ALO not responding promptly

My son has emailed the ALO a few times to arrange the interview. The original appointment she had to cancel. He offered several new dates a week ago and she has not responded. Does it burn a bridge to see if there is another ALO in the area to work with, or do I recommend he just wait it out? Or should he just email again to put the request on the top of her inbox? The CFA can't be done until after school starts Aug 31, so there is no real hurry, but he's getting frustrated hoping she would be more helpful through the whole process.

I am having the same problem with my ALO. I emailed him 2 weeks ago, and he never responded. I am getting kind of frustrated, I know he is very busy, but he could at least email me saying that.

Later

homewith4 said:

........................there is no real hurry, but he's getting frustrated hoping she would be more helpful through the whole process.

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And perhaps the ALO might view this as an individual not willing or able to submit the application process on their own as the system is designed to be utilitzed, and, by waiting, not allowing this to be a factor. One or two cursory questions that could have been answered from reading the catalog is one thing but after a certain number, it can very easily give the impression of babysitting or handholding. Not necesarily the type individual that the AF wants flying their multi-million dollar aircraft.

Well that might be true, but my application is complete (and noms). I just really want to get the CFA and interview completed.

Thanks

The kids need an interview....period.

Have you called and left a message? I wouldn't try for a new ALO until you have called first.

Do you have their phone number? Have you tried calling. If you don't have their number; then maybe the next time you do contact them, you can ask for it. Realize 2 things. 1) They have a full time job they are dealing with. (ALO is not a full time job). They might not have access to their email right now. They could be on a temporary duty. 2) It's the summer months. They might be on vacation for a week or so. When I go on vacation, I don't check my email. Granted, I'm not an ALO and those that I help locally is unofficial and they have their real ALO to help them. (I am close friends with the ALO and don't circumvent them whatsoever). But it's not uncommon for me to come back from being on the road for a week or a vacation, and have a lot of email available. Our ALO; (Meaning for this area); has given her work phone number to the applicants in case. Anyway; just pointing out that whatever the reason for your ALO not getting back with you isn't personal. I know that doesn't help get your issue resolved, but I just wanted to put into perspective that your ALO has a full time work/life outside of the academy application process and the applicants.

I definitely disagree that this has anything to do with the ALO believing that they feel they are baby sitting your son. Especially if the emails being sent to them is in reference to setting up the interview. This is obviously not something that the applicant can do online, by themselves, or "could have been answered from reading the catalog". Don't even think about that. Your ALO is quite experienced. You aren't the 1st applicant they have dealt with. They have seen every level of excitement, apprehension, stress, and personality in general from an applicant that you can even imagine. That's part of being an ALO. Your ALO is dedicated to assisting you with your application. This is not some mandatory assignment. This is totally voluntary. Anyway; hang in there. Be persistent. Continue emailing and trying to make contact. When you do contact them, try and SPEAK with your ALO. Let them understand that you're just trying to complete the process as soon as possible; and how much the academy means to you; and how you do in fact appreciate what they are doing for you. With the exception of the interview and the CFA, my son's ALO was mainly a link between him and the academy/counselor in trying to get information/answers that my son either didn't understand or still had questions about. 95% of the process the applicant can do on their own. But because both of you are in the waiting stage of the interview/CFA; this is definitely an area that the ALO is directly involved with. So the comments mombee made don't really apply to you. Best of luck; hang in there. Mike....

Christcorp said:

So the comments mombee made don't really apply to you. Best of luck; hang in there. Mike....

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I am not sure where homewith4 is in regard with completion of the process. I was simply commenting on the 'more helpful throughout the entire process' part of the post. Really more of a general statement to assist future readers than a specific criticism of a unique action. The OP's comment could have been interpreted as a general dissatisfaction. As you stated 95% of the application should/could be completed on one's own.

All ALOs/BGOs/MLOs are different. There are great ones that interview at the very beginning as there are great ones who wait to the last minute. All will see candidates differently. All will have unique factors which trigger either positive or negative feedback. My personal opinion is that the ability to complete an assignment satisfactorily on their own is a wonderful opportunity to observe the overall maturity and dedication of a candidate.

Hi all!

Okay...ALO's not responding "promptly" is a frustrating situation but many times its not what it appears.

Mike has described "our" situation/lives as ALO's pretty accurately so I won't bother to reiterate his comments. I will say this: it's FAR better to call your ALO than it is to e-mail, for the initial contact. Yes, I like e-mail, but...I may NOT receive your e-mail, it may go to the SPAM bucket, etc...etc...etc...

