USAFA Letter of Assurance - Please share hard stats

D

DeepWaters

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For those of you with kids who have received LOAs for the AF, first, congrats. Second, could you share some hard stats (namely ACT/SAT scores and GPAs). I suspect they also had strong extracurriculars, but if there is any one thing you think might have tipped the scales in terms of an LOA (recruited athlete, URM), please share that too if you are comfortable doing so. Finally, if anyone has any insight into how many of these actually go out each year, when they typically go out, etc., I would love to hear from you.

Thank you.
 
I have read on here that AFA LOAs are rarer than other SAs. Not sure if that is true. It seems to my unscientific and probably incorrect analysis that USNA gives the most (I have read about 120 a year) and USMA gives less followed by AF.

And even if you find out stats - there are other reasons why they are given beyond stats. So this might not be worth spending time on.

I know the stats of some at USNA that were early LOAs.
 
I know that LOA stands for Letter of Assurance. But when you get one, does it actually say 'Letter of Assurance'?

My son received his appointment on Christmas Eve; accepted it immediately. The next day, he received a letter on the portal that said:

"We have received your online acceptance and wish to congratulate you on your decision and welcome you to the USAFA Class of 2024! Your space at the USAFA is now officially reserved." (Though we are still anxiously awaiting a medical waiver.)

That sure sounds like it could be a LOA. Is it?

My apologies to the original poster. This reply is not directly on topic, but I am sure there are others who could use some background and clarification on exactly what a LOA is.
 
No that is not an LOA. It is better. It is congratulations for acceptance of offer.

LOA happens before offer and acceptance. It is conditional on medical qualification and nomination.
 
A1Janitor said:
No that is not an LOA. It is better. It is congratulations for acceptance of offer.

LOA happens before offer and acceptance. It is conditional on medical qualification and nomination.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your reply. That is great to hear, but we are actually still waiting on medical clearance. Unless, perhaps, this is just a situation where DoDMERB has given the AFA the OK on my son, but they haven't updated the portal yet.
 
My son got an LOA for USAFA last year. He was not a recruited athlete. He was a 4.0 student but had average SAT scores. I think what tipped the scales was his leadership activities (he was a three sport varsity athlete as well).
 
Gyrfalcon said:
Thank you for your reply. That is great to hear, but we are actually still waiting on medical clearance. Unless, perhaps, this is just a situation where DoDMERB has given the AFA the OK on my son, but they haven't updated the portal yet.
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DoDMERB qualifies or disqualifies a candidate.

The SA decides whether to waive the DQ or not.

If he received an offer and he accepted that offer ... and he received that letter from USAFA - than it sounds to me like the waiver approval hasn’t been updated to the portal yet.

He must know if he accepted an offer that was given to him.

An email to the admissions counselor would clear this up quickly.
 
Hi,
I just wanted to put my stats here because when I was applying, I would have loved to have seen more peoples' stats. I submitted my application before Nov 1, 2019, got my LOA in early November, then got a 2 congressional nominations in late December, and an offer of appointment late December. I accepted of course, USAFA was number one by far for me. I am not a recruited athlete by the way. I have also heard of the rarity of LOAs for USAFA, and was completely surprised by mine.
Here are some of my stats:
SAT: Math 740, English 740, Composite 1480
ACT: English 35, Math 32, Reading 34, S/R 31, Composite 33
GPA: 3.71 Unweighted, 4.0 Weighted at a college preparatory level high school
School: 9 total AP classes taken including my senior year classes
Extracurriculars: I'll just give some general pointers that worked for me. I would first say only do things you want to do, not just resume fillers. Second, be well rounded, with a combination of athletic, extracurricular clubs, and outside community service. I will say though that my extracurriculars were really strong, but I had to get it together Junior year, since that was when I decided I wanted to go to a SA. Before that, even with my high test scores and GPA, I know I would have been denied.
My general advice is get fit, do what you can to take on new leadership opportunities and pursue new interests, get super fit, and submit everything as early as possible. The last thing was essential in me getting my LOA early, since I was the first deadline for applications. Do not procrastinate, talk to your ALO, and just keep going. Work hard and do your research, and you can really increase your chances. But the hard work and time management are super key. Back to the LOAs though, I know people older than me that had higher test scores than me that did not get LOAs, but ended up getting regular admission, so it's all about the full candidate file that is considered. I hope that really helps.
 
I’ll add mine even if they are a bit old (class of 2012) because I see this request come up a lot. I got my LOA in early October senior year, I believe it was the 11th. At the time we had no idea what an LOA was, so it was a big surprise.

