While your ALO can definitely provide "Some" mentoring, you must remember. "Your ALO IS THE ACADEMY ADMISSIONS OFFICE". That's who your ALO works for. That's why they interview the applicants. The ALO doesn't have final say on if you DO RECEIVE an appointment; but your ALO can definitely deny you from getting an appointment. They are not your personal adviser. Mentor? Yes.
I bring this up, because the ALO is not just watching over 1 applicant. In my case, by the time the process went through and I had actual "Qualified Candidates", I had between 12-15. I can not, and will not, look at your essays; and will not discuss the interview process with you, (Other than the generic info I give to all the candidates). I am not going to have any favoritism towards a candidate. Also, I won't be the one interpreting your essays, so I'm not going to give you any interpretations that may lead you to any false sense of confidence.
But what I WILL do, as a mentor. I will make sure that ALL my applicants understand the application process. I will make sure you all know the online portal and all the information you will need. I will go through your resume, generically, to make sure you know what sections of the application certain accomplishments fall into and how you can maximize you application. Basically, I will make sure YOU have the tools needed so YOU can do the best YOU can on YOUR application. I will not do anything that even appears to give you an "ADVANTAGE". For you to have any "ADVANTAGE", means, I have given another one of my candidates a "DIS-ADVANTAGE". And I won't let that happen.
Remember; this is YOU (Or your child's) application. An ALO isn't here to "GET YOU IN". We have more than enough qualified applicants. It's YOUR responsibility to be the best you can be. That's not my job.
Also; remember, the majority of ALO's, even if it's they are active duty, are volunteers who have other REAL JOBS. Most ALO's don't have time to go over your application on a weekly basis or similar. I'd have to do that with 15 applicants. I do have a life. After I let applicants know what to expect in the application, the kinds of things they should include, and deadlines, that's it. I may send them a reminder if they are getting close to the deadlines. And honestly, I and other ALO's like Flieger, go way above and beyond what an ALO has to do. Technically, all an ALO has to do, is interview you, write up their findings, and submit it to the academy. Most do more than that, but we definitely aren't going to be your "Personal" academy/application counselor. We don't have the time to do that for all of our applicants, and mainly, as COLD as it sounds........ "It's time to GROW UP. We don't want someone that needs their hand held". Even if it's through the process.
I know that isn't what was meant, but that's exactly what it is. Having an ALO review your essays, applications, test scores, etc. and help you find a way to improve on it. Sorry, not going to happen. I won't hold anyone's hand. I'll let applicants know that they have a LOT MORE in their resume than they probably think. I'll mentor them to dig DEEP into their experiences and not to be shy or humble. But I won't do anything that you need to do yourself, or anything that will give you an "Advantage". Not when an advantage means I'm giving a Disadvantage to one of my other applicants.
Sorry if this sounds a little harsh. It's not meant to be. And while an ALO can be invaluable to helping you get through the process, our number one priority, is that we ARE ADMISSIONS. That's who we work for. Our job is to make sure the academy knows who our BEST applicant is. That the academy knows more about the applicant than what's just on their application. But we're not going to do any of the work for you. And I'm only speaking for the ALO's that have the time to give more attention to their applicants. Many ALO's only have the time to answer some basic application questions and interview you for the academy. Best of luck.