For applicants
How to Apply & Write Your Essay
Applications for the 2026 cycle closed on September 25, 2026. The requirements below describe the application: your personal and Eagle Scout details, one personal essay, and enrollment verification. You’ve already done the hard part by earning the rank — the essay is reflection on it.
The essay prompt
“How do you think the dedication, focus, and perseverance you demonstrated in earning your Eagle Scout has shaped who you are today?”
Write 600–700 words — about two typed pages.
Writing it
Don’t write about Scouting in the abstract. Write about a specific moment from your own path to Eagle. The project that stalled and how you got it moving again. The week you wanted to quit and didn’t. The role you took on before you felt ready for it. The detail is what makes the essay yours instead of one anyone could have written.
Then connect it forward. The prompt asks how those qualities shaped who you are today — so spend real words on the now. How does the discipline you built earning the rank show up in how you study, lead, or handle a setback? That bridge from then to now is the whole essay.
Write in your own voice. We’d much rather read something that sounds like you than something polished into anonymity.
One thing we take seriously: your essay must be your own, written by you. Work generated by AI or copied from somewhere else will be disqualified. The point of this award is to hear your story in your words — there’s no shortcut to that, and you don’t need one.
Before you submit
Reread the prompt and check that you answered the “who you are today” half, not just the “what I did” half. Check the length. Proofread once. Upload your essay as a PDF and your enrollment verification as a PDF, JPEG, or PNG. Each file must be no larger than 5 MiB.
Provide the date you earned Eagle Scout, your troop number, and your council. You may also upload an Eagle Scout certificate or membership card as a PDF, JPEG, or PNG, no larger than 5 MiB; this document is optional.
The 2026 application deadline was September 25, 2026. Late applications cannot be considered.
After a successful submission, an on-screen confirmation displays your reference number. Save that number for your records. If no confirmation appears, contact us for help.
The $1,500 award is paid directly to the recipient’s school financial aid office, not to the student, for tuition, fees, or other verified educational expenses.
You proved your follow-through to earn Eagle. Bring that same finish-what-you-start to the application, and let your own story carry it.
— The Paul Tarell Eagle Scout Scholarship