Letters of Assurance.

[Capt MJ]

If you get a LOA, pass the medical exam, and apply for a Presidential nomination, does that mean you're "in"? I'm asking because I know Presidential nominations are usually given by USNA and I don't know if this is one of those situations in which they are used.

Let’s break this down.

An LOA will usually specify condition(s) to be met before an offer of appointment is made. These could be “obtain a nom,” “successfully complete CFA,” “become fully medically qualified,” etc. The SAs use these as a class-shaping tool to build the class, using criteria known only to them. They decide they want a particular candidate based on what they know to date, look to see what is still pending, and assign the applicable conditions.

I am not sure what you mean by “I know Presidential nominations are usually given by USNA and I don't know if this is one of those situations in which they are used.” Presidential and other service-connected noms are not competitive. Those who are eligible get them. The SAs who use that nom have caps on the number of appointments that can be charged to that nomination authority.

If the LOA says “have a nom,” and your portal shows “Presidential,” that’s a good thing. The SAs still encourage you to apply for all noms for which you are eligible, so they have multiple options on where to charge an appointment.

You are not “in,” until you have an offer of appointment in hand. Then you must remain fully qualified until you report in

 

[dav1y]

Since you are a sophomore you have somewhat the advantage of time. First things first. Make sure your goal is to be a Naval Officer. Really investigate and think about the careers that are possible and try to understand the commitment. If your goal is to be a Naval Officer learn the other pathways to achieve this as well. Both my kids were planning on NROTC if they did not get into USNA and I believe they would have thrived there. I have gotten to know several mids who went enlisted to USNA as well when they have stayed with us.

Then read every drop down menu for USNA admissions.

Read through the top threads on this site and search questions you have if possible first.

A very strong application turned in early is helpful. Both my kids who received appointments to USNA had them before the application period had actually ended. One had an LOA and one did not. The one who had better SAT's, better AP test scores, better GPA, was a three time state champion, started an LLC, and was president of his class did not get an LOA.
Have strong SAT's by January junior year when NASS and prelim USNA application starts. Take the SAT's 10th grade year and if you don't do well , then you have all summer before 11th grade to study! Khan Academy got one of my kids to near perfect on his 6th SAT try.
Be ready to crush CFA summer before Senior year. So if you are weak in any areas now work on it. One of my kids trained for a year to get pull ups...her weakness, to near max over a year.
Plan to ask 11th grade math and english teachers to get letter of recommendation done before they go on vacation...so ask April to May junior year for this. Do the same for your guidance counselor letter. Once they get back in late summer they will be inundated with all the civilian recommendation requests and you could more likely get lost in the shuffle.
Don't just get sign up for activities to look good but get involved in things you are passionate about and actually be a leader.

Sorry if this sounds dumb or anything, but when does the candidate portal for USNA open? I know that for USAFA it usually opens around July 1st, so if that is the case for USNA, how would we provide our teachers with the evaluation form? Thanks!

 

[spencermc]

Sorry if this sounds dumb or anything, but when does the candidate portal for USNA open? I know that for USAFA it usually opens around July 1st, so if that is the case for USNA, how would we provide our teachers with the evaluation form? Thanks!

Its been open for about a few weeks now! All you have to do is fill out a prelim and wait for admissions to send you an email to login to the candidate portal. Inside the application, theres a section where you can fill in your teachers name and email address, and once you click "Save and Continue" it should automatically send them an email. Keep in mind, there has been some difficulties with it recently, so make sure to notify them that it may or may not go to their spam/junk mail folder, or just take a while to arrive.

 

[dav1y]

Its been open for about a few weeks now! All you have to do is fill out a prelim and wait for admissions to send you an email to login to the candidate portal. Inside the application, theres a section where you can fill in your teachers name and email address, and once you click "Save and Continue" it should automatically send them an email. Keep in mind, there has been some difficulties with it recently, so make sure to notify them that it may or may not go to their spam/junk mail folder, or just take a while to arrive.

Alright thank you! I'm going into my junior year so I'm not actually applying yet but I just wanted to make sure for next year Thanks again

 

[A1Janitor]

If you get a LOA, pass the medical exam, and apply for a Presidential nomination, does that mean you're "in"? I'm asking because I know Presidential nominations are usually given by USNA and I don't know if this is one of those situations in which they are used.

