a quartermaster with a trailer to keep in order, or a troop guide with a new patrol, may have more to tell than a senior patrol leader.
What is the difference between being in charge and being a leader?
Why ask it
Expect a tidy definition, then ask for the day they learned it. The story that follows is frequently about a patrol that ignored them.
Tell us about a time a Scout would not do what you asked. What did you try?
Why ask it
Good answers include a first attempt that failed. If the solution was to fetch an adult, ask what they would try now before doing that.
How did you go about teaching a skill to a younger Scout who was not getting it?
Why ask it
Teaching is where patience shows. Listen for whether they changed the method or only repeated it louder, and whether they remember the younger Scout's name.
What is a decision you made as a leader that you would take back?
Why ask it
A candidate who cannot think of one may need a prompt: a menu, a route, a duty roster, someone left out. The board is not marking the mistake, only whether the Scout can look at it squarely.
When have you had to be a good follower?
Why ask it
It catches some candidates off guard, since so much of the evening is about leading. Finishing a term as senior patrol leader and then serving under a younger Scout is the classic case, and the tone they tell it in says a lot.
The project
Describe your Eagle project as you would to someone who has never seen the workbook.
Why ask it
You have read the report, so this is about hearing the Scout tell it. Two minutes is plenty, and what they choose to include shows what they think the project was: the thing built, or the people led.
How did you find the project, and who benefits from it?
Why ask it
Some Scouts chase an idea for months and some are handed one by the organization they helped. Either is fine. The follow-up that matters is what the candidate added to the idea once it was theirs.
What changed between the proposal that was approved and the work you ended up doing?
Why ask it
Plans always move, and the workbook has a place to say so. A candidate who explains why a change was made, and who they told about it, is showing the planning half of the requirement.
How did you recruit your helpers, and how did you decide who did what?
Why ask it
The detail to hope for is jobs matched to people: who could handle a saw, who was eleven, who showed up without gloves. If parents filled most of the crew, ask what it was like to give directions to adults.
On the work days, what were you doing while everyone else worked?
Why ask it
The requirement is about giving leadership, so a Scout who spent the day with a clipboard, answering questions and moving people between jobs, did it right. If they spent it holding the drill, ask who was directing in the meantime.
What was the hardest moment in the project, and what did you do next?
Why ask it
It might be a rained-out weekend, a donor who backed out, or a morning when only three people came. Stay on 'what did you do next' until you hear a decision the Scout made personally.
How did you pay for it, and what did you learn about asking people for money or materials?
Why ask it
Fundraising for a project has its own approval steps, which differ from council to council and were dealt with long before tonight. Ask about the asking: the first store that said no, the letter they rewrote, where the leftover money went.
How did you plan for safety, and did anything happen that the plan did not cover?
Why ask it
Gloves, goggles and a first aid kit make up the standard answer. The surprise is the better conversation: a wasp nest under the old bench or a heat wave shows how the Scout thinks on the day.
What did the beneficiary say when it was finished, and have you been back to see it?
Why ask it
A Scout who has gone back, even once, cares about the result and not only the signature. If the project was an event or a collection drive and left nothing to visit, ask how they know it helped.
If you started the same project again next month, what would you do differently?
Why ask it
There is nearly always something: start earlier, order more lumber, ask for help sooner. A blank deserves a gentle second try, because looking back is the last piece of work the project asks for.
What did the project teach you about yourself that years of campouts had not?
Why ask it
This closes the project and moves the talk from the workbench or the trail to the person. Give it a pause, because the first answer tends to be about time management and the second one is better.
Oath and Law
Which point of the Scout Law comes easiest to you, and which takes the most work?
Why ask it
Boards ask this one so often that candidates arrive with an answer ready. Ask for the most recent time the hard point tripped them up, and the prepared answer turns into a real one.
The Oath opens with 'On my honor'. What does that phrase commit you to?
