A brief explanation for those of you applying this year as to why the wait is soooo long......this bears repeating.
You get your packet in early and learn (from your BGO, Admissions Counselor, even the "Scholastically Qualified" letter that goes out some years that you are 3 Q...triple qualified.) (With the Scholastically Qualified letter,you are actually only learning that you are 1Q, you have the knowledge as to whether you were medically qualified through DoDMERB and physically qualifed through passing CFA and you can then, upon receipt of the scholastically qualified letter, make the assumption that you are indeed 3Q)
Note: the Scholastically qualified letter does not always go out. And you could still be 3 Q. Go figure.
Anyway, you are done with your packet, maybe awaiting a CVW, busy applying for nominations to your senators, congressman and veep.
The nom deadlines are often late October-mid December. Often the earliest you learn your fate in that process is just prior to Christmas. The MOC's have until the end of January to notify the SA's of their slate of nominees. And it seems many of them may notify you that you were nominated, but not get around to notifying the SA until the eleventh hour. Throw in the holidays and you can see where this is going......
My example here is for when the MOC's use the unranked slate and allow the SA to choose the nominee they wish to offer an appointment to from that slate of ten. Which is the most common way of presenting their slates to the SA's.
The other two ways they can present slates is to name the first on the slate a "Principal" or "Primary" (not as common a term).....securing a principal nomination means the academy must offer the appointment to that individual provided they are 3Q. Or the MOC can offer a ranked slate of ten to the SA, in which case the SA goes down the rankings with their offer of appointment.
Let's go back to example A, the unranked slate. Even though you were Johnny on the Spot and got all your stuff in early, were reviewed by the Admissions Board early in the cycle.....you likely will wait until 2012 to know if you gain an appointment. Why? When the SA has an unranked slate, they may (usually WILL WAIT) wait until all ten have their packets complete and reviewed by Admissions to determine which they will offer the appointment to. The applications packages are usually not due until March 1st or thereabouts!
Point is,there are many factors involved as to the timing of all this. MOC's, the other applicants from your state/district who also secure a nomination.......late January and early February appointments will start rolling out in earnest. But there are always some slates where someone doesn't have their packet complete or several candidates are waiting on medical waivers and the SA waits until they have all the information to select an appointee.
It is a nerve wracking process. In my observation of the last few years, it seems it goes on later into April each year, whether because there are more applicants, or something else, I don't know.
How to survive this seemingly excrutiating process?? My son decided early on that he would re-apply if he did not gain admission. Having that decided seemed to calm our nerves a bit. Also, have Plan B lined out. For heaven's sake, don't wait until you know yea or nay from USXA to apply for another college. Many have Plan C and Plan D lined up as well. We seemed to always have something to wait for: CVW, notification from MOC, watching to see that posted on Candidate Information Page....always something to be thinkng about. Try to put off stalking the mailman until January, at least!
About LOA's....you may not be hearing of many on this forum, because the majority of candidates do not seem to find this forum. This is a small sample of those out there applying. In recent years, USNA supposedly has only offered 1-200 LOA's. Given that they will offer some 1500 appointments (allowing for some turn-downs) that is not many LOA's. And some LOA's find hurdles in their way: DoDMERB for one. LOA is not the goal, appointment is! .
Also, further adding to your frustration, some MOC's will call when you are to receive an appointment....they are notified about a week in advance to allow them to deliver the good news if they wish. Some don't bother. There's no rhyme or reason. I would think all would want to make some constituents very happy, but many don't bother.
Hope this synopsis helped shed some light on the process. Keep your chins up and enjoy your senior year and stay outa trouble!