If you get an LOA, pass the medical, you are in if you get any nomination. Applying for a nomination isn’t enough.

There are stories that they have “found” a nom if you don’t receive one.

Never mind - the responses didn’t appear when I posted.

 

[Capt MJ]

@A1Janitor
Good morning - I think you mean “found a nom,” not an LOA.

For @ABCDE_2026 this means that in the case of a candidate who is given an LOA, and does not obtain a nom from any of the sources for which they are eligible, the SA may be able to produce one. Perhaps they assign a VP nom, use one of the Superintendent’s discretionary noms (can’t be applied for) or some other nom magic.

One nom, any flavor, is all that is required. I always repeat the SA advice to apply for all for which the candidate is eligible, so the SA has maximum flexibility as to where to charge an appointment.

 

[kinnem]

+1 to Capt MJ. I wanted to add, although they do find a nom in some cases when you don't have a nom, there are also cases every year where someone who has an LOA, but does not have a nom, is not admitted. Apply for every nom possible. Help them to help you.

 

[OldRetSWO]

If you get a LOA, pass the medical exam, and apply for a Presidential nomination, does that mean you're "in"? I'm asking because I know Presidential nominations are usually given by USNA and I don't know if this is one of those situations in which they are used.

You might not understand something about the Presidential nomination. It is for candidates who have a parent that is career military. Note: Career is not one enlistment or the typical 4 or 6 years that are much more common. Typically for candidates to the academies seems to be parents who have or are close to 20 years service and are often already retired from the military OR have over 8 years and are still serving.

 

[ABCDE_2026]

You might not understand something about the Presidential nomination. It is for candidates who have a parent that is career military. Note: Career is not one enlistment or the typical 4 or 6 years that are much more common. Typically for candidates to the academies seems to be parents who have or are close to 20 years service and are often already retired from the military OR have over 8 years and are still serving.

Thank you for this reminder. My dad spent twenty years active duty in the Navy and has been retired for over a decade now.

 

[Memphis9489]

It's the same answer for both... Do your best, take the hardest classes you can, become a leader, be involved in activities, be active in your community..... My son received an LOA August before his HS senior year. It was great. Then he waited 7 months after that to get a nomination. That wasn't so great. An LOA is nice, but it's not an appointment.

Good advice - but the stories of those getting an LOA and not getting an appointment are extremely rare - they may even be anecdotal. When it happens, one can bet that the candidate has done something so incredibly stupid that they basically shot themselves in the foot - like going into an MOC interview with off-putting arrogance, thinking that they deserve a nomination without earning it simply by virtue of having received an LOA from the academy.

Whenever a candidate posts a goal of getting an LOA - they are often rebuffed - and sometimes with good cause. But it certainly can't hurt their chances of earning an appointment if their goal is to be at the top of the candidate pool. Even if they come up short with their goal of obtaining an LOA, they may end up being an extremely competitive candidate. How can that be bad?

What would we say to a midshipman who had as their goal to graduate in the top of their class? Would we say, "Don't be concerned about that. Just do your best and try to graduate"? I would say it's actually a commendable goal.

What would we say to a young officer who had as their goal to be ranked 1st among their peers? Go for it!

I don't see why it would be any difference with a candidate.

I think we should tell these eager candidates, "That's an excellent goal! Even if you don't get an LOA, just the fact that you're trying to distinguish yourself from your competition may put you in an excellent position to earn an appointment. Keep striving and put together the best application package possible."

 

[Old Navy BGO]

Good advice - but the stories of those getting an LOA and not getting an appointment are extremely rare - they may even be anecdotal. When it happens, one can bet that the candidate has done something so incredibly stupid that they basically shot themselves in the foot - like going into an MOC interview with off-putting arrogance, thinking that they deserve a nomination without earning it simply by virtue of having received an LOA from the academy.

Not so fast -- LOA's usually have two conditions precedent, Nomination and Medical qualification. I've seen several LOA's not get appointments because of medical disqualification. I did see one Candidate in recent years who had an LOA, but no Nomination ..and no Appointment.

