When could I find out?

He did receive those noms and subsequent appointments to both SA's , HOWEVER, when he asked for advice on the preparation for the interviews, we were very clear...these are two separate processes;

Let's pretend that you were interviewing with a business for a summer job and the owner of the company thought you were the cat's meow...but before he offered you the job he wanted you to meet some of his other employees to ensure you were a good fit. How would you prepare? He got it right...."as though the owner was never in the picture". Right answer...and he prepared as though there was no LOA and everything depended on how well he did. The only I gave him was this:

"Success is where preparation and opportunity meet".....[URL='http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/bobby_unser.html']Bobby Unser[/URL]
 
I never implied or suggested you should prepare less because of an LOA. Our candidate had an LOA with three qualifications: Obtain a Nomination: Pass the DoDMERB exam; pass the CFA. Our candidate for the most part maxed the CFA, passed DoDMERB, and prepared diligently for the Nomination process specifically the interviews.

In our home state, the LOA is very meaningful to the nominating sources. Our candidate went to one interview and the interview stopped and started with 'You have an LOA - that's good enough for me.'

Since they are meaningful in our state, it takes a lot of pressure off our family because most people who have nominations have to continue to sweat out the remainder of the appointment process. And having graduated from a SA, I can relate both as a parent and as a candidate.

Should SA's give LOA's, they seem to think they have a need to issue them. If they didn't think they mattered, they would stop the process.

Every candidate that qualifies for the DoDMERB exam has plenty of other options. But for some reason, the SA's find it important to get some candidates LOAs. The LOA doesn't mean squat after the appointment, but for us - it was nice to know that if all the other boxes were checked - our candidate was good to go. The don't always go to the smartest, most athletic, or best looking, but in our case - we were grateful to have one.

Whatever else you implied from my comments are yours and yours alone.
 
Coach62 said:
I know someone that received an appointment weeks ago off of a JROTC Nom, so no, they're far from worthless.
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I understand that they only give 20 appointments out of each year for the JROTC nomination. That is a very small number in the scheme of things. As I have not been notified yet, I hope that there is still hope for an appointment.
 
Sydney C. said:
Sometimes...maybe even often...but certainly not always by any stretch. Personally, I wish they would do away with them but that's a different conversation.

I can tell you that DS had LOA's to both USNA and WP.....walks into the nom interview and was basically informed that the SA's had their way of looking at candidates and this committee had it's way....then it started "On paper you look impeccable, but now let's see what you really have" and so it went. I'm with Hoops, nice to have but certainly not the end all or be all and often made way to much of.
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Do away with LOA's? I respectfully disagree. It's the only way they really have of virtually guaranteeing they get the recruits they really want. If you do away with them how will the recruited athletes they target get in? I think the power should be tilted away from politicians and towards the SA's as much as possible.

Sorry but I just don't trust about 90% of the politicians out there, especially the majority which never served, but think they're qualified to ignore the generals, or tell the generals, SA's and military branches what to do, where to spend their money, etc.

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now :).

Edit: I know there's a significant amount of separation between the committees and politicians, and that the committee members by and large are fine, competent volunteers. But I'm also sure that there are occasions where political interference occurs. I repeat what I said, I just would like for the power to be more tilted towards the services telling the politicians who they want.
 
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Coach62 -- good edit, but I agree with Navy Hoops that LOAs have become a marketing tool used to make some candidates feel special. I'm under the impression that the LOAs are tightly controlled and actually don't just go to the recruited athletes. Perhaps I am mistaken and an others can clarify?

LOAs are significant, but the LOA is still no guarantee. If no Nom, no appointment. A candidate with an LOA still needs to go through the screen for a MOC nomination.

IMHO the MOC review boards do a good job helping to keep an unqualified recruit or other candidate from gaining admission, and the SA admissions board help keep an unqualified politically connected candidate from gaining admission. Good check and balance.
 
Coach62 said:
Do away with LOA's? I respectfully disagree. It's the only way they really have of virtually guaranteeing they get the recruits they really want. If you do away with them how will the recruited athletes they target get in?
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USNA started the program in response to Early Action programs at civilian colleges -- trying to encourage the most competitive candidates to stick it out for USNA (which typically can't offer appointments until the MOCs turn in their slates at the end of Jan. whereas civilian schools were offering admission in Dec). USNA has reduced the number of LOA's because it constricts their ability to form the class.

I would think it has lot more to do with getting the best qualified applicants than it does to get recruited athletes although I'm sure that the 100+ or so they issue each year has those as well represented vs those that are offered NAPS. Going back to Hoops point, I agree it's a marketing tool and affects perhaps less than 10% of any incoming class. I would venture a guess that the majority of recruited athletes are not LOA recipients. How could they be, the numbers wouldn't jive. Finally, are we trying to get the best athletes or we we trying to get the best candidates for the Navy? The obvious answer is we'd like both but using LOA's just to ensure that "recruited athletes they target get in" is a bit off the grid.
 
I'm going to weigh in with my uninformed $0.02. As a parent, I think the LOA is a very useful tool. There is a view of the world where the LOA is nothing more than an acknowledgement that the traditional college admissions portion of the process is distinct from the rest. In other words, once the SA decides an applicant is scholastically qualified and they want them if they get a nom and pass DoDMERB and CFA, they get LOA. That serves to normalize the process a bit relative to other schools to which kids are applying. As a parent of a child with an LOA I can tell you from personal experience that it certainly releases a pressure valve at home because the rest is beyond my son's control. Just my thoughts.
 
