ALO Interview

Hoff2012

5-Year Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2011
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9
How much of an impact does the interview with your ALO have? I have heard that it has almost as much of an impact as your test scores, but I have also head that it can "break you but cant make you." Any comments?
 
How much of an impact does the interview with your ALO have? I have heard that it has almost as much of an impact as your test scores, but I have also head that it can "break you but cant make you." Any comments?

I've told people in the past, that your ALO can NOT get you an appointment. They CAN however stop you from getting an appointment. I'm not going to explain to you the process or the points, but I will tell you that you do receive a score from your ALO. Your ALO is an extension of the academy admissions office. That's why the letters ALO stands for ADMISSIONS Liaison Officer. In other words, the few people at the academy can't interview or get to know thousands of qualified applicants. So they have ALO's to do the interviews, verify any questionable activities, etc... Basically, the ALO is the eyes and ears of the academy.

But they are also your mentor many times. (Depends on the ALO). Many go way out of their way to help you through the application process. They help you understand the importance of each section and time restraints. They can't tell you what your chances are, because your ALO doesn't know your competition. There can be 10, 20, 30+ ALO's in a state. Each one doesn't really look at the other candidates. They don't know all about them. Therefor, they can't really tell you where you stand. Especially with nominations.

So yes, your ALO can't make you, but they can break you. But that sounds a little harsh. Most ALO's really do want to see the best applicants receive an appointment. Especially if it's one of their applicants. But if you don't do well in the interview; look like crap; have a questionable attitude; don't communicate with your ALO when they send you numerous emails and phone calls; etc... then you can expect a pretty poor interview score. And yes, that will pull a LOT of weight. Especially when the academy looks at that ALO's other candidates and sees that they were given decent scores. Then the academy knows it's not the ALO's fault. Best of luck..... mike.....
 
I'm gonna piggyback on Mike's comments, which are dead-on accurate! :thumb:

A little more "information" from a guy that's had the opportunity to observe a selection or two over the decades.

When your finished packaged is all nice and neat and put together for the board members to review, it is packed with printed copies of everything you did on the web. It also has your transcripts, the school information that your counselor sent up, SAT/ACT scores, letters of recommendation, etc...etc...etc...

It's a BIG file! :eek: And the board members do NOT have a lot of time to review it, they have literally hundreds to go through!

SO...what do you think they see when they open the folder?
(I'm probably getting the order backwards but you'll get the idea)

On the LEFT side: Your "synopsis" as in: GPA, Class Rank, SAT/ACT, CFA, etc. In the AF when an officer is up for promotion, we're given a copy of our "Officer Selection Brief." It's a one-pager of our career! This is what your package has on the one side.

On the RIGHT side: Your ALO's evaluation of YOU

Underneath those are the "rest of the story." In other words, those TWO pages can make/break you immediately. If either or both is ugly...they won't look further. If they're GREAT, AMAZING, AWESOME...they may or may NOT look further. But they'll like what they see. :thumb:

This is why I tell every candidate I work with: "I'm the greatest artist in the known world. I can paint the most amazing picture of a candidate, one that old Mr. Van Rijn would be proud of! BUT...I need paint and canvas. I have the magical brushes and talent.

The CANDIDATE needs to supply the canvas and paint. This is why Mike says "We ALO's can't MAKE you..." YOU have to do that, but we'll present you in the best possible light to make that "image" amazing! :yay:

Steve
USAFA ALO
USAFA '83
 
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