Letter of Recomendation

Hey guys! I just had a quick question about LOR. I have acouple solid ones, but I'm a little worried. 4 or 5 of mine are practically glowing, but a buddy of mine has a nice one from a 4-star general... Will these both hold equal weight???

They will only take three LOR's, so send in your best three. In my opinion, it is better to have community leaders that KNOW you well vs. a high ranking officer that does not KNOW you too well. Most of us have distant relations to high ranking officers. If the General knows your friend personally, then that's a different story.

coolbeanscaleb said:

Hey guys! I just had a quick question about LOR. I have acouple solid ones, but I'm a little worried. 4 or 5 of mine are practically glowing, but a buddy of mine has a nice one from a 4-star general... Will these both hold equal weight???

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You have to focus on what you can control. Keep your grades up, try for leadership positions in activities you enjoy, practice for the CFA, and do well on the ACT/SAT. Make sure you have no regrets moving forward. Best wishes.

I have been on the USAFA nominating board for my MOC for many years. In that time, I've seen my share of "amazing letter's of recommendation."

I've seen several from 4-star generals. Sadly, most of those "super high ranking letters" are being nicely written for the son/daughter of a military member that served under said general. While very nice and laudatory, they really don't tell me much as they're almost generic.

Now...the one a couple of years ago that was hand written, on the General's command letterhead (he is still the commander of one of the USAF's Major Combatant Commands) telling how he was at the christening of this young lady, had known her all her life, was her "mentor for USAFA", took her on her first flight, etc...etc...and then gave us his personal cell phone number to call him directly in case we had any questions...

That letter had weight!

But that's what we're looking for; not the stars, but the excellent leader/mentor/advisor that can really give us a GOOD picture of a candidate. A minister, school official, scouting troop leader...someone that truly knows the candidate.

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

When should letters of recommendation be submitted? Do you send them to Admissions? DD has completed her application, including being DoDMERB qualified, but has not had her ALO interview yet. She has several people who have offered to write her LORs, but we didn't know if we should only provide the information asked for, or submit additional paperwork.