LOA v. No LOA

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jrw0531

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Good evening!

Applicant for Class of 2026. I have a question on how LOA's work. I haven't received one but I have a nomination. I was wondering how not having an LOA influences Admissions. Do they not consider you as much and just give appointments to people with LOAs? Who is given an LOA? I'm not really sure how many people get them either - it seems like a lot, as two of my friends have some to their respective academies of choice. So without one, what does that mean exactly? What would separate a candidate from other candidates without an LOA? Thank you!

Thanks!
 
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jrw0531 said:
Good evening!

Applicant for Class of 2026. I have a question on how LOA's work. I haven't received one but I have a nomination. I was wondering how not having an LOA influences Admissions. Do they not consider you as much and just give appointments to people with LOAs? Who is given an LOA? I'm not really sure how many people get them either - it seems like a lot, as two of my friends have some to their respective academies of choice. So without one, what does that mean exactly? What would separate me from other candidates without an LOA? Thank you!

Thanks!
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Use the search feature on LOAs. It is all there.

In the past, they have given 120 or so. So 90 percent of appointees don’t have them.
 
A1Janitor said:
Use the search feature on LOAs. It is all there.

In the past, they have given 120 or so. So 90 percent of appointees don’t have them.
Click to expand...
I tried but it kept saying the term "LOA" was too short to be searched 😂 But thank you for the information! Really helpful
 
jrw0531 said:
Good evening!

Applicant for Class of 2026. I have a question on how LOA's work. I haven't received one but I have a nomination. I was wondering how not having an LOA influences Admissions. Do they not consider you as much and just give appointments to people with LOAs? Who is given an LOA? I'm not really sure how many people get them either - it seems like a lot, as two of my friends have some to their respective academies of choice. So without one, what does that mean exactly? What would separate a candidate from other candidates without an LOA? Thank you!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hello,

So an LOA stands for a Letter of Assurance. They are given to approximately the top 10 percent of the making class so 90 percent of applicants will not receive one. An LOA is a guaranteed appointment to the respective academy given that you pass your DODMERB, CFA, and receive a nomination. If you do not have an LOA it just means you will be competing with the other applicants that do not have an LOA to make it in the other 90 percent of the making class. LOAs are given to exceptional applicants and are a way for the academies to say we really want you here.

Hope this helps!
 
FuturePilot1220 said:
Hello,

So an LOA stands for a Letter of Assurance. They are given to approximately the top 10 percent of the making class so 90 percent of applicants will not receive one. An LOA is a guaranteed appointment to the respective academy given that you pass your DODMERB, CFA, and receive a nomination. If you do not have an LOA it just means you will be competing with the other applicants that do not have an LOA to make it in the other 90 percent of the making class. LOAs are given to exceptional applicants and are a way for the academies to say we really want you here.

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Thank you, that explanation really helps a lot! Seeing that it is in the top 10% of applicants, I understand that that is not a make or break type of thing. I wasn't sure what it meant to get one versus not and what that means with a nomination because I've heard unfortunately stories of people getting LOAs with no nominations (which really sucks!). Thank you for the clarification!
 
jrw0531 said:
Thank you, that explanation really helps a lot! Seeing that it is in the top 10% of applicants, I understand that that is not a make or break type of thing. I wasn't sure what it meant to get one versus not and what that means with a nomination because I've heard unfortunately stories of people getting LOAs with no nominations (which really sucks!). Thank you for the clarification!
Click to expand...
No problem. And as for nominations, they are a completely separate process to LOAs. For example, I currently have an LOA to USMA, USNA, and an LOE to USAFA however I currently only have a nomination to USAFA. Basically, LOAs will be given to candidates regardless of if they have a nomination or not since the nomination process is not done by the academies.
 
jrw0531 said:
Thank you, that explanation really helps a lot! Seeing that it is in the top 10% of applicants, I understand that that is not a make or break type of thing. I wasn't sure what it meant to get one versus not and what that means with a nomination because I've heard unfortunately stories of people getting LOAs with no nominations (which really sucks!). Thank you for the clarification!
Click to expand...

It is not necessarily the top 10% of applicants. It is the applicants that the Academy doesn’t want to lose for whatever reason. They go to “walk-on-water” candidates, diversity candidates, athletic recruits, and candidates that have something that USNA desires in their class. There is no set recipe to receive one and thus should not even be a concern for most candidates.

