Typical Academics for an LOA

apollo11

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Hello, I’m a HS Junior relatively new to this forum. I was wondering, what is the typical academic background of an LOA recipient? Can you earn an LOA with outstanding athletics, extracurriculars, and essays but mediocre academics? When is the best time to submit the candidate kit in order to maximize LOA chances? Thank you.
 
Hello, I’m a HS Junior relatively new to this forum. I was wondering, what is the typical academic background of an LOA recipient? Can you earn an LOA with outstanding athletics, extracurriculars, and essays but mediocre academics? When is the best time to submit the candidate kit in order to maximize LOA chances? Thank you.
Keep in mind the majority of cadets and midshipmen at SAs did not have LOAs. They are unicorns which appear in your portal. Admissions uses them as a flexible tool, how and when they wish, and there is no published “recipe” for how to get one. If you see this unicorn in your portal, rejoice, but don’t spend time and energy on trying to hunt and capture one.

Standard advice: put your best application in as early as you can.

Don’t worry about the LOAs you see on appointment lists here. That is a tiny data slice of all appointees, which is probably skewed by candidates and parents who are scouting the internet for a competitive edge and information.
 
I'm not sure what "mediocre academics" means, but if that is your assessment of your candidate file, you should probably put added emphasis on improving that area of your file. As noted by @Capt MJ , you are better served by not focusing on trying to achieve something (LOA) that only a small percentage of applicants receive, and instead focusing on compiling the best all around application you can.
 
To be eligible for a LOA, do I need to have my entire SSK complete? In my SSK it says I need my official high school transcript submitted but it says ">Required through Feb 15 2024: 1-6 Semesters". Does this mean they need my high school transcript up until Feb 15 2024 or my transcript from the end of my junior year?
 
To be eligible for a LOA, do I need to have my entire SSK complete? In my SSK it says I need my official high school transcript submitted but it says ">Required through Feb 15 2024: 1-6 Semesters". Does this mean they need my high school transcript up until Feb 15 2024 or my transcript from the end of my junior year?
End of Jr year
 
To be eligible for a LOA, do I need to have my entire SSK complete? In my SSK it says I need my official high school transcript submitted but it says ">Required through Feb 15 2024: 1-6 Semesters". Does this mean they need my high school transcript up until Feb 15 2024 or my transcript from the end of my junior year?
After Feb 15, 2024, you will need 7 semester transcripts. 6 semester transcripts are due before the SSK deadline. Without them, your SSK is not complete.

About the LOA, review the sage advice posted above. No one can tell what is required for an LOA as it varies for every candidate who gets one and they are class-building tools. Focus on getting an appointment.
 
mediocre academics
What is your definition "mediocre academics"? That is a bit concerning. DS2 did not receive a USAFA LOA, but had a November appointment. Both of my boys received numerous LOAs from several SAs. I have no idea why. You have no control over LOAs and they don't mean anything, other than a warm feeling along the way. Focus on your package, essays, CFA, interviews, DoDMERB, nomination packages, etc.
 
Another aspect of an LOA - if the candidate fails to get any nominations, even if they care otherwise qualified, that can also mean no offer of appointment.
 
To get an appointment you need a nomination. Each MOC can submit 10 names and the SA will pick 1 of the 10 that met their standards. If no one met their standard then all 10 names goes into the national pool for later consideration. However if you have the LOA, all you need to make sure is your name is one of the ten names submitted and you will get the appointment provided other factors like (DodMerb) have no issues. During the interview with MOC or Senator's board of selection committee, they asked my DS whether he has received the LOA which he has. As stated in the wording of the LOA, you will be appointed once you received a nomination. So you don't have to be the at the top of the slate and that makes it a whole lot easier. I don't know how that works but someone told me a couple of years ago the LOA candidate doesn't count towards the 10 available slots and that's why MOC and Senator's committee will asked whether you have one or not. Now how the LOA is given, that's is a mystery. Somehow the SA feels that candidate is a must have for their SA so in order to not lose them to other SA or most likely other name brand schools, the LOA is issued to them. Also knowing that the nomination selection committee's decision is sometime subjective so to help them out, the LOA is given to ask them to please include their name as one of the nominee. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
To get an appointment you need a nomination. Each MOC can submit 10 names and the SA will pick 1 of the 10 that met their standards. If no one met their standard then all 10 names goes into the national pool for later consideration. However if you have the LOA, all you need to make sure is your name is one of the ten names submitted and you will get the appointment provided other factors like (DodMerb) have no issues. During the interview with MOC or Senator's board of selection committee, they asked my DS whether he has received the LOA which he has. As stated in the wording of the LOA, you will be appointed once you received a nomination. So you don't have to be the at the top of the slate and that makes it a whole lot easier. I don't know how that works but someone told me a couple of years ago the LOA candidate doesn't count towards the 10 available slots and that's why MOC and Senator's committee will asked whether you have one or not. Now how the LOA is given, that's is a mystery. Somehow the SA feels that candidate is a must have for their SA so in order to not lose them to other SA or most likely other name brand schools, the LOA is issued to them. Also knowing that the nomination selection committee's decision is sometime subjective so to help them out, the LOA is given to ask them to please include their name as one of the nominee. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
You are partly right and partly wrong.

