LOA's from other Academies

DGS

5-Year Member
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Jun 2, 2011
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If one would happen to receive an LOA from another Academy, but not to USAFA, could it possibly disqualify them unintentionally for USAFA?

My reasoning is that many congressmen, or at least my congressman from what I hear, only give one nomination to one SA. If that candidate receives an LOA from one SA, but not another, they will almost definitely receive the one nomination to the Academy with an LOA, even if it is not there first choice.

I would not presume to say that I would/could earn an LOA from any SA, but I would not want to be unintentionally disqualified from my main choice, USAFA, by being stranded without a nomination.

Do I have anything to fear?

Thank you for your help!
 
A nomination to one SA is only good for that SA. If you are worried about not getting multiple then you could ask your Representative to one for one school then ask your Senators for one to another. I guess that would increase your odds.
 
You don't become disqualified from the other academies, until you ACCEPT an appointment from one.

But as mentioned, a nomination is only good for the academy that you were nominated for.

Most senators and representatives ask you to list/rank the service academies that you are applying to, and the order of preference. Believe it not, not everyone applies to all of them. I know quite a few people who only applied to one.

Your biggest question should be: If you receive an early LOA, say from army, and you really want air force, even if you received a nomination to air and army both, there is no guarantees that you'll receive an appointment to air force. However; an loa most times is a pretty automatic thing once you receive the nomination. Assuming you accept it. So, do you sit on the LOA until after nominations are handed out and stall on accepting the appointment with the LOA;.... or do take your chances and hope that you receive an appointment from the air force academy.

Some applicants, my son included, made the choice very easy. He applied only to the one academy he truly wanted. Now; if his priority had been simply to SERVE, and it didn't matter HOW, then he would have applied to the others. But he specifically didn't want this choice of having 2nd best. He planned it all out.
1. Apply to the air force academy.
2. Follow their recommendation to try and complete the ENTIRE application in 45 days. (He did it in 34 days).
3. Apply simultaneously for his presidential nomination, as well as the senators and representative.
4. If he doesn't receive an LOA or appointment by November, apply for an ROTC slot.
5. Get interviewed by senators and representatives in Nov/Dec.
6. If no on the appointment, hope for the ROTC
7. If no on the ROTC, accept one of the other universities that he applied to.
8. Join ROTC in college; even without the scholarship and seek a commission to the air force that way.
9. If ROTC turns him down, finish degree and apply to the air force via OTS.

That was his method. He didn't want to compromise; he wasn't doing it just for the free education; and it was going to be air force or nothing. Fortunately for him, he only had to go to #3 above. He received his appointment at the end of Oct and had the BFE the first week of November. But that was the checklist on his wall in his bedroom.

It ok to have preferences and rather have air force over one of the others. But if you receive an LOA to one of the others that you applied to, you need to be prepared to deal with that decision. Or risk the chance of losing out. You won't be disqualified from the other academies if you have an LOA, but you are correct that your MOC might not nominate you to ANYTHING ELSE. You also have to realize that if you do get the nomination for the LOA, and they offer you the appointment, you might not get to sit on it forever waiting for the other academy to possibly offer you one. Especially next year with so many cutbacks in slots. The academies are going to want to know as soon as possible, so they can decide whether to send MORE appointments out to the alternates. Best of luck to you. Mike....
 
Thank you both for your help, I definetely understand more now.
 
Still unclear...

Suppose a candidate applies to all service academies, but has USAF as her primary target.

Subsequently, USMA extends an early LOA and notifies the candidate's MOC. If USAFA does not offer an LOA as well, does that mean the candidate is unlikely to be considered for a USAFA nomination by the MOC?

My reasoning is that the MOC's are not charged for nominations given to candidates who have an LOA. So, it would seem unlikely that they would give a USAFA nomination to a candidate with a USMA LOA.

If my reasoning is correct, in this instance, by granting an LOA USMA has essentially taken the candidate off of the market (unless they receive an LOA from USAFA as well).

Can someone tell me if I understand this correctly?

Thanks, jetg
 
Suppose a candidate applies to all service academies, but has USAF as her primary target.

Subsequently, USMA extends an early LOA and notifies the candidate's MOC. If USAFA does not offer an LOA as well, does that mean the candidate is unlikely to be considered for a USAFA nomination by the MOC?

My reasoning is that the MOC's are not charged for nominations given to candidates who have an LOA. So, it would seem unlikely that they would give a USAFA nomination to a candidate with a USMA LOA.

If my reasoning is correct, in this instance, by granting an LOA USMA has essentially taken the candidate off of the market (unless they receive an LOA from USAFA as well).

Can someone tell me if I understand this correctly?