A phone call, I will ALWAYS get. And in the candidate package you will have the ALO's name, address, phone, etc. So I always tell candidates and prospective candidates: call the ALO.

That being said...if you've called, and e-mailed, and STILL have no contact, then drop me a note at: flieger83@cox.net and tell me who your ALO is, your school, etc., and I'll check the ALO master roster. Sometimes ALO's move and it takes USAFA a bit of time to get the information updated in the system. This happened about 10 days ago for one young man on this board! I was able to track down his ALO at his new address and we all had a good laugh!

If you've had no success and have done all of the above, then I would contact your counselor at USAFA and explain the situation and ask if you should contact another ALO. Most likely they will have you contact the LOD (Liaison Officer Director) who's the "commander" of the ALO's in your state or region. The LOD will determine what's going on and will decide whether or not you should be "reassigned" to another ALO.

Hang in there! We're out here...but there's not as many of us as you might think. In the ENTIRE ALO force, there are approximately 1700 of us worldwide. And we handle EVERYONE. That's a bunch of folks.

BUT...we are here and we WANT to help! SO keep after us!!!

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83

I hope the inputs of Mombee and Christcorp can be both taken as absolutely correct.
An additional way to look at this is, as PART OF THE APPLICATION. Having the Parents act, react, and possibly over-react are all inputs that will be considered. Where is the applicant in all this? How is he/she handling this?
I don't really understand how the "Noms" can be done this early as most interviews are in November. Or why you need the ALO for the CFA. So your application is complete? Great! You are doing well. The earliest of LOA's ever offered are, I believe, in October. How is this an emergency? YOU couldn't make the first interview... And now the ALO is a slacker?

The kids don't need an interview today... Period.

Is two weeks a long time for no contact? Sure. The ball is in your court, so, as part of the application, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
You can try to play nice, or you can go the other route. I would reinforce what has been written here. Periodic check-ins. Update availability. Try to make it easy for the interviewer. While perhaps not related to these specific candidates, avoiding the impression that you need a Babysitter (or you need your Parents to do all your legwork) should definitely be considered.
I wish you the best of luck. If you find a certain way to get a positive response (or negative for that matter), please keep us posted.
Fair winds...

jscam. I think you misunderstand. There's a difference between the interview with the ALO and the nomination. The interview with the ALO is required before your application can be considered for review by the board. Which starts the first part of September. Same with the CFA. It must be completed prior to the board even looking at your application. The only 2 things that can be "STILL REQUIRED" and allows for an LOA, is the Nomination by the MOC and the DODMRB. You can get an LOA saying that if both the nomination and medical qualification are satisfied, you'll get an appointment. But the LOA can't happen if the Board doesn't review your application. And that normally doesn't happen if the ALO interview hasn't been done or the cfa accomplished.

As far as the applicant/student goes; many of the people on these forums asking advice are parents of; and not the actual applicant. Sometimes it's because the students/applicants don't recognize the degree of seriousness such an endeavor has on their future; while the parent does understand and is more stressed and more involved. My son never once visited this or ANY academy related forum. He's just not into it. However; he had me, his ALO, and 18 years of being a BRAT and being around the military his entire life to know the answers or where to find the answers. Most applicants don't have this luxury, and they do rely on their parents for some leadership and guidance. (Whether they want to admit it or not)

Anyway; these applicants do need to get their interview and CFA accomplished in the next 2 weeks if possible. (It takes a couple of weeks to finalize an applicant's package and prepare it for the board). The interviews for the nominations is a totally different part of the process.

Thanks for the update.
I do understand, but unfortunately expressed myself poorly. The Noms and CFA remarks were direct responses to others saying they were complete (or not). I meant the Nomination interviews by the MOC's. The indirect object went to the wrong modifier. What I wrote and what I expressed were not quite equal. Excellent catch on your part.

Everyone reading I hope understands that there are different interviews for the Nomination (Member of Congress) and Application (Some sort of Liaison Officer), conducted by different people. Completely independent and unrelated.

