How many LOEs are given out? Any statistics on likelihood of admission?

whalerty

whalerty

Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2017
Messages
18
Hello all,

So I received a Letter of Encouragement from West Point a little while ago. Despite this I'm still nervous about my potential for being admitted. I'm sure many on this forum will understand, that no matter how many good signs you get you still question every bit of your application.

So does anyone know the number of LOEs given out? Does West Point release this information? And is there stats on how many given LOEs are eventually offered admission?

Thanks, any info would be very helpful
 
I have no idea how many LOEs are distributed, but I'm a fellow LOE/LOA recipient and I actually asked the gambling question on my overnight visit.

The lady I spoke to in the admissions building told me that most candidates with an LOE are actually admitted to West Point. Now, please don't get too excited with this because, as you should and probably do know, this is not a for-sure thing and an LOE is not an LOA. Neither an LOE nor LOA is an offer of admission. The offer is your goal, so continue with the course of action you perceive necessary to acquire it.

To give some details to answer your specific question, though, LOE candidates generally have more-than-adequate credentials and most of the ones that I know would fall into what you'd call the "competitive" category (as they have been told by someone in Admissions or their FFR. I was told by my FFR at some point that I was classified as highly competitive or something like that). Maybe even "admissible." Keep in mind that not all competitive candidates get LOEs and not all admissible candidates get LOAs. West Point RCs (and the Head of Admissions if we're also talking LOAs) distribute them at their discretion.

So, anyway, this lady with whom I conversed additionally mentioned that most LOE recipients who don't get into West Point fail due to medical issues or because they fall off physically. Handing an LOE into your MOC board may not be the same as feeding them that LOA, but none of my LOE friends have had trouble securing a nom. As for the lady in admissions, her estimated statistic was an overall 80% for LOE kids. Now, I don't know how reliable her estimation is, but only time will tell...there are infinite nuances in the application process.

Best of luck with them, and Go Army! (We know who's going to win the game this week!) :p
 
I was speaking to a FFR recently and asked specifically about LOA's and LOE's in regards to how many are sent out and the reason why they are sent out. He stated that both are getting handed out less frequently now then in years past but that they are primarily used to help sway candidates in areas of the country where there isn't a high volume of applicants. He stated that in highly competitive states, an LOE / LOA is very rare because the academy will have plenty of candidates to choose from. Now, I am not sure if this is accurate information or not but I thought I would share what I was told.
 
Great, thanks Ravens and GoArmy2022 for your info. Appreciate it. I'm in a competitive state (NY) so I guess I'm lucky to get an LOE.

Another question, does anyone know if an LOE can turn into an LOA? Does that happen at all? Or is it just one or another?

Go Army!
 
DD received an LOE in early September, and then received an LOA a week or so later.
 
whalerty said:
Great, thanks Ravens and GoArmy2022 for your info. Appreciate it. I'm in a competitive state (NY) so I guess I'm lucky to get an LOE.

Another question, does anyone know if an LOE can turn into an LOA? Does that happen at all? Or is it just one or another?

Go Army!
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I also asked this question to the admissions lady. Short answer is yes.

She was proven correct. I got my LOE at the very end of August and my LOA came just before Halloween. It does happen but it's not common because an LOE usually turns into an LOA when something happens to bump your WCS to the LOA level. In my case, my ACT score shot up from a 31 to 33 and Math score changed from 27 to 32, which is what I think sparked the change.
 
Know one can tell you why you got an LOA or LOE except your RC. We all just make reasonable assumptions.

We can tell you that few LOEs and LOAs are given and I am not sure it has anything to do with geography.

An LOA is a commitment of an offer of appointment if certain conditions are met by the applicant. An LOA will result in an appointment 99.9% of the time as long as the conditions are met, most usually medical qualification and nomination.

An LOE carries significantly less of a guarantee. It is just an encouragement to complete your application as you are competitive at the current time. You can be ranked #1 in your congressional district in September but be #10 come March. You still have to win your nomination slate. I can tell you that my daughter received on LOE and did not get an offer of appointment her first year.

The best advice is to keep working on your application and improving your file.
 
GoArmy2022 said:
I have no idea how many LOEs are distributed, but I'm a fellow LOE/LOA recipient and I actually asked the gambling question on my overnight visit.

The lady I spoke to in the admissions building told me that most candidates with an LOE are actually admitted to West Point. Now, please don't get too excited with this because, as you should and probably do know, this is not a for-sure thing and an LOE is not an LOA. Neither an LOE nor LOA is an offer of admission. The offer is your goal, so continue with the course of action you perceive necessary to acquire it.

To give some details to answer your specific question, though, LOE candidates generally have more-than-adequate credentials and most of the ones that I know would fall into what you'd call the "competitive" category (as they have been told by someone in Admissions or their FFR. I was told by my FFR at some point that I was classified as highly competitive or something like that). Maybe even "admissible." Keep in mind that not all competitive candidates get LOEs and not all admissible candidates get LOAs. West Point RCs (and the Head of Admissions if we're also talking LOAs) distribute them at their discretion.

So, anyway, this lady with whom I conversed additionally mentioned that most LOE recipients who don't get into West Point fail due to medical issues or because they fall off physically. Handing an LOE into your MOC board may not be the same as feeding them that LOA, but none of my LOE friends have had trouble securing a nom. As for the lady in admissions, her estimated statistic was an overall 80% for LOE kids. Now, I don't know how reliable her estimation is, but only time will tell...there are infinite nuances in the application process.