Thanks, jetg

For me, I applied to both Air Force and Navy and I got an LOA to Air Force literally 2 days before the interviews. I was lucky in that Air Force was my first choice. With that being said though, they did ask me in my interviews which academy I would rather go to so they can give my nomination to where I wanted to go. I know there was one girl who had LOA's to both Westpoint and Air Force and she had to choose which one she wanted it to go towards. I guess what I am trying to say is that if you have an interview, they generally try to figure out where the candidate is going to be happiest so that their nomination isn't wasted. Also, you can try playing the game of asking for a nomination to Westpoint from one senator and asking the other for a nomination to Air Force. It is a sticky situation, but most congressional representatives will try to work with the candidates to make sure that their nominations are going to people who truly want them to that Academy because if not, they potentially prevented some other kid from their dreams by giving a nomination to someone who didn't want it to that Academy.
 
LOA's

In past years, a LOA (Letter of Assurance) has been pretty rare. Only a very small percentage of applicants to USAFA received one. The vast majority of applicants received the BFE (Big Fat Envelope of acceptance) or the TWE (thin white envelope of denial) in March-April. As Christcorp says above, receipt of an LOA from a SA(service academy) does not hurt your chances at any of the other SA's. I suggest that the candidate simply be honest: If he/she has a preference, let your MOC (member of Congress) know it if asked. (This question was asked during my son's interview with his MOC...and he said the only SA to which he applied was USAFA. He said plan B was AFROTC.) If he/she has no preference, then let them know you'd be happy to go to any SA. Good luck and get the application done soon!
 
Theoretically I get where you are coming from, BUT rationally it doesn't make sense.

The MOC wants the best and the brightest to attend all of the SAs. So, why penalize that person. Many MOC's ask for you to rack and stack your SAs. So, if you are on the top score of the slate of 10 for the AFA why would they assume you don't want that option to attend and now give it to number 11?

Most MOC's know that kids do the exact same thing they do to increase their admission chances...spread their wealth...i.e. change the rack and stack for each MOC.

The MOC's also know that the AFA is the stingiest of giving out LOAs, only about 5% with noms will get an LOA.

I know of at least one poster here who's DS had an LOA in hand for a competitive state for noms to another SA, but got a nom to the AFA, and eventually got an LOA after he had the nom. He is currently at the AFA Class of 15. SO it does happen.

It also happened for a good friend of ours who had an LOA to the AFA, but not to USNA. He is class of 12 at USNA charged to his Sen. OBTW, he was given a principal to USNA. So sometimes if they see you have LOAs to others, but not to one, they may increase your chances for that non-LOA SA.
 
I felt this same sense of anxiety when applying. Don't worry about it, Senators and Congressman will likely coordinante noms if your state is competitive. USAFA was my first choice, but when I went into my interviews I only had my LOA to USMMA. The overwhelming sense of anxiety never subdued. I got my LOA 1 December, I called everyone, expressing my desire to go to USAFA. They told me not to worry, they would coordinante noms and it was likely if I did well, I'd get a nom to what I had chosen. Not to say noms are guaranteed at all, but if you're qualified and you express your interest, they'll do their part. Do your best, tell them what you want, and they'll work it out. It's unlikely that you'll get an LOA and no nom. I ended up with a nom to every academy I applied to, I didn't apply to westpoint. So again, do your best, and let the chips fall into place. Best of luck!
 
Subsequently, USMA extends an early LOA and notifies the candidate's MOC. If USAFA does not offer an LOA as well, does that mean the candidate is unlikely to be considered for a USAFA nomination by the MOC?
Coincidentally this is the exact scenario that my son experienced last Fall. Although he applied to both the USMA and USAFA, USAFA was his "first" choice. About a month before his nomination interview with our US Congressman, my son received an LOA to USMA. During his nomination hearing he was asked if he wanted to be considered for a USMA nomination considering that he already had an USMA LOA. My son responded that he would rather see that nomination go to someone more interested in attending the USMA...his preference was the USAFA. A week after the interview he received an LOA from the USAFA and three days later a USAFA nom from the US Congressman. Although there is no way to know for certain, we think he was awarded the nomination before the Congressman's office had any knowledge of his USAFA LOA. Hope this helps.
 
I know of at least one poster here who's DS had an LOA in hand for a competitive state for noms to another SA, but got a nom to the AFA, and eventually got an LOA after he had the nom. He is currently at the AFA Class of 15. SO it does happen.
I know of this young man also. :wink: And fortunately you are correct...he is STILL at the AFA class of 15.:thumb:
 
USMA is typically more "generous" with LOAs in that they typically give out more and give them out earlier than the other SAs. Just a different approach. So, this isn't an uncommon situation -- how one handles it depends in large part about how much you want to go to a particular SA where you don't have an LOA vs. one where you do. There's no "right" answer overall but probably a "right" answer for each individual.
 
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