The Navy Boards do not start as early I guess, so the pressure to have an immediate interview was not understood. For some services it is unusual to have it all complete in July. As every Program (and possibly Liaison) has different action triggers, keep in mind that some Liaison Officers could logically wait until the CFA is complete to schedule an Application interview. Otherwise, I support all that you and the others have stated. Again, thanks for correcting my misstatement.
Cheers

jscam87 said:

The Navy Boards do not start as early I guess, so the pressure to have an immediate interview was not understood. For some services it is unusual to have it all complete in July. As every Program (and possibly Liaison) has different action triggers, keep in mind that some Liaison Officers could logically wait until the CFA is complete to schedule an Application interview. Otherwise, I support all that you and the others have stated. Again, thanks for correcting my misstatement.
Cheers

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jscam87 does make a very valid point. The package will not go before the Board until the CFA is completed. Also, I would imagine that strongly competitive LOA probability packages will be the sole focus of the early boards. None of us know whether or not these fit into that category. However, the ALO may be able to make a very educated guess.

Anyway, it is too soon to either panic or attempt rash actions. Like some have said, continue calling. Be patient. Most who submit now will wait a very long time before receiving any word, either positive or negative.

All packages that are 100% complete (With the exception of a nomination and possibly DODMRB) are considered and looked at by the board. It's not a matter of the ALO or anyone else deciding if it's strong enough. But if your application isn't 100% complete, because you didn't get the CFA or interview completed yet, won't even be considered. That is why it's important to try and get your application completed as soon as possible. Unless it really sucks, it can only help you to have the board review it as much and as soon as possible. If it really sucks; chances of getting an appointment is pretty low anyway. So for those still working on getting your applications 100%; keep at it. Remember that it takes a couple of weeks to process applications and paper work. (Welcome to the military). So try and get everything accomplished as soon as possible. later... mike....

Response to Christcorp's Message #10

Wow Christcorp!
You hit the nail on the head. I just found out about these forums a few days ago and am amazed at what I’ve learned. I am the parent of a candidate. He is not afraid to admit that he wants his parents help and guidance! This is a major, life altering process/decision, one that I think most 17 years would need help with. My son is not surfing these forum sites. I agree part of it is that they are not recognizing the seriousness of the endeavor. Most of these kids that are applying are stellar kids with great “resumes”, they have come to expect that their hard work will pay off and speak for itself, which it should. But they haven’t the experience that we, as parents, have had as far as applying to colleges or jobs, doing interviews, etc. The nuances that the SAs are looking for aren’t known unless you’re out their looking for them. These forums are very helpful in giving insight to those of us who haven’t been through this process before.

I think there is a fine line between a parent getting too involved and a parent giving guidance. Most of our kids are used to us handling things for them. Generally this goes way in to the college years and beyond. Obviously, with a student who wants to get in to one of these academies, they need to take the initiative and do all of this stuff, but there are some who still need guidance. If they were applying to a traditional college we, as parents, would probably be doing the same thing as far as searching the web for advice, talking to others who been through the process, etc. I don’t think there is anything wrong with helping our children out. We want the best for them and want to help them. That is not an instinct that is going to go away when your child is 17 years old, regardless of what their endeavors are. I’m not saying that we should be doing everything for them, but I do not see a problem with helping them out, researching for information and giving them guidance. I owe that to my child. Quite frankly, as a parent, I’m very excited, yet very scared about this whole process.

Bottom line, I’m incredibly proud of my son and want the best for him. Whatever happens, whatever decision he makes, I’m behind him 100%!

mumsy; welcome to the forum. Glad you're here. There are quite a few parents that visit these forums. As well as forums for traditional colleges; such as "College Confidentials". The advice I give parents is that of course your son/daughter needs to be deeply involved in their educational future. Whether it's the academy, Harvard, or State University. And it isn't important if they don't want to be involved directly with the forums. Matter of fact; the overwhelming majority of college bound applicants; military academy and civilian schools; never set one foot on these forums. However; those who do, or via proxy of their parents, in my opinion have an edge over others. I.e. While the average acceptance of the academies and places like Harvard are around 14%; I would bet a dollar to a box of donuts, that MORE THAN 14% of those who come to these forums get accepted to the academy, prep-school, or a high end college/university.

So, having said that, I also suggest to the parents who visit the forums, not to use your knowledge here to TELL your son/daughter WHAT to do, or worse yet, to take control and do the work FOR your son/daughter. Whether it's the academy or Yale/UCLA. What I do suggest, is that you take the knowledge you learn here and use it to ask questions of your son/daughter to force them to be proactive and to demonstrate that YOU probably know as much OR MORE than they do about what they want. If NEITHER the parent or student come to a military academy forum; then they are both ignorant. If you visit here, and your student mentions having questions about the process; the first thing out of your mouth should be; "What did your ALO say when you called them"? Of course, they give you that deer in the headlight look like; "How the hell do you know what an ALO is"?

