LOE or No LOE

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cptenca

5-Year Member
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Moving it here so people will stop clogging up the appointment thread.


Most Admissions and Field Force Reps will tell you LOEs are not significant to admissions.Years of experience on this site will confirm that.

Many of the repeat posters on this forum have more than one child at USMA. Most of them will say LOEs don’t matter.

Every year LOE recipients/families argue LOEs are important. So go ahead and make that argument here.

I’ll start. None of my 4 had a LOE or attended SLE.

Your turn:
 
I feel like LOE doesn't have any other meaning besides "nice job, now go finish your app"
Speaking from a personal perspective as I received a LOE due to my incompletion of the CFA. I asked my FFR and the response was that my RC only gives out the first round of LOA to candidates with a completed app.
Also my FFR said "LOAs mostly went out to minority and female candidates"
Afterall it's still the WCS that matters, so focus on improving that and/or receiving a pnom could be more beneficial to your app.
 
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Our DS received an LOE in early September. It does state that it is sent to highly competitive candidates that they think would do well at USMA (parphrasing), it also authorizes an overnight visit.
Not completing your app, not passing a CFA, not doing well in interviews and not having a high WCS would obviously negate your LOE, you still have to finish it all, receive nom and be 3Q and win your slate.
Our DS did receive an appointment 6 Feb. No idea if there is a direct correlation or not. His RC was very complimentary when it was sent to him, we were pleased to read it. No more, no less.
 
Not really entering the debate. Seems irrelevant at this point. Just passing on experience. DS got LOE after his app was complete, so could not have been "encouragement to finish" the app.
 
cptenca said:
Moving it here so people will stop clogging up the appointment thread.:
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oops, thank you, I just posted to that thread about the data chart and clogged it up a bit more! o_O I have a heart attack, then calm down when I see the USNA Appointment thread show 10 new updates, but then realize only one was an actual appointment and the rest are comments ;)
 
My FFR told me that in our area, there was a large increase in both the quantity and quality of applications this year. So, they did not need to utilize the LOA in as high quantities as previous years. Therefore, he surmised, that some of the LOEs this year would have been LOAs in recent years. Obviously, this is speculation–but just a thought.
 
I suspect all highly competitive applicants that don’t move their applications along receive the LOE.

What we do not know is the percentage of highly qualified candidates with LOEs that get appointments vs the percentage of highly qualified candidates without LOEs that get appointment. We also don’t know the percentage of the LOEs that get in vs the ones who don’t.
 
DS' "History"
June - Attends SLE
August - Emailed by WP Admissions to "encourage" him to complete his application so that he can be "considered" for LOA. Never received an actual, physical Letter of Encouragement
August - Interviews with Field Force
Jan (early)- Receives MOC nomination, No senator noms
January (middle) - Portal Update w/LOA (two weeks later hard copy of LOA)
 
A1Janitor said:
I suspect all highly competitive applicants that don’t move their applications along receive the LOE.

What we do not know is the percentage of highly qualified candidates with LOEs that get appointments vs the percentage of highly qualified candidates without LOEs that get appointment. We also don’t know the percentage of the LOEs that get in vs the ones who don’t.
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I second that! I believe that was the case for my son. Received LOE in Feb because he still didn’t submit 7th semester transcript. Went to overnight mid Feb and appointment came end of Feb. So in our case the LOE really pushed our son to get moving.
 
eliu108 said:
I feel like LOE doesn't have any other meaning besides "nice job, now go finish your app"
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That's not accurate.

My son had already finished his application and his CFA was submitted and accepted when he received his LOE (but before Nomination). As you can read below, there is no mention of "finish your app". In short, I believe it reads, "you're the type of CC that we are looking for, come see if WP is for YOU, and go get your nomination!"

I don't know why this continues to be a matter of disagreement. The words from the LOE below speak for them self.

"I reviewed your application for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point. The information you provided indicates that you are the type of competitive and accomplished person who will thrive on the unique blend of programs we offer. I encourage you to discover if West Point is the right college for you.
All candidates who are Academically, Physically, and Medically Qualified and have at least one nomination are considered for admission. If you have any questions about the remainder of your application process, Captain XXXXXXX is your personal representative. You should feel free to reach out at XXXXXX or XXXXXX with questions or problems.
I highly recommend that you visit West Point to see the Academy first-hand and talk with cadets and faculty. There is no better way to learn about the unique aspects of a West Point education and an Army career. Cadet-escorted candidate orientation visits are available Monday - Friday, September - May, when classes are in session. To schedule your visit, call the Admissions Office at 1-845-938-5760, at least two weeks prior to the date you plan to be here.
Since this letter is sent only to outstanding candidates deserving of admission, your accomplishments to date should be a source of special pride to you and to your family. With this letter, I am authorizing you for an Overnight Visit which is reserved for our most competitive candidates. I wish you the very best in your pursuit of an appointment to West Point.

Sincerely, XXXXXXXXXXX Colonel, U.S. Army Director of Admissions
 
TexasAggie204 said:
That's not accurate.

My son had already finished his application and his CFA was submitted and accepted when he received his LOE (but before Nomination). As you can read below, there is no mention of "finish your app". In short, I believe it reads, "you're the type of CC that we are looking for, come see if WP is for YOU, and go get your nomination!"