 

[MullenLE]

Old Navy BGO....You beat me to it. It's NOT a fun experience to tell someone with an LOA they are medically DQ and waiver denied by USNA. THAT is extremely rare though

 

[A1Janitor]

You might not understand something about the Presidential nomination. It is for candidates who have a parent that is career military. Note: Career is not one enlistment or the typical 4 or 6 years that are much more common. Typically for candidates to the academies seems to be parents who have or are close to 20 years service and are often already retired from the military OR have over 8 years and are still serving.

I was also under the impression that a parent that was killed or injured in active duty also could apply and receive that nomination.

A quick glance at USNA link doesn’t mention that ... so I think I was wrong.

 

[A1Janitor]

Old Navy BGO....You beat me to it. It's NOT a fun experience to tell someone with an LOA they are medically DQ and waiver denied by USNA. THAT is extremely rare though

I can tell you from experience ... it was absolutely nerve wracking waiting for a medical clearance with an LOA in hand for my son and to a lesser extent me.

And I will repeat this often - Larry Mullen was amazing handling my son.

 

[MullenLE]

Our honor and privilege to serve

 

[NavyHoops]

I was also under the impression that a parent that was killed or injured in active duty also could apply and receive that nomination.

A quick glance at USNA link doesn’t mention that ... so I think I was wrong.

There is a different Nom set for those candidates who fall in this category, I believe it covers KIA, POW, MIA, Deceased/Disabled Vet (100%). I believe if a candidate falls in this category they can apply for one or the Presidential. Although since Presidential normally has around 800 who qualify for 100 slots I would think the other would be better. I think these Noms are unlimited in nature and charge up to 60 (that could be wrong, going off memory which is old and tired). I do not think USNA maxes these out each year.

Children of POW, MIA, Deceased/Disabled Vets

Children of POW, MIA, Deceased/Disabled Vets page for Admissions at USNA.edu. Updated Tue May 07 05:08:55 EDT 2024.

www.usna.edu

 

[Capt MJ]

For the complete in-depth nom read:

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33213.pdf

Page 6 for MOH children, POW, etc.

This is also the reference that has the footnote that gives the legal reference for USNA not being bound to make an offer of appointment to someone with an LOA even if fully qualified. They usually do, though.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33213.pdf

 

[BBQ-Devil]

Not that there are many of these; however, children of Medal of Honor recipients are automatically appointed if they meet the qualifications for admission.

Medal of Honor Benefits

The Medal of Honor (MoH) is awarded to service members who go above and beyond the call of duty, and recipients are eligible for education and travel benefits.

militarybenefits.info

"Children of awardees are offered an automatic appointment to any military service academy they are qualified to enter, without regard to nomination or quota regulations. Normally, a nomination is required to enter a military academy such as West Point, and there is a rigorous screening process."

 

[Memphis9489]

Not so fast -- LOA's usually have two conditions precedent, Nomination and Medical qualification. I've seen several LOA's not get appointments because of medical disqualification. I did see one Candidate in recent years who had an LOA, but no Nomination ..and no Appointment.

That's true. The DODMERB medical exam is always the wild card regardless of the quality of a candidate's overall application package. Just because a candidate is super-qualified in all areas doesn't mean they don't have asthma or that their eyesight is beyond waiverable limits.

I was mostly addressing those LOA recipients who were triple-qualified, academically (grades/SAT), physically (CFA) and medically (DODMERB) yet, somehow, failed to earn an appointment; usually because of their failure to earn a nomination.

Which begs the question: Why would an MOC not nominate a candidate who is certain of gaining an appointment? The MOC even received a notification that the candidate has received an LOA directly from the academy. There's a reason that the MOC does not nominate such a candidate.

 

[A1Janitor]

That's true. The DODMERB medical exam is always the wild card regardless of the quality of a candidate's overall application package. Just because a candidate is super-qualified in all areas doesn't mean they don't have asthma or that their eyesight is beyond waiverable limits.

I was mostly addressing those LOA recipients who were triple-qualified, academically (grades/SAT), physically (CFA) and medically (DODMERB) yet, somehow, failed to earn an appointment; usually because of their failure to earn a nomination.

Which begs the question: Why would an MOC not nominate a candidate who is certain of gaining an appointment? The MOC even received a notification that the candidate has received an LOA directly from the academy. There's a reason that the MOC does not nominate such a candidate.

The only legitimate reason I can think of would be in a competitive district there were ten others that the committee felt were better based on the interview and the application package.

I suppose there could be politics involved.