Then, ask them if they've been practicing for the CFA; if they've contacted their rep/senator or at least visited their web site, etc... Be a source of information for them. You don't need to make them come to the forums. But use the knowledge you gain here to present QUESTIONS to your son/daughter and force them to find answers; confront obstacles; etc...

While I've shown a lot of stats that show approximately 10,000 initial "Prospects" for the academy, who move on to "Applicants"; the on to "Candidates"; and then down to "Appointees"; what people don't realize is that there's quite a few thousands of others who made the initial web site email contact saying they were interested; but never went any further because they weren't motivated to look into it any further.

My own, non-scientific hypothesis (Based on years of working with individuals interested in the air force; both enlisted and the officer ranks:

Of the 6500 +/- applicants who are considered basically worthy and move on to the 3500 +/- of candidates; it is my opinion that the big difference in separating those in these two groups are those that understand the process; understand how to follow instructions; understand the seriousness of their choices and are actively taking the better classes and activities; and are motivated. The difference between the 3500 +/- candidates and the 1500-1700 that actually get the appointment (1400 will actually accept it); are mostly personality, interviews, recommendations, attitude, etc... This is the job interview of a life time. HOW EXCITED is your ALO when you leave their office????? HOW EXCITED is your Representative or Senator when you leave their office????? Those who become part of the few chosen, are the ones who when they left the interviews; the interviewer said; "Damn, I want that person".

This is unscientific and just my opinion. It's my observation over the years. I've also been very active in assisting students into applying to colleges, getting scholarships, etc... Even working with models, businessmen, and politicians in learning how to present themselves, do interviews, handle the press, etc....

So definitely get involved with these forums and become a source of information for you son/daughter. Force them to be involved by being able to ask them educated questions about the academy and the process. Let them know that you are serious and so should they be. Best of luck to you. Please contribute and ask lots of questions. That's what these forums are form. Later.... Mike.....

Thanks Christcorp,

Although that post was meant for parents, I really got a lot out of it also. Thanks for all your advice. I an kind of discouraged about the whole process right now (I know kind of early, but...), not about all the paperwork, interviews, etc., but about how in heck I can possibly be one of the final 1600+/- appointees, and if by some miracle I am, how I can possibly survive and do my best.

Thanks all,


btw: I called my ALO again today like you all requested.

Christcorp said:

It's not a matter of the ALO or anyone else deciding if it's strong enough.

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I never said they did. However, it would seem to me that if all completed packages went immediately before the board, that it would not take as long as it does for many to find out if they are qualified or not.

Those familiar with the AFA process have indicated to me that the selection process works pretty much the same as the Naval Academy so here goes my third hand once removed interpretation of how the AFA process might work. A completed package is received by Admissions and is initially scored by them, not the Board. It will then go before the Board for fine tuning and a final qualified/unqualified determination. So, why will all records not go immediately before the board? First off, the qualified lower end cutoff will vary from year to year. If you will notice, they normally qualify only about 33% more than the number to which they offer appointments. Therefore, the more qualified the class, the higher this cutoff will be and until a substantial portion of the packages have been reviewed by admissions, the general area and then specific point of this cutoff cannot be determined. It is an elusive floating target. Therefore, on marginal packages a qualified/unqualified decision cannot readily be made during the early board sessions. Secondly, marginal records will probably benefit from additional senior year first semester inputs including retaking of SATs/ACTs. Therefore, unless the board spends extra time looking at records twice, it will behoove them to commence with the most highly qualified, get the LOAs out early where they will benefit most, and work their way down the pile, allowing these additional inputs prior to their review. My very limited anecdotal evidence seems to support the marginal not receiving a decision until much later in the process, no matter how quickly they submitted their initial package. Therefore, if an ALO senses, not "decides", that a package might not be LOA material, there is really no super rush to get it before admissions. Sitting on an unanswered email for a week might not be a big deal. Perhaps an ALO could weigh in and tell us if, where and how my assumptions are incorrect?

Please allow me to pose a totally hypothetical question to you. Lets say, for example that the Board can review ten records per week and for their first session, fifty records are available. Would it not be in everyone's best interest if the ten most qualified were reviewed first. If they were done totally in order of receipt, it would be possible in this hypothetical instance for an LOA not to find out for nearly two months which might cause them to go elsewhere.

