Questions for People With LOAs

[i_like_planes]

This is probably a weird question but whatever. Those of you who have gotten an LOA, would you mind saying what kind of stuff you had on your application that you think caused you to get the LOA and also would you mind letting me know when you submitted your application? I hope that makes sense. I know that there is no set criteria for getting an LOA but i'm just curious. Thanks in advance.
I also posted this on the USNA forum.

 

[MidCakePa]

I know that there is no set criteria for getting an LOA but i'm just curious.

You’re exactly correct! Hence, your exercise, while perhaps comforting to you, is pretty fruitless. This is arguably the most discussed topic on SAF, so you can use the search function above to read all about it.

The takeaway: For every person who got an LOA with a certain set of stats, there are numerous others with similar stats who didn’t get an LOA. Whatever stats you may capture here are but a small and non-representative sample.

DD received an LOA from three different SAs for three drastically different reasons. Again, not necessarily a clear-cut rhyme or reason — and respectfully, not worth your time trying to decipher. As many long-timers say: Eyes in the boat and focus on what you can control.

 

[T-37IP]

My DS received an LOA from USAFA, an early appointment to USCGA, TWE from the USNA, type 7 AFROTC scholarship, and rejected for the Marine option NROTC scholarship (296/300 on the PFT).

He's not a straight-A student, not a state (or even district) champion, not the class president, BUT he is extremely well rounded and involved across sports, band, clubs, scouts, volunteer activities, fire dept, etc. He is so well-rounded he is a sphere, and, most importantly IMO, he is very personable and interviews great.

To answer your question, there is no answer, and agree it's not worth trying to figure out. We didn't know what an LOA was until after DS received one.

Do your best, and let the "sorting hat" do the rest.

 

[BBQ-Devil]

My DS received an LOA from USAFA, waitlisted and then TWE from USNA, and an early deferral and regular TWE from USCGA. He also received an NROTC scholarship and a Type 2 AFROTC.

As has been said above, each SA has its own criteria though in general, they do look for the same type of candidate. The differences in results could be as simple as how he interviewed with each, something that struck admissions in an essay, or some other metric that is only known to admissions.

Don't spend too much time worrying about an LOA. If that unicorn comes to visit, embrace it and rejoice, otherwise work on putting together the best packet you can, work out and rock the CFA, and practice to knock the interviews out of the park.

 

[BuckeyeDad20]

I echo what others have said. Its interesting if you look at the above both got LOAs, but two different AFROTC scholarship types while my DS did NOT get an LOA, but got a Type 1 AFROTC which is the uncapped one.

I would think that kids who get LOAs would get Type 1 scholarships. After that, I would think there to be some consistency across them and you can see that two LOAs got capped scholarships while no LOA got uncapped. Now, I say, "I would think" because I was in the USAF and realize not everything is as you would think. The moral of the story is as stated above, don't worry about it. There is is too much variability in the results to figure out the secret recipe. It could be the variability in how the candidates approached the applications, how the interviewers perceived the applicants, or the stage of the process when their applications were reviewed.

You should know the aspects of the application and with enough reading on here, you should have picked up some hints/tips so just go do your best and apply.

 

[BBDad2024]

My DS received an LOA from USNA last year. However he was not even able to get a nomination for USNA nor USMA from senator/congressman. He thought all the interviews went well. Fortunately he was able to get a nomination and appointment to USAFA. I've given up trying to figure out what each looks for.