Why ask it
Definitions of honor come out stiff, so follow with who they would least want to break a promise to. The name they give, and the reason, is the working definition.
If you could add a thirteenth point to the Scout Law, what would it be and why?
Why ask it
A long-standing board favorite with no wrong answer. What you learn is which value the Scout thinks is missing, and whether they can argue that the existing twelve do not already cover it.
Tell us about a time in the past year when doing the right thing cost you something.
Why ask it
Small is fine: a returned wallet, a friend told no, a mistake owned at work. Do not push for something dramatic, and do not ask them to name the other people in the story.
The Oath speaks of duty to God. What does that look like in your life?
Why ask it
Scouts come from many faiths and practice them in many ways, and the board is not there to approve anyone's religion. Stay with the wording of the question, leave out which congregation and how often they attend, and check with your chair beforehand how your council expects this part to be handled.
What does duty to country mean for someone your age?
Why ask it
Flag ceremonies come first, then, given a little time, voting, jury service, knowing what the town council does. Keep the talk clear of party politics, the Scout's and your own.
The Oath ends with physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight. Which of the three do you have to work at?
Why ask it
Many candidates pick the first because it feels safest. Whichever they choose, ask what they actually do about it in an ordinary week.
Tell us about a Good Turn you did this week that had nothing to do with service hours.
Why ask it
The slogan asks for one daily, and logged hours are a different thing. If nothing comes to mind, let the silence sit before you rescue them: the pause is often when they remember carrying a neighbor's groceries.
How do the Oath and Law show up when no one from the troop is watching: at school, online, at a job?
Why ask it
This is close to the heart of what the board is there to hear, since Scout spirit is about daily life far more than meetings. 'Online' is worth saying out loud, because a good share of a teenager's day happens there.
A Scout is obedient. What do you do when you think a rule is wrong?
Why ask it
The thoughtful answer is about getting a rule changed through the people who set it instead of quietly ignoring it. Ask for an actual rule they disagreed with, at school or in the troop, and what they did about it.
What does Be Prepared mean to you beyond packing the right gear?
Why ask it
It moves the motto off the trail. Answers about studying ahead, saving money or knowing what to do when someone collapses all show that it has traveled home with them.
After Eagle
What are you planning for the next few years?
Why ask it
College, a trade, the military, a job, or not knowing yet are all fine answers. You are not grading the plan. You are hearing whether the Scout connects it to anything they learned on the way to this rank.
How do you expect to stay connected to Scouting from here?
Why ask it
Be realistic about it, since many new Eagles are about to leave home. A specific small promise, such as coming back for a court of honor or counseling one badge, means more than a pledge to be scoutmaster one day.
People say once an Eagle, always an Eagle. What will that ask of you at thirty?
Why ask it
Picking an age makes it concrete. The candidates who do best with it describe a person: how that adult treats coworkers, neighbors or children of their own.
What would you tell an eleven-year-old who joined the troop last week?
Why ask it
Advice to a new Scout is usually advice to their younger self, so listen for the regret or the pride inside it. If it is good, ask whether they have said it to an actual new Scout yet.
Why do you believe you are ready to be an Eagle Scout?
Why ask it
Boards that ask this tend to save it for near the end, and it can feel like a trap to a modest teenager. Say that it is not one, then let them make their case without interruption.
Is there anything you came ready to tell us that we have not asked about?
Why ask it
Candidates rehearse, and it is unkind to send one home with their best story untold. This also catches anything about the application or the project that the Scout wants the board to know before it decides.
What would you like to ask the board before we finish?
Why ask it
A few Scouts ask what the rank has meant to the Eagles in the room, which calls for a short, honest answer. After that, tell them plainly what happens next and how long they will be waiting outside.
Running a fair Eagle board of review
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before the candidate comes in
Read the packet ahead of time
The application, the project workbook, the statement of ambitions and any reference letters should reach you before the evening, or at least half an hour before the Scout does. Mark two or three lines you want to hear more about. Questions that come from the Scout's own pages land better than any list, this one included.