First off, you have to realize that very few; out of the 6000 +/- applications will be available to the board on the first of september. 2nd; the review records weekly all the way through into the new year. 3rd; ALL of those applications that get to the board are "QUALIFIED" (Academically and application wise; possibly not medically). It's possible that something could DISQUALIFY them; but generally, these people's are candidates who are generally QUALIFIED. The board is simply going to now SCORE the applications. When the scoring is done, your score is basically charted.

Now; knowing the past AVERAGE scores for the last 50 years, the academy can determine basically if you are in their "No Brainer Club" in which they "MAY" offer you an LOA. If you already have a nomination; such as a presidential; they may go as far as offering you an appointment directly. They also know where you will basically ranked from past scorings. This has all been done in a matter of about 6-8 weeks. And every day, more and more applications are being accepted. And as these applications are being scored, (ALL OF THEM ARE QUALIFIED), they are charted (Or Ranked for a better word) for final determination. But even if you don't get an early LOA or appointment offer, your application and score is still posted and you can still be considered. This will go on for a while.

Now; the final determination is where things get a little crazy. Just for grins and giggles; lets assume that a PERFECT SCORING was 100 points. (It's not; because the academic section alone is worth if I remember correctly about 805 point). But lets just say a perfect cadet's application could be worth 100 points. It is POSSIBLE and quite LIKELY that a person with a score of 80 would NOT receive an LOA or appointment; while another cadet with a score of 75 DID receive an appointment. Remember; there are numerous different nominations. Each nominator can only have so many appointments. BUT; the nominators WILL have their minimum nominees selected. I.e. If you are your representative's #1 choice on their slate; and the representative actually ranked their slate; then assuming you passed the DODMRN physical and there isn't any reason to disqualify you; you WILL RECEIVE THE APPOINTMENT. Even if your overall score was LESS than someone in a different state who was THAT representative'e #2 choice and they DIDN'T get in. Same with the 100 Presidential Appointments. There might be 500 that are authorized a presidential nomination. But ONLY 100 will actually receive their appointment via this nomination.

There are many different types of nominations. And each of these will have so many cadets selected for an appointment. But this may take until ALL APPLICATIONS are scored. Like I said however; there are some applications that are part of the "No Brainer" club. I.e. You are a 4.0 gpa (Unweighted); you took as many AP classes possible or the IB program; your class ranking is #1 out of 800; You knocked the SAT/ACT almost out of the park; you were class VP; star athlete who lettered 4 years in a row; every volunteer and EC that time would allow; records and resume show that this has been consistent for you since 9th grade and isn't someone just filling in squares; ALO interview realizes of the 100+ they've seen in the last 5-8 years, their comments say you were the BEST APPLICANT in all those years; bla, bla, bla..... AND, you already have a PRESIDENTIAL nomination. The academy after scoring your application, realizes from past applications, that yours is definitely in the top 1-2%. That's where the early appointments and LOA's come from. There's not a lot of these, but they do exist.

There are so many different nominations that there's many ways to get an appointment directly or an LOA. And that is why it's important to try and get your application done as soon as possible. You could be one of these 4.0 type students; who didn't get their application completed until almost the very last day of the process. Maybe you COULD get a presidential. NOPE, too late. Almost guaranteed that the 100 slots have been used by then. Maybe you finally got ahold of your representative. Do they make you their #1 on their slate? Maybe not. Maybe they were MORE IMPRESSED with the applicant who has been involved and contacting their office since the summer. Maybe they already have 5 applicants at the academy currently and AREN'T ALLOWED ANOTHER SLOT THIS YEAR.

The appointment process is a lot more complicated than just a board looking at your application and saying YES or NO. And we're not even going to get into the "SUB" classifications where some appointments come from. (Don't ask, I won't expound on that). Just realize that it's more complicated than scoring 6000 applications and saying yes to these 1700 (1400 who will accept the appointment); and NO to these 4300. But for the highly motivated individual who puts their application in as soon as possible, you gain the advantage of being considered for OTHER CATEGORIES of appointments other than just the "GENERAL POOL".

And I definitely defer to Steve (Fleiger) any information here that I may be off by. He is an ALO, and knows a lot more about this than I do. Later... Mike....

Okay...ALO with some experience chiming in here as requested.

