Early admission and LOA

L36P

5-Year Member
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
3
I have an LOA. I want to go to West Point, but know that I need to have alternate plans. Some more competitive colleges recommend applying through their early decision applications for better chances of getting accepted. However, it is my understanding that if you did get accepted under early admision you have a short period of time to decide and if you decide to accept, then you basically are obligated to attend (meaning your deposit is nonrefundable, I guess). I am applying for a four year ROTC scholarship, also.

My questions are:

For those of you with an LOA, are you also applying to other colleges' early decision programs?

How long do we have to accept or decline early decision offers?

Thanks for your help.
 
Early decision is BINDING; Early acceptance/early action is not. If you want to go to USMA first choice, do not apply ED anywhere.
 
I recieved an LOA July 16th.

I am applying to one other school as a back-up in case I for some reason do not get a nom, break my leg, etc. Accordingly, I am applying to my back-up school through regular decision.

Early decision is binding, which means you must attend the college to which you are admitted under early decision. It is understanding between you and the university when they spend the time to process your application so early that you will attend if you are admitted. Breaking this agreement is considered dishonest and is a huge no-no. The only exception to an early decision agreement is if a student has financial aid issues and cannot afford to attend the university in question. If one is applying to West Point where the honor code is a truly integral part of cadet life, one should strive to properly represent the values that cadets are expected to live by.

I can see where breaking an early decision agreement with another school in order to attend West Point could not be looked on favorably by USMA admissions.

The honor code should not be something you decide to pick up on R-day.
 
Let's remember that the poster simply asked a question and did not indicate a desire to break any agreement. Lectures from peers get old fast, and remember that humility, understanding, and resisting the urge to jump to conclusions are equally important to officership as integrity.
 
I received an LOA in July and since I have applied to two schools: The Citadel and a local university. These schools are my backup and I intend to go to West Point. I applied to the two other schools normally, I did not apply under early acceptance.
 
Thanks Scoutpilot. I had no intention of accepting early decision and then defaulting, although I can understand where someone might get that idea based on my comment of losing the deposit. I just was not clear on what committing to early decision meant.

I will apply to the colleges of my choice through the regular decision process. Actually, I like this idea better--gives me more time to fill out the applications!!
 
You are safe to apply to colleges that have Early Action which is generally not binding. There is nothing wrong with applying to colleges after you have received an LOA. Just be careful if you apply "early" and read the agreements.
Many colleges have eliminated binding early decision applications but they are still out there, proceed cautiously.
 
I've also received an LOA. I'm applying regular decision to three schools as backups just in case.

You'll be able to tell if you're filling out something for early decision because there will typically be something you need to electronically sign stating you will attend if accepted.
 
My apologies to L36P if I sent the wrong message with my post. I did not mean to lecture my peers in any way-- we are all equal when we show up on day one regardless of how we got there. Steering back into my lane now...
 
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