The LOA is given to candidates that they want - for whatever reason. It has nothing to do with the nomination process.

If none of the ten meet their standards, they aren’t put on a wait list.

If slates are ranked, they don’t put the loa recipients on the bottom. They rank them where they think they belong. If an loa recipient gets a nomination and is 3q - yes that will lead to an appointment offer.

Yes the loa candidate that gets a nomination counts towards the ten nominations.

My son got an LOA and a nomination - and told the senators that. They didn’t need to waste a nomination on him and didn’t.
 
More of the partly right and partly wrong…

• Senators and representatives CAN nominate ‘up to 10’ on each of their slateS.

• LOA’s have a stipulation: offer of appointment if xxx. It’s not always a nomination. It can be anything the SA deems necessary. Another common one is clearing medical.

• There are discretionary noms that the SA controls. So more than one appointment can be offered from a slate.

• An LOA is a conditional offer of appointment. The holder can be charged to the SEN/REP (the statement that it doesn’t count against the SEN/AREP is incorrect. It may be charged to the SEN/REP).
 
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And for advanced reading:

Nom sources, who can give, how many appointments can be charged, etc.

More on LOAs:

Early in the cycle, the LOAs tend to be conditional: You are assured an offer of appointment if (you get a nom, pass CFA, clear DoDMERB medical, etc.). As the cycle nears its end, a candidate might receive an LOA without conditions, more of a “hang in there, we want to offer you an appointment, don’t stop checking your portal.”


But above all, remember LOAs are rare and beautiful free-range unicorns who bestow their magic as and when the SA wishes.

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Hello, I’m a HS Junior relatively new to this forum. I was wondering, what is the typical academic background of an LOA recipient? Can you earn an LOA with outstanding athletics, extracurriculars, and essays but mediocre academics? When is the best time to submit the candidate kit in order to maximize LOA chances? Thank you.
Hello and welcome! I recieved an LOA at USAFA and USMA, GPA was ~4.2, but as many many others have pointed out, the majority of cadets did not recieve LOAs and at the end of the day, we are in the exact same place. I would say your "best time" to submit the candidate kit is as soon as feasible. Try to do absolutely everything in your power to knock things out, teacher recommendations, letters of recommendation, transcripts, test scores, CFAs, and make sure you complete the essays both carefully and with a sense of time. I recieved my LOA the week before thanksgiving. Feel free to pm for any additional desired info.
 
While we are still rummaging in the LOA Advice Locker, another bit of standard advice is as you move further into your admissions cycle, you will see and hear about others receiving LOAs, and you may be mystified because you know your Stat X is higher than their Stat X. You cannot see the entire breadth or depth of another candidate’s application nor do you have Admissions’ perspective on all the factors they are looking for in their class-building work. It is not just Stat X.

As we say in the Navy, keep your eyes in the boat, do not expend any energy looking at and wondering about others in a comparative way, especially when it comes to an LOA. Focus on your own path.
 
No one is going to tell you mediocre academics will lead to an LOA. It might, if your whole person concept is compelling. Are a blue chip athlete, have a compelling diversity contribution such as underrepresented area, underreprented background OTHER than surface diversity measures (ie, do you work to pay the light bill? raise siblings? go back through my threads to the example of high schooler testifying about his dad's lawn business in bankruptcy court and getting cross examined.) The question should not be "Am I Competitive?" because that is essentially asking, "Am I like everyone else?" and everyone else = a rectangular lego sweating it out whether they are selected from one or more slates.

