regarding LOEs

when will candidates with an LOE find out about their appointment status?
thank you!

Official answer - confirmed by West Point Admissions.
The majority of the class will know on or about February 26, 2013
A few LOAs will be issued but mostly to recruited athletics and minorities

However, be encouraged by a LOE-that means you are a top candidate so far.

Sirs, a dumb question - what is an LOE?

BBallMom said:

Sirs, a dumb question - what is an LOE?

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Letter of Encouragement. Simply put, it's an encouragement letter that means your DD or DS is a top candidate and should continue with their application. Different from LOA (Letter of Assurance) where an LOA guarantees an appointment with a nomination, whereas an LOE does not.

Thanks for the quick response. So when and to whom are LOEs issued? How much of the application process has the candidate typically completed to receive one?

In all the research my son and I have done, we never heard mention of this.

LOE's are new this year. My guess is that because so few LOA's are being offered and the vast majority of decisions are being delayed until February, I think it's the Academy's way of keeping top candidates interested during the binding Early Decision cycle of highly selective academic schools. It appears to be similar to a "likely letter" issued by an ivy. The frustration is that applying ED to certain schools greatly enhances admission probability - and with the smaller class size at USMA, some tough choices will have to be made by academically competitive candidates who are also in very competitive congressional districts.

There are other more knowledgable folks on here (BigNick, scoutpilot, buff91) who may be able to shed light on how the Academy intends to view LOE candidates and the thought process that went into issuing them.

my regional admissions officer said 150 LOEs have been sent.

affects of LOEs

I am assuming USMA does not care or considers the answer irrelevant but I wonder as USNA and USAFA are still using LOAs to an extent-and in very competitive places where MOCs allow only ONE S.A. to be requested, if the lack of LOAs wont have a negative impact.

Vista123 said:

I am assuming USMA does not care or considers the answer irrelevant but I wonder as USNA and USAFA are still using LOAs to an extent-and in very competitive places where MOCs allow only ONE S.A. to be requested, if the lack of LOAs wont have a negative impact.

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I suppose it depends on what you mean by negative impact, but I doubt there will be one. There are plenty of qualified candidates out there. USMA's job is to fill the academy with the best qualified candidates available given the restrictions of geography and other legal restrictions they operate under. If some folks don't have the patience for the process, whatever it is, then IMO that's their loss and not USMA's.

LOEs are Letters of Encouragement
They will be issued to a limited number of people-candidates with very strong files. If you do not get one you can still ultimately get in West Point. However, not getting an LOE means that you do not have one of the strongest files.
They can be issued before the file is complete.
They have at least several purposes:
1. They tell the candidate that they are deemed to be a strong candidate at this point in time. However, there is no guarantee of getting a nomination or in getting an offer. It basically says "at this point in the process you look like a very strong candidate".
2. It encourages very strong candidates and hopefully makes them retain or increase their interest in West Point
3. It authorizes the candidate to make an official visit to West Point (at your own expense).