I don't know why this continues to be a matter of disagreement. The words from the LOE below speak for them self.

"I reviewed your application for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point. The information you provided indicates that you are the type of competitive and accomplished person who will thrive on the unique blend of programs we offer. I encourage you to discover if West Point is the right college for you.
All candidates who are Academically, Physically, and Medically Qualified and have at least one nomination are considered for admission. If you have any questions about the remainder of your application process, Captain XXXXXXX is your personal representative. You should feel free to reach out at XXXXXX or XXXXXX with questions or problems.
I highly recommend that you visit West Point to see the Academy first-hand and talk with cadets and faculty. There is no better way to learn about the unique aspects of a West Point education and an Army career. Cadet-escorted candidate orientation visits are available Monday - Friday, September - May, when classes are in session. To schedule your visit, call the Admissions Office at 1-845-938-5760, at least two weeks prior to the date you plan to be here.
Since this letter is sent only to outstanding candidates deserving of admission, your accomplishments to date should be a source of special pride to you and to your family. With this letter, I am authorizing you for an Overnight Visit which is reserved for our most competitive candidates. I wish you the very best in your pursuit of an appointment to West Point.

Sincerely, XXXXXXXXXXX Colonel, U.S. Army Director of Admissions
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This letter appears to be generated before the application process, as defined by them, was complete. “If you have any questions about the remainder of your application process, Captain XXXXXXX is your personal representative.”

As discussed, this is a letter of encouragement to finish the application process. Part of LOEs is to extend an invitation to visit. It means nothing more than what it says.

The stark difference between encouragement and assurance of appointment are clear.

How many people get these letters of encouragement?
 
Heatherg21 said:
Our DS received an LOE in early September. It does state that it is sent to highly competitive candidates that they think would do well at USMA (parphrasing), it also authorizes an overnight visit.
Not completing your app, not passing a CFA, not doing well in interviews and not having a high WCS would obviously negate your LOE, you still have to finish it all, receive nom and be 3Q and win your slate.
Our DS did receive an appointment 6 Feb. No idea if there is a direct correlation or not. His RC was very complimentary when it was sent to him, we were pleased to read it. No more, no less.
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Was his appointment from AZ 02?
 
A1Janitor said:
This letter appears to be generated before the application process, as defined by them, was complete. “If you have any questions about the remainder of your application process, Captain XXXXXXX is your personal representative.”

As discussed, this is a letter of encouragement to finish the application process. Part of LOEs is to extend an invitation to visit. It means nothing more than what it says.

The stark difference between encouragement and assurance of appointment are clear.

How many people get these letters of encouragement?
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Again, not accurate.

She states clearly in the first line that she has reviewed the application, and when (per instructions) we did reach out to Captain XXXX, he stated "you're good to go, this letter is a good thing, go get your nom, and send in your 7th semester grades when available.".

How can you say it means nothing more than what it says when there were SO MANY candidates who received LOE's in the first wave of BFE's sent out on Friday. Your completely ignoring FACTS. What about "this letter is sent only to outstanding candidates deserving of admission"...what does that mean, then???

C'mon, you're clearly running the wrong position here.

I don't know how many get them, I don't control that. 1 is all that matters to me - he got one, he got the nom, and he's getting the BFE (maybe even today if the mail ever comes).
 
My DS received an LOE in October strictly to approve an overnight visit. His FFR knew he had spent an overnight visit at USNA and wanted him to experience the same at USMA. His application was complete at the time. We were specifically told by admissions that very few candidates receive an LOE or LOA. I felt that it was used as a non-athletic recruiting tool. We are awaiting our BFE hopefully today or tomorrow.
 
It cannot mean more than it says by definition.

Your son was deserving of an appointment and got it. Not sure that means the two events are connected. Others might read this and think they are getting an appointment offer if they get and LOE. Others might fret that they didn’t get one.

There are many discussions on LOEs and LOAs. I encourage people to read them.
 
glj104 said:
I felt that it was used as a non-athletic recruiting tool. We are awaiting our BFE hopefully today or tomorrow.
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"Recruiting tool" - that's a very good label to attach to the letter. A recruiting tool for outstanding candidates who they are inviting for an overnight.
Our mail just came, looks like it's going to be tomorrow on the BFE.
 
A1Janitor said:
It cannot mean more than it says by definition.
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Exactly, but you are saying it means less than it says...

I'm certain the events were connected. Our family has sent 2 others to SA's. One to USNA (they don't do LOE's) with no LOA, and one to USMA, with no LOE or LOA. They both got their appointments MUCH later in their respective process.

Most recent DS with the LOE was appointed to USMA with the first big batch - I'm 100% sure there is a connection....100%.
 
Correlation does not imply causation. Your highly qualified son would have likely received an appointment in the first wave regardless of the LOE.
 
I will truly never understand the fervor over LOA / LOE. Come R-Day, none of it matters one iota. Getting an appointment is all that matters. Any type of pre-appointment pat on the head from admissions means nothing *in the end*. Believe me, no one is sitting around at Beast discussing who got one and who didn't. Eye on the prize. If you want USMA, appointment is all that matters!
 
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