Best of luck with them, and Go Army! (We know who's going to win the game this week!) :p
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Quick question. Are these letters actually titled “LOE/LOA”? My son just received his Congressional nomination and has excellent grades and test scores but has not received anything like this. He has received correspondence stating he has a “very competitive file” but I am not sure that means much.

Thoughts?
 
What your son received is as good as LOE. What state and congressional district is he from. If your son is from a highly competitive district that is equal to someone with low test score and low GPA but has everything else SAs like. Admission to SAs except CGA is not entirely merit based. It is in the end where you live. And supply and demand!
 
Someone from a less competitive district with less applicants low scores = highly competitive district with high scores. So SAs are not determined by merit in the end. It is determined by supply and demand. Only true merit based SA is the CGA.
 
Patriot4Life said:
What your son received is as good as LOE. What state and congressional district is he from. If your son is from a highly competitive district that is equal to someone with low test score and low GPA but has everything else SAs like. Admission to SAs except CGA is not entirely merit based. It is in the end where you live. And supply and demand!
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We are in Texas in D19.
 
Patriot4Life said:
And ROTC Programs and Scholarships are also true Merit Based.
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He was also invited to complete the DODMERB review and was cleared and has completed everything including his CFA. He interviewed with his Field Force Rep who had great things to say. We are very hopeful. He has already been accepted and offered presendential scholarships to three Universities in Texas but wants to go to West Point more than anything.
 
Hmm. TX is one of the very competitive states. CA NY TX VA FL DC are some of the most competitive regions. Your son can tell you by how many came to his District Rep Interview. One district in NY, 700 applicants applied to NY03 for appointment. Only 40 were invited and likely 4 were selected Principal and the rest are likely to be given a regular Nom for SAs to decide. Candidates were called by their Rep about their Appointment. Not sure if the Rep called all or only the Principals. If you have LOA you will get an Appointment by your Rep.
 
Patriot4Life said:
Hmm. TX is one of the very competitive states. CA NY TX VA FL DC are some of the most competitive regions. Your son can tell you by how many came to his District Rep Interview. One district in NY, 700 applicants applied to NY03 for appointment. Only 40 were invited and likely 4 were selected Principal and the rest are likely to be given a regular Nom for SAs to decide. Candidates were called by their Rep about their Appointment. Not sure if the Rep called all or only the Principals. If you have LOA you will get an Appointment by your Rep.
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For our district there were only 8 completed nomination forms from what I understand. He received his nomination via e-mail last Friday and his letter should be on the way according to the email. The Rep never did any interviews either. Thanks for your knowledge and willingness to comment.
 
HopefulDad2022 said:
He was also invited to complete the DODMERB review and was cleared and has completed everything including his CFA. He interviewed with his Field Force Rep who had great things to say. We are very hopeful. He has already been accepted and offered presendential scholarships to three Universities in Texas but wants to go to West Point more than anything.
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Of course. WP is the Gold Standard for the Army Commissioning despite what others may have to say on the topic. Among the IVIES and Top 20 Schools, Princeton, Cornell, Brown have the best Army ROTC Battalions. Yale and Duke have the best Navy and Yale and MIT have the best Air Force Units. This is based on schools Admissions's rate 50%+ of National Scholarship recipients and the school direct support of their ROTC Units. But in the end at Commissioning, Army doesn't care if you graduated from Princeton or Texas A&M, they just take your GPA 60%, Athletic 10%, and Military Leadership 30% score to determine if you are a distinguished grad to select you into the Branch of your choice, competing nationally with other ROTCs. Nevertheless, WP get priority when ranked equal. This mirrors the WP Admissions WCS Scoring composition.

Congrats on his acceptance to colleges. If your son is coming from a highly competitive district he will need 33+ on his ACT or 1500+ on his SAT to be considered for an LOA from any SAs. This is the academic LOA. If an Athlete he would have to be all state level or have a stellar performance track record for a recruited athlete LOA.
 
HopefulDad2022 said:
For our district there were only 8 completed nomination forms from what I understand. He received his nomination via e-mail last Friday and his letter should be on the way according to the email. The Rep never did any interviews either. Thanks for your knowledge and willingness to comment.
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That's excellent. Good for him!
 
So we got my son’s official letter today from our Congressman. It just states the nomination but does not state “primary” or “alternate” in the letter. Do they usually tell the candidate what position they are in?
 
HopefulDad2022 said:
So we got my son’s official letter today from our Congressman. It just states the nomination but does not state “primary” or “alternate” in the letter. Do they usually tell the candidate what position they are in?
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Most MOCs use a competitive slate with no primary or alternate nominations, but it is entirely ok to call their office and confirm.
 
HopefulDad2022 said:
Quick question. Are these letters actually titled “LOE/LOA”? My son just received his Congressional nomination and has excellent grades and test scores but has not received anything like this. He has received correspondence stating he has a “very competitive file” but I am not sure that means much.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Hey! So to answer your question, no. The letters are not titled, but they have a certain wording to them. A Letter of Encouragement is called that because it encourages a candidate to finish his/her file and visit West Point. A Letter of Assurance is called that because it assures an appointment if the stated conditions are met. However, my LOE appeared in my portal and the correspondence bar was titled "Letter of Encouragement," so I knew exactly what it was before I even opened and read it. The paper itself has no title. My LOA was sent via snail mail. Never updated to portal.
 
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