Letter of Assurance - Class of 2024

H

HCopter

Parent USAFA DD 2024
5-Year Member
Joined
May 16, 2017
Messages
755
DD received a letter in the mail today! So thrilled and excited!
Via US Mail, not reflected in her portal as of now.
Postmarked 10/09/19.
"A spot in the USAFA Class of 2024 will be reserved for you provided you meet all admissions requirements , to include a qualified medical status"
...finish all application requirements w/in 60 days or by 12/19 and satisfactorily meet all of the admissions requirements

Very humbled and thrilled to receive this. DD has been 100% complete with evaluator interview uploaded 09/26/19. Dodmerb qualified since 08/06/19.
 
Last edited:
Congrats! Especially considering that USAFA is very limited in awarding LOAs! Is DD a recruited athlete?
 
No, DD is not a recruited athlete.
Very, very appreciative of this news.
 
HCopter said:
DD received a letter in the mail today! So thrilled and excited!
Via US Mail, not reflected in her portal as of now.
Postmarked 10/09/19.
"A spot in the USAFA Class of 2024 will be reserved for you provided you meet all admissions requirements , to include a qualified medical status"
...finish all application requirements w/in 60 days or by 12/19 and satisfactorily meet all of the admissions requirements

Very humbled and thrilled to receive this. DD has been 100% complete with evaluator interview uploaded 09/26/19. Dodmerb qualified since 08/06/19.
Click to expand...
What is DD’s stats? If you don’t mind me asking
 
Ok, I will post but remember:

1. It could be mostly underrepresented MOC district (thank you gerrymandering!) You might even stop reading here!
2. It is NOT her stats in and of themselves, but her ability to answer Why should we bring you to the Class of 2024? qualities/personality/capacity etc
3. See this thread in USNA, and read posts #29 (Capt MJ) and #31 (justdoit) -the pizza crust vs. toppings is EXCELLENT!!!

My son received an LOA today! So excited!!

Nomination is the only thing left, fingers crossed...
www.serviceacademyforums.com

EBRW 730 M 720; E36 M 31 R36 S31 W11 (school ave: 1407 31)
11 APs, 18 upon graduation ave 4.09 (school 3.7; no gatekeeping; 17.4 ave APs)
USAFA recalculated GPA 4.50

Big 3 things. I can't do this section justice. All her vignettes were here:
1. varsity swim, captain of another high school team, 40 members
2. JROTC PT Club/staff, captain, enrolled thru another high school; 6 high schools form 1 battalion 284 cadets
3. (CITY) Museum volunteer, captain, team and indiv accomplishments; create events, budgets <$100, # served, who served, community benefit

Overlooked in posting stats:
Essays - really good.
Interview - very good for USAFA. in closing, "Do you mind if I share your resume with my students?"
SOEs/Rec letters - specific vignettes and qualities tailored to SAs, quantified, not fluffery, not one-of-my-5-draft-letters.
CFA respectable and passed. 2 below ave, 2 above ave, 2 max (SLE 626)
 
Congrats! I remember the day DS got the notification of his LOA like it was yesterday. His came in the form of an email in December saying his portal had updated.

Enjoy the moment and the time with your DD. It will be I-Day before you know it.
 
Congrats!
(evaluator interview uploaded 09/26/19. Dodmerb qualified since 08/06/19 )
When you were received Dodmerb notice? And evalutor interview notice? How long it took to next step?
 
BBQ-Devil said:
Congrats! I remember the day DS got the notification of his LOA like it was yesterday. His came in the form of an email in December saying his portal had updated.

Enjoy the moment and the time with your DD. It will be I-Day before you know it.
Click to expand...

Thank you! What does my DD have in common with someone who's portal hasn't opened yet? NO appointment! Still a long road to go!
I posted the key sentence from her letter because we weren't sure it was an LOA, and making sure we weren't reading what we wanted it to say, since no change to her portal.

Also I made a small but very important error in my original post: the letter said all admissions requirements must be completed w/in 60 days of the letter, or 12/19 whichever is earlier. So unlike the other LOAs, there is a time limit for the entire admissions requirements inclusive of DoDMERB.
 
richard_miao said:
Congrats!
(evaluator interview uploaded 09/26/19. Dodmerb qualified since 08/06/19 )
When you were received Dodmerb notice? And evalutor interview notice? How long it took to next step?
Click to expand...