When my DD was applying to USNA, we spoke to one admission counsel during CVW who was very upfront about LOA. She told us that because of NCAA rules, division I athletes must sign a letter of intent by November. For that reason, they send most of their LOA to the players they want. If they didn't do that, no plebe could play their first year.
 
Letters of Intent don't have to be signed in November. (And SA's do not participate in that process for legal issues)

In general, there are 2 major signing days - one in November and one in April

Frosh at SA's are eligible to play their first year as long as they have been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse and if you get an Appointment getting through the Clearinghouse is a non factor
 
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I admit that I know nothing about NCAA rules so you could be a 100% right. I was just repeating what the admission counselor was telling us at USNA. This is not something read somewhere, but it came straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Now as to why she'd tell this to kids and parents if it's not correct? No idea.
 
Both processes are complex.

Discussing both the NCAA process and the SA admissions process in the same meeting would be a head spinning experience. : )
 
SAs don't do National Letters of Intent. When you see signing ceremonies for a SA candidate or hear in the media that they signed one... they haven't. Its why you won't see a list of committed recruits until I Day. Usually each sports team does a media release on I Day or the Day after releasing the names of new players. If they do "sign" something it is either their appointment they are signing or some mock up piece of paper. I think if anything the LOAs for the recruited athletes are to help give the warm fuzzy that the SAs want them and are throwing them an olive branch to say you do X, Y and Z you can come here and not to commit to another school. And each sport has its own signing periods (some are early, some late and some have both).

The admissions counselor isn't necessarily wrong, but its not the whole story. There is more to it than that and depends on the sport. This is where they rely on NAAA Compliance Officers and other folks who liaison to the admission board for assistance.
 
afmom2020 said:
When my DD was applying to USNA, we spoke to one admission counsel during CVW who was very upfront about LOA. She told us that because of NCAA rules, division I athletes must sign a letter of intent by November. For that reason, they send most of their LOA to the players they want. If they didn't do that, no plebe could play their first year.
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afmom2020 said:
I admit that I know nothing about NCAA rules so you could be a 100% right. I was just repeating what the admission counselor was telling us at USNA. This is not something read somewhere, but it came straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Now as to why she'd tell this to kids and parents if it's not correct? No idea.
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Very disappointing they would tell you the LOAs had a link to the NLI. Here is the quote from the NLI FAQ page

"All Division I institutions, with the exception of the Service Academies and schools in the Ivy League, are members of the program, and most fully-active Division II institutions participate in the program. No Division III institutions, NAIA schools, preparatory school or two year colleges participate in the NLI program"

http://www.nationalletter.org/frequentlyAskedQuestions/bindingAgreement.html

What they were probably trying to describe is they use an instrument like an NLI to lock an athlete in, but it does not have the same commitment. No doubt LOAs are used this way in some cases
 
Way off track to where this thread started, but do USNA athletes still have to go through the NCAA Clearinghouse? A lot of the athletes are walk-on and may or may not be 'recruited'
 
I'll be honest, when I heard that I took it to mean if you aren't a recruited athlete or a genius, don't hold your breath for an LOA. She might not have explained things properly (in her defense, she had about 5 minutes), but I'm sure it got her point across, i.e. Don't expect an LOA.
 
I can confirm that both recruited athletes and non-RAs receive LOAs, and that all varsity athletes have to cleared by the NCAA. DS received an LOA (had been, but no longer was being, recruited - the LOA was not related to recruitment), walked on at USNA after all and had to be cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse at the end of Plebe Summer. If your DS or DD hopes to try out for a sport, make sure everything is complete with the clearinghouse - that bit of compliance is easily wrapped up before their senior year of high school. Much easier to do it then vs trying to track people down over the summer to upload final transcripts to the NCAA Compliance Center!
 
MammaMia said:
I can confirm that both recruited athletes and non-RAs receive LOAs, and that all varsity athletes have to cleared by the NCAA. DS received an LOA (had been, but no longer was being, recruited - the LOA was not related to recruitment), walked on at USNA after all and had to be cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse at the end of Plebe Summer. If your DS or DD hopes to try out for a sport, make sure everything is complete with the clearinghouse - that bit of compliance is easily wrapped up before their senior year of high school. Much easier to do it then vs trying to track people down over the summer to upload final transcripts to the NCAA Compliance Center!
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Based on all that I have read about Mids planning to 'walk on' and try various sports, I think a new thread would be appropriate to point out the NCAA Clearinghouse process for people that though 'non-recruited' still plan to give it a shot. Our DD is already in the Clearinghouse, but it sounds like you and the previous posters on the topic are much more conversant on the topic.
 
Cerberi said:
Based on all that I have read about Mids planning to 'walk on' and try various sports, I think a new thread would be appropriate to point out the NCAA Clearinghouse process for people that though 'non-recruited' still plan to give it a shot. Our DD is already in the Clearinghouse, but it sounds like you and the previous posters on the topic are much more conversant on the topic.
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I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have. If your DD is in the clearinghouse and standardized test scores and grades are already being sent there, you're probably all set. At that point, the process isn't any different. Just make sure her final transcript is uploaded when senior year is over. We had requested this but didn't follow up to be sure it was done, and there was a bit of a scramble to find someone who could do it in August when most of the guidance staff at his high school was still on vacation. Your DD should also have her NCAA number and log-in available (she can bring it with her or you can mail it to her during the summer), because the coach will need that if she makes the team. Hope this helps.
 
HopefulDad3210 said:
How common is it to receive an LOA after receiving a nomination but before DoDMERB determines status?
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My son received an LOA last January that was dependent upon being medically qualified. Once USNA granted a waiver, he was good to go. Good luck with the DODMERB process.
 
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