First...to quote from Mombee:

My very limited anecdotal evidence seems to support the marginal not receiving a decision until much later in the process, no matter how quickly they submitted their initial package. Therefore, if an ALO senses, not "decides", that a package might not be LOA material, there is really no super rush to get it before admissions. Sitting on an unanswered email for a week might not be a big deal. Perhaps an ALO could weigh in and tell us if, where and how my assumptions are incorrect?

Okay...to answer this shortly: It doesn't work that way. Why? Because I can tell you now we ALO's are NOT in the loop on "LOA's" and such. I've been an ALO for 15 years and a Deputy State Director for 8 years. LOA's are something decided upon by USAFA/RR and are NOT COMMON! I'm willing to bet that of the 1250+/- appt's each year, perhaps 250/350 LOA's were offered. And more than a few were withdrawn later.

An ALO's military responsibility is to work with their candidate, to ensure the paperwork is completed timely, to answer any/all questions from school officials, parents, interested students, etc. And in the application process to learn ALL ABOUT our candidates and then perform an interview where we fill out an AF Form 4060 evaluating the candidate and making our recommendation. We also quite often administer the CFA for candidates.

But it is NOWHERE in our scope of duty to "make a determination of a persons package not meeting LOA standards." MOST State Directors (LODs) would probably fire an ALO that was sitting on candidates packages because of a perception of "what it takes to get an LOA." I know I would. That's not our call; our DUTY is to put the candidates package before the very first board they're eligible for.

Second question:

Please allow me to pose a totally hypothetical question to you. Lets say, for example that the Board can review ten records per week and for their first session, fifty records are available. Would it not be in everyone's best interest if the ten most qualified were reviewed first. If they were done totally in order of receipt, it would be possible in this hypothetical instance for an LOA not to find out for nearly two months which might cause them to go elsewhere.

Again: that's not how its done.

The ALO force was notified of the first "candidates" on June 30th. We were given a September "suspense date" to have the 4060's completed. Why so quick? Because if the student will accomplish their part of the process quickly, and the ALO as well, then that package will be "complete" and may be placed before the first selection review panel in "typically" early October. Sometimes it occurs in late September but ALO's aren't privy to the timetable. It wouldn't be right to hold packages back and then "determine which are the most qualified" based upon a review of all of them. The board does that with each group that comes up. If you're not selected by the board you meet, then you meet the next one, and the next...

Now, does this mean some very fine students won't make the first round of review? Yes. Is that fair? Yes. Why? Because the VAST majority of candidates won't be named until late October and after because that's when the Members of Congress and the Senate will make their nominations.

Students that are candidates NOW have one of several things going for them:

a. They have received Presidential Nominations based upon military affiliation of their parents.
b. They are recruited athletes.
c. They have "Unofficial Nominations" granted by USAFA because USAFA "saw something" they liked.

That's it. As an ALO I can go on a site called ALOWEB (nope, only open to ALOs) and see what the source of my candidates nomination is. Quite often (later in the process) candidates will have multiple nominations. Only one is required, but its wise to apply for all you're eligible for!

**********An actual example from one of my current candidates********
Candidate has requested Vice Presidential nomination? ***
Nomination Status: Unofficial Nomination
Nomination(s):
Note: A candidate can receive more than one nomination from a congressional source.
**********************************************************

LOA's are VERY nice; relatively new, and on this forum THE END ALL of discussion. Folks...LOA's are NOT common. I "saw" more last cycle HERE On the board than I've seen in all my years as an ALO. The word is getting around about this site!

But do NOT think there's a "competition" for LOAs and that there's some "magic formula" to get one. I can't tell you how many candidates I've reviewed where I thought: "This one is a sure thing...easy appointment..." and they did NOT get an LOA. They did get their appt later...and then the one's that I thought "...well...looks decent...good shot..." and they got an LOA!

The LOA decision rests entirely with the selection board and the director of admissions.

My advice? FORGET ABOUT THE LOA!!! Focus on:

a. Getting the candidate package accomplished ASAP!
b. NAIL the CFA with the best score you can!
c. Contact your ALO FIRST; don't have them come looking for you!
d. KEEP the grades/extracurriculars/community activities that you're involved in, going strong
e. NEVER forget what the END GOAL is: Appointment. LOA's are fine, but that nice big envelope later in the process that starts out: "Dear XXXX, It is my great pleasure to inform you..." or words to that effect.

Any clearer?

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
AZ Deputy Director

Excellent clarification Steve. The all knowing "OZ".Thanks... Mike....