Ask the chair how it works in your council
Who may sit on the board, how many members it needs, whether the unit leader may observe, what the Scout is expected to wear and how the vote is taken are set out in Scouting America's current Guide to Advancement and applied by your council or district. Ask the chair to go over them before the Scout arrives, and do not rely on how it was done when you were a Scout yourself.
Divide the ground
Agree who opens, who takes the project and who takes the Oath and Law. Several adults asking whatever occurs to them produce repeats and long gaps. Give one member the clock, and ask the chair how long a board is meant to run.
Set the room for a conversation
Chairs in a loose circle or around one end of a table feel different from a row of adults facing a single seat. Put water within reach, introduce every member by name and by their tie to Scouting, and tell the candidate roughly how long the evening will take.
Keep the references private
If your council collects reference letters, ask the chair how they are to be handled. Treat them as confidential unless you are told otherwise: do not quote them to the Scout or say who wrote what.
What the board is and is not for
A conversation, not a retest
The requirements were signed by the people authorized to sign them. The board does not ask for a bowline, a first aid drill or a merit badge fact, and a Scout who could not produce one tonight has failed nothing. Asking where a skill was learned, or where it came in useful, is always fair.
What you are there to learn
Three things: that the requirements were completed as written, what kind of experience the Scout has had in the unit, and how the Oath and Law show in their daily life. Most of the questions on this page serve the second and third.
No added requirements
A board cannot ask for more than the rank asks: a bigger project, a set number of hours, a spotless uniform, a certain number of nights camped. If a member doubts that a signed requirement was met, that is something to raise with the chair in private and never to spring on the candidate.
Topics to leave alone
Party politics, the details of a Scout's faith, family finances, health and romantic life are not the board's business. If the candidate brings one up, listen and move on without probing.
Carry the feedback back
What the Scout says about the troop's program is information the unit needs and seldom hears. Agree beforehand which member will take it to the troop committee.
Asking and listening
One question, then wait
Stacked questions get the last part answered and the rest forgotten. Ask one, count to five in your head, and let the Scout fill the quiet.
Follow the specific
'Tell me more about the Saturday only three people came' gets further than the next item on your sheet. A board that covers fifteen questions with follow-ups has done better than one that races through forty.
Nerves are not evidence
A teenager facing a table of adults may blank on a Scout Law they have recited at every meeting for years. Smile, give them a moment, and judge the Law by the stories they tell.
Adjust for the Scout in front of you
Some candidates have a disability, a stammer or a first language other than English, and some are simply quiet. Ask the unit leader beforehand whether anything would help, such as questions in writing, extra time or a familiar adult nearby, and check with the chair what your council allows.
Keep your own stories short
The Eagles on the board will want to reminisce. One sentence is welcome. Five minutes takes the evening away from the candidate.
Deciding and telling the Scout
Deliberate with the candidate out of the room
Ask the Scout to wait outside and say how long you expect to be. Go around the table once so every member speaks before the discussion starts, newest member first.
Decide on the requirements
The question is whether the Scout met what the rank asks. Polish, confidence and how the project compares with last month's candidate are not part of it. Ask the chair how the vote is taken and whether it has to be unanimous.
If the board cannot approve
A doubt about a requirement belongs with the chair before the Scout sits down, so that a no is never something the candidate first hears about at the table. Councils have a process for telling the Scout what is missing, what can still be done about it and how to appeal, so ask the chair to walk the board through it before anything is announced.
Say something specific
When the news is good, each member can name one thing they heard: the redesigned plan, the answer about obedience, the patrol member who learned to cook. A specific sentence from an adult the Scout respects is the part that gets remembered.
Explain what happens next
The paperwork has further stops after tonight, and the timing of the certificate and the court of honor depends on your council. Have the chair tell the Scout and the family what the steps are and who to call with questions.