Stealth_81
 
Stealth_81 said:
It is not necessarily the top 10% of applicants. It is the applicants that the Academy doesn’t want to lose for whatever reason. They go to “walk-on-water” candidates, diversity candidates, athletic recruits, and candidates that have something that USNA desires in their class. There is no set recipe to receive one and thus should not even be a concern for most candidates.
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^ This ! A hint to all Candidates , don't spend a minute thinking about whether you got an LOA or not. If you get one, great ....if not, you are like the vast majority of Midshipman who get appointed from a competitive nomination slate. On I-Day, all Plebes are the same, regardless of whether you got an LOA or not.
 
Stealth_81 said:
It is not necessarily the top 10% of applicants. It is the applicants that the Academy doesn’t want to lose for whatever reason.
Click to expand...
Yes! Don’t know where the “top 10%” came from — we’ll call it “SA urban legend.” Been here quite a while and have read many posts from well-informed people. The notion of “top 10%” has not been mentioned by anyone I’d consider authoritative. SAs want to lock in certain candidates for any number of reasons, which may or may not entail their relative ranking within the applicant pool.
 
Stealth_81 said:
It is not necessarily the top 10% of applicants. It is the applicants that the Academy doesn’t want to lose for whatever reason. They go to “walk-on-water” candidates, diversity candidates, athletic recruits, and candidates that have something that USNA desires in their class. There is no set recipe to receive one and thus should not even be a concern for most candidates.

Stealth_81
Click to expand...
Thank you for your advice, much appreciated! I didn't know what concern it should be to me as an applicant, or the level of I guess "stress" it ought to cause.
 
Old Navy BGO said:
^ This ! A hint to all Candidates , don't spend a minute thinking about whether you got an LOA or not. If you get one, great ....if not, you are like the vast majority of Midshipman who get appointed from a competitive nomination slate. On I-Day, all Plebes are the same, regardless of whether you got an LOA or not.
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Thank you so much for this! It really helps a lot! I am from a very competitive nomination slate as well. I will just be happy to serve my country the way it has served me.
 
Regarding LOAs, my son has one to the USMA, but no nom. Two were outright rejections and the third was lost on a technicality (said app. was incomplete when it was not). Currently in contact with the school to see what we can be done. But our hopes aren't too high at this point. :(
 
And a LOA is still no guarantee if all the requirements are not met. My son received one to the USNA in November of last cycle, and even told all three of his nomination interview panels he had received one. But he still did not get a nomination there, only to the USAFA (and USMA, to which he did not even apply). The admissions team worked to see if there were any others available to him, but in the end he still received a TWE and didn't get in.

We'll see how this year goes as he is applying as a college re-applicant (and currently as a college programmer in his NROTC unit - that means he is participating in the unit while not on scholarship). He won't even be considered by the admissions board until his Fall transcripts are sent in. No LOA this time!

Focus on the appointment and putting in your best application. LOAs are a mystery and no guarantee.
 
The above is very important advice. In the "old days," there was a view / belief / whatever that, if you had an LOA, USNA would "find" a nomination for you. That is rarely the case today. Thus, some really terrific candidates who have the "golden ticket" still end up with a TWE.

There are various reasons why this happens. In some cases, the MOC assumes that USNA will find an LOA and thus gives the noms to other candidates -- USNA tries to "educate" MOCs about this but some may persist in their mistaken views. In some cases, the MOC's committee may have a different view of the LOA candidate than USNA such that they don't consider him / her among the 10 strongest candidates in the district / state. Keep in mind that MOCs typically want "diversity" among their selections (in terms of schools (public vs. private), areas of the state / district, etc.). So, for example, if there are 3 LOA recipients from the same school or same town, one or two of them will probably lose out because the MOC probably won't give noms to multiple students from one school when there are well-qualified candidates from other schools / areas of the district. Finally, some states / districts may have more than 10 LOA candidates so some will automatically lose out even if every LOA candidate receives a nom.
 
One of my son's primary "rivals" during X-Country and Track (who he typically beat) actually got an appointment. Same District, so not sure if he got the slot that may have been available for my son.

Disappointing thing? The kid quit during Plebe summer ........... (Which I understand, having done that myself, but it still stings thinking it could have been my son's slot).
 
IronmanDaremo said:
One of my son's primary "rivals" during X-Country and Track (who he typically beat) actually got an appointment. Same District, so not sure if he got the slot that may have been available for my son.

Disappointing thing? The kid quit during Plebe summer ...........
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I can see the disappointment. Now that it's in the past though, I hope that he did use the spot so now, maybe there are two available for that slate.
 
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