LOA -Hold

I am curious as to everyone is either LOA or a hold or accepted an appointment. I haven’t see any that got denied. So Do they just wait it out to see who completes their application completely and who accepts and leave others waiting. Trying to understand process fully. I know patience is key

Usually an LOA (Letter of Assurance) is an inch from an appointment. If you clear all required actions you get the appointment. A hold is just that, a hold, either medical or something else. Your DS/DD if in a hold does not have an appointment nor is one guaranteed, you just have to wait and see. Accepted the appointment means they accepted the offer to attend that specific Service Academy. And YES....most if not all SA's have waiting lists for the exact reason you mentioned, some candidates get appointments to multiple SA's or ROTC Programs and if they don't accept then another slot opens up.

This is just a general response, I am not sure how USMMA works since graduates are Commissioned as Reserve Naval Officers I believe but only have Reserve obligations. Not positive, but that is what I heard.

HopefulMomMarine said:

I am curious as to everyone is either LOA or a hold or accepted an appointment. I haven’t see any that got denied. So Do they just wait it out to see who completes their application completely and who accepts and leave others waiting. Trying to understand process fully. I know patience is key

Click to expand...

Here are some other posts and information about what Hold Status Means. A bit old but still is a good description on what Hold Status means.

From @cousmma5280
"HOLD is a good thing. It means you are on the NWL. Depending on how you rank with the others you have a chance of getting in. If not, you might be offered a scholarship to the Prep schools. Seriously consider taking it. Students have a high chance of getting in next year when they reapply. NWL is where everybody goes at some point in the process. Hold is a good thing. It means you have made the cut to be considered. Just because there is a hold does not mean there isn't a space. It only means that decisions have not been made. USMMA fills slots on a state basis. As a result, before any appointment is made, they need to be able to look at all of the applicants from that state. For the class of 2020 and 2021, it seemed that appointments "rolled" across the country, during the time frame of late March and early April. They did not make a lump mailing on one day. Then, there appeared to be a second round sometime at the end of April early May. So, if state A has 10 slots, and State B has 4 slots. State A is found to have 12 applicants that the school wants. They can take 10 to fill up the state. But, State B only has 2 applicants that meet requirements. They can then take the 2 qualified from State A and fill in the spots left open in State B. There are a number of states that do not fill their spots. Some states have more than their number. So what to do now, besides wait. Keep an open dialogue with your admissions counselor, and, any others you may have had contact with at the school. Keep an open dialogue with the coach if there is one in the picture. They can help with information on the process and possibly progress.”

From an Alumni friend of mine:
USMMA is required (by law) to offer admission to applicants based on their ranked order-of-merit by State. As candidate files are evaluated, some (whose overall standing is VERY high) are offered admission early-on, the majority, however, are placed in a "hold" status. Those candidates then wait until all applications are evaluated and rank-ordered. In the beginning of April when admissions have all completed files reviewed and sequenced, they make offers to fill the State quotas and then move to the National Waiting list. Hope this explanation helps. "Hold" status is a good thing and shows that your package was reviewed and found worthy to be competitive against others in your state....now they just have to review everyone else in your state and rank them before offers are made.