Instead, ask yourself what moves you on the continuum from competitive to undeniable? While undeniable is elusive and an idealize goal, asking yourself the hard questions is not. This is where I asked my DDs the 3 So-What's. For every line item in your resume, tell me about it and i'm going to reply, "So what? Every candidate has that/does that. What else have you got?" I'm on swim team. So what? I made states. So what? I am captain. So what? I am allowed to compete on my feeder high school swim team. I had to overcome logistics, established social/clicks, prove myself in the pool, to ultimately be named captain - of another high school's swim team. Ditto for other line items.

Back to academics, if you are on Plan B, ie mediocre or less than stellar academics, then be able to articulate how you improved and finished strong. No excuses. Yes but = yes but your competition did!
 
Yes the loa candidate that gets a nomination counts towards the ten nominations.

My son got an LOA and a nomination - and told the senators that. They didn’t need to waste a nomination on him and didn’t.
LOA counts towards the ten nominations.
Your son told the senators about the LOA so that they don't have to waste a nomination on him and therefore they didn't.
So did it count or not counted towards the ten nominations. Please clarify.

Thank you.
 
LOA counts towards the ten nominations.
Your son told the senators about the LOA so that they don't have to waste a nomination on him and therefore they didn't.
So did it count or not counted towards the ten nominations. Please clarify.

Thank you.
If their name is on the slate then they have a nomination. Where the SA charges that candidate is another story. They could be charged to that MOC who nominated them or they could also be charged to the service secretary from the national pool. It doesn’t really matter where someone is charged in the end
 
LOA counts towards the ten nominations.
Your son told the senators about the LOA so that they don't have to waste a nomination on him and therefore they didn't.
So did it count or not counted towards the ten nominations. Please clarify.

Thank you.
You miss the point. My son told them he had an LOA AND a nomination.

If a candidate gets an LOA, they still need one nomination. If they secure one (my son got the congressional district nomination) they do not need to get a second one. But he was one of the (up to) ten nominations on his slate.

LOAs are completely separate from nominations.
 
The process really varies for each candidate and MOC so it is hard to give or get any solid information on how LOAs are handled by nominating committees. My oldest son took a copy of his LOA to his interviews and neither senator’s panel even knew what an LOA was. They didn't ask if he had another nomination (he did). In another district or state, it may be a bigger deal. Having been involved in the process for many years since then, I have seen it handled many different ways.
To answer a specific question that was asked, yes, if a MOC chooses to put an LOA recipient on their slate, the candidate counts toward the 10. Whether that candidate is charged to the nomination source, that is for the Academy admissions board to decide.

Stealth_81
 
Parent opinion post.

The only thing within your control (candidates) is apply to all your sources. You must have a nomination, so whether you have an LOA, blue chip athlete, there is something going on the Academy side once you have that nom, from whatever source. It reminds me of Great Expectations where Pip thinks his benefactor is one person, but was really someone else. You have no idea where you are actually charged.

Think of scrabble tiles and tile holders.
The slate is a tile holder.
Candidates are individual tile pieces.

On Congressional nomination slates, you and 9 others are on that tile holder and submitted to USAFA, USMA, and USNA. The Academy says thank you and is sitting there with their non-Congressional tile holders. A LOT of tile holders. According to page 7 (pdf page 10) of the Congressional Nominatios to US Service Academies (cited in CapMJ's post #12 and elsewhere in SAF), there are 561 possible slates plus an unlimited number for Medal of Honor Children.

Academy's job is to get the tile holders down to 1 tile each. So they start knocking 9 off each slate but they still want some of those, so, they start charging them to other available slates. At the end, you don't know which slate and you don't know if all the Academy's available slates were filled. Not your problem. Just thank whoever gave you the nom profusely, becuase the fact you were ON a slate is most important!

My DD got noms from TX Senator 1 USAFA and TX Senator 2 USMMA. I would think that in a competitive state such as TX, she wasn't the only one with an LOA on the Sentators' slate. So some LOA'ers and anyone else they wanted from those slates were charged elsewhere. Just a guess and parent opinion.
 
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