Son just got an LOA - question

[Coach62]

LOA is not a road to any prep school, as usnabgo8 says correctly. The LOA means that should DS receive the nomination (and all other conditions are met: DoDMERB, continued success in academics, no run ins with the law, etc), he already has the appointment in hand. This is usually looked upon favorably by MOCs.

To repeat: the LOA DOES NOT LEAD TO THE PREP SCHOOL. Should in fact DS fail to receive the nom, he'd be OUT, not slotted for prep.

Fencer's Mother - My son's best friend is being recruited by AFA for fencing. Just talked to his dad today, he's a Navy guy. He's competing right now, he sent me some video today.

 

[fifi5]

Is this what Admissions told your DS or is it speculation? I find the statement hard to believe since LOAs are typically decided on many aspects of the whole person assessment and not just the interview (though, the interview could have gone well and it might have been noted). I am skeptical to believe Admissions would hand out an LOA because the candidate was "very impressive to interview." This would definitely be the first that I have heard Admissions state this

Speculation and not the full story. I was trying to be brief. I worded that statement poorly for sure.

I could just tell the interviewer really liked my son and it went very well. The competition in this area for this year is unreal. Everyone says it's the most qualified group of kids they've ever seen in this area. Both the AF and Navy representatives have said this multiple times.

It certainly isn't "the" reason, it just helped for sure.

My son:
5.6 GPA - weighted
34 ACT with 35's in math and science.
Capt. and MVP basketball past 3 years running, hundreds of volunteer hours, etc.

But believe it or not, there are others in this area with similar qualifications. It's unreal this year. If my son had graduated last year (which he could have) he would have been valedictorian. This year he's like 10th in his class.

May I ask what area/state you are in and how did you find out the competition?

 

[Letsdothis]

Is this what Admissions told your DS or is it speculation? I find the statement hard to believe since LOAs are typically decided on many aspects of the whole person assessment and not just the interview (though, the interview could have gone well and it might have been noted). I am skeptical to believe Admissions would hand out an LOA because the candidate was "very impressive to interview." This would definitely be the first that I have heard Admissions state this

Speculation and not the full story. I was trying to be brief. I worded that statement poorly for sure.

I could just tell the interviewer really liked my son and it went very well. The competition in this area for this year is unreal. Everyone says it's the most qualified group of kids they've ever seen in this area. Both the AF and Navy representatives have said this multiple times.

It certainly isn't "the" reason, it just helped for sure.

My son:
5.6 GPA - weighted
34 ACT with 35's in math and science.
Capt. and MVP basketball past 3 years running, hundreds of volunteer hours, etc.

But believe it or not, there are others in this area with similar qualifications. It's unreal this year. If my son had graduated last year (which he could have) he would have been valedictorian. This year he's like 10th in his class.

Where are you from? Those stats are awesome!

 

[NavyHoops]

His best bet is to fill out the recruit form that is on the navy sports website. During Plebe Summer he can sign up for basketball with the team for his sports period. This will let him play pick up daily with the team and really gauge where he would be in the pecking order. They always need a few extra bodies for those games.

Just a heads up... Essentially USNA brings in 2 recruiting classes a year, direct admits and prep school. Also because there are no scholarship caps and attrition rates are so high, recruiting classes tend to be fairly large. It is not uncommon to have 10-12 freshman recruits. As I have stated numerous time on this site, it is also not uncommon to only have 1/3 of those who start plebe year, finish playing 4 years at USNA. Heck the football team easily has 50+ Plebe's start out in August. At senior day you usually see 20-25 seniors be recognized. Pretty decent attrition rate. The large majority who stop playing do remain at USNA. To be totally honest, if your son isn't dead set on playing and have the drive, it won't be a good fit. You obviously know hoops, not sure your level of exposure to D1 basketball, but even at USNA it is a different world. The level of commitment along with the academics and military stuff, make for the longest days ever. Basketball runs nearly the entire academic year, you miss all leave periods except summer and often that is shortened by working in camps and summer workouts. I loved playing basketball at USNA. It was a blast. The time management I learned to balance it all was amazing. My grades did suffer due to missing class and just sometimes not enough hours to get it all done well.

 

[dasani]

Desani, do not assume his son will be a recruited athlete. And there is no such thing as "shooting for the prep school" vs the Academy. It's not as if one is offered the prep school INSTEAD of the Academy. Please. None of that here. One doesn't shoot for the prep school. One is offered the prep school, and it is a golden ticket to the academy. One doesn't apply separately to the prep school.

I just re-read the message and saw that his son is not a recruited athlete.

Yes, there is a such thing as shooting for the prep school. I speak from experience and was offered prep school instead of the Academy due to my athletics and among other things.

 

[usnabgo08]

I speak from experience and was offered prep school instead of the Academy due to my athletics and among other things.

You said you were offered prep school....were you ever offered an appointment or LOA on the first time you applied?