@richard_miao , DD's time frame was quite uneventful and nothing out of the ordinary except she got things done relatively fast. USAFA's criteria to trigger DoDMERB is the least ambiguous - unlike USNA, USMA, USCGA "around 50%", "when you are deemed to have completed enough elements", etc) - USAFA says exactly what items, how many to trigger. Knowing this, DD targeted USAFA to be the main trigger for DoDMERB with 3/5 elements (notice in candidate packet is actually says 3/6 elements, but she used the 3/5 criteria). So if you are lucky to have a good CFA at SLE, never did drugs, never got a speeding ticket (or have all that info handy!) - you can quickly trigger DodMERb. See page 12, Section D Medical Exam, and i'm talking about #1, #2, #6. #4 is quite easy as well. It says names submitted, not that the SOEs must be uploaded to trigger DoDMERB.

There is some luck-of-the-draw regarding interviews. Remember there is the human element involved. Evaluator ALO super responsive and wanted interview ASAP. He also uploaded interview report w/in 4 days of interview.
 
Thanks for posting this and thanks for posting her stats. I know it’s a small glimpse of the whole picture, but it’s helpful to see some benchmarks!
Congrats to your DD, underrepresented district or not, those are very impressive and she truly earned her spot.
 
Retract retract!!!!!

DD's admission counselor has just advised that this is NOT an LOA! I repeat, NOT an LOA even thought the language (see post #1) was very close to what seems like an LOA! It is a letter of interest. That is why I posted the exact sentence, but not the second one that is different from other LOAs - it does not say guaranteed, you will appointed, etc.

I don't think i'd be the only one to mistake this for an LOA!!!

I looked at all DD's other LOAs again:
USMA "reserved a cadetship for you...." "you will be appointed a member of USMA Class of 2024"
USNA: :guaranteed offer of admission" "get nom, "you will be offered an appointment"
USMMA: LOA in portal; ..."reserved an appointment....you will be appointed"

USAFA: The sentence in my original post above: "A spot in the USAFA Class of 2024 will be reserved for you provided you meet all admissions requirements, to include a qualified medical status" BUT....after section describing what you need to do....."Once your file is complete and you have satisfactorily met all the admissions requirements, I plan to recommend you to the Admissions Group who will make the final determination on an offer." I think this is the indication it's a letter of interest, NOT AN LOA!

What a deflator!
 
Last edited:
HCopter said:
Retract retract!!!!!

DD's admission counselor has just advised that this is NOT an LOA! I repeat, NOT an LOA even thought the language (see post #1) was very close to what seems like an LOA! It is a letter of interest. That is why I posted the exact sentence, but not the second one that is different from other LOAs - it does not say guaranteed, you will appointed, etc.

I don't think i'd be the only one to mistake this for an LOA!!!

I looked at all DD's other LOAs again:
USMA "reserved a cadetship for you...." "you will be appointed a member of USMA Class of 2024"
USNA: :guaranteed offer of admission" "get nom, "you will be offered an appointment"
USMMA: LOA in portal; ..."reserved an appointment....you will be appointed"

USAFA: The sentence in my original post above: "A spot in the USAFA Class of 2024 will be reserved for you provided you meet all admissions requirements, to include a qualified medical status" BUT....after section describing what you need to do....."Once your file is complete and you have satisfactorily met all the admissions requirements, I plan to recommend you to the Admissions Group who will make the final determination on an offer." I think this is the indication it's a letter of interest, NOT AN LOA!

What a deflator!
Click to expand...
Still, she got that and no one else is reporting such! It’s still awesome.
 
It's not easy to got that! You should so proud for her! Awesome.
 
Congrats! This is not exactly a letter of assurance by USAFA standards, but pretty darn close. Your file still needs to be completed and reviewed. Then the entire package needs to be approved by the Academy Board.

Get your entire file done quickly. Don't forget your DoDMERB exam. Once that is done and your file winds its way through the above hoops, you will hear more.
 
Last edited:
LOA is now in portal
specifically says "LETTER OF ASSURANCE"
PDF letter attached.
Dated 10/30/2019
Past tense, "You have been approved", "You are assured an appointment" get nom, etc

Wonderful news, but of course the long, long, long wait for nomination process.

For future classes - the LOI is a future tense letter (and Board has not finalized review), the LOA is past tense - Board/Committee has met, you have been approved, has been reserved for you etc.
 
I tried to coin the term Portal Message of Assurance (PMOA) in July of 2018, but we continue to live with antiquated terminology:)
 
HCopter said:
LOA is now in portal
specifically says "LETTER OF ASSURANCE"
PDF letter attached.
Dated 10/30/2019
Past tense, "You have been approved", "You are assured an appointment" get nom, etc

Wonderful news, but of course the long, long, long wait for nomination process.

For future classes - the LOI is a future tense letter (and Board has not finalized review), the LOA is past tense - Board/Committee has met, you have been approved, has been reserved for you etc.
Click to expand...
Congratulations!!
It is really interesting that it was dated for today, since USAFA has been closed Monday, Tuesday, and today due to a snowstorm. I wonder if the acceptance board can meet remotely. Regardless, that is so exciting!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top