SAT: math 760, English 750
GPA: 4.0 unweighted (my school didn’t weight)
Class rank: 1
4 yr varsity tennis, 3 time district champion (one runner up- lost to my teammate), ranked top 5 in the Pacific Northwest in singles for most of high school, highest national junior ranking #96 in singles, #27 in doubles

I played tennis for USAFA but was never officially recruited- I talked to the coach but she said she didn’t think she would need to do anything and we would wait and see.
 
Thank you for those who have replied with scores and other tips. Y'all are very impressive. We're fortunate to have people of this caliber serving.
 
3.97 10 AP classes, 2 college classes
1500 sat (800 in math)
34 ACT (36 on math). Qualified medically for pilot. CFA passed

Over 500 volunteer hours not including two weeks in rural Africa.
Xc captain, varsity baseball.
Job 6-10 hrs/week
Boys state
USNA summer seminar
Officer for national honor society
A few other ec including coaching special Olympics, etc
Caucasian male not recruited athlete
 
Received LOA September 20
ACT: English 36, Reading 36, Science 35, Math 32, Composite 35
GPA: 4.63 weighted, approx 3.95 unweighted
No class rank
Classes: some AP's, honors, and such
Extracurriculars: Eagle Scout, Boys State, Class President, NHS Vice President, some others (club president, volunteer stuff, etc.)
Sports: 2 sports varsity and captain
Essays: Pretty good, I think, but just my own guess
DodMERB: Was medically qualified at the time I received the LOA
Other: Caucasian male, not recruited athlete
Note: My district is very competitive
There are several other candidates in my district that I know of who also have an LOA, including one from my school who has very similar stats to me.

Of course getting an LOA is competitive, but I think it is more difficult at USMA. They give LOE's, which are not conditional offers of appointment, to candidates like me. USMA reserves LOA's for recruited athletes and underrepresented minorities.
Good Luck
 
LOA Nov 1
SAT: 680 Math, 720 R/W. 1400 Total
GPA: 4.0 unweighted
~8 AP classes, 5s (not including senior year)
Extras: Civil Air Patrol C/Capt, cadet unit commander in CAP and AFJROTC, private pilot's license
Sports: Varsity Cross Country, team won regions
CFA: bit below average on 3 events (yikes), good mile
Other: Mixed race, not recruited, district not very competitive. I started on the application early, so admissions had a good picture of my by August.

I agree with @A1Janitor, stats only tell part of a story, that's why there's always an interview after the resume (analogy).

Is there a place to find published LOA numbers from the Academy? I would assume it varies from year to year.
 
Ditka089 said:
3.97 10 AP classes, 2 college classes
1500 sat (800 in math)
34 ACT (36 on math). Qualified medically for pilot. CFA passed

Over 500 volunteer hours not including two weeks in rural Africa.
Xc captain, varsity baseball.
Job 6-10 hrs/week
Boys state
USNA summer seminar
Officer for national honor society
A few other ec including coaching special Olympics, etc
Caucasian male not recruited athlete
Click to expand...
I forgot to add that my AF interviewer was super impressed that I had a manual labor job. He was impressed that I even had a job, let alone manual labor. He said he doesn’t see many applicants having jobs thee days in addition to all the other rigors that go into a competitive application.
 
Small_Goose said:
LOA Nov 1
SAT: 680 Math, 720 R/W. 1400 Total
GPA: 4.0 unweighted
~8 AP classes, 5s (not including senior year)
Extras: Civil Air Patrol C/Capt, cadet unit commander in CAP and AFJROTC, private pilot's license
Sports: Varsity Cross Country, team won regions
CFA: bit below average on 3 events (yikes), good mile
Other: Mixed race, not recruited, district not very competitive. I started on the application early, so admissions had a good picture of my by August.

I agree with @A1Janitor, stats only tell part of a story, that's why there's always an interview after the resume (analogy).

Is there a place to find published LOA numbers from the Academy? I would assume it varies from year to year.
Click to expand...

You certainly seem deserving of an LOA! Fellow CAP C/Captain and unit commander here, the position has immensely helped shape me into a leader and I am sure you had plenty to tie into your essays.
 
Wonderful posts! What amazing young men and women!
If you want to read my DD's, it's in a thread circa early/mid Oct.

These are great for inspiration, not for comparison. If you want hard stats, look up the class profiles.

What are all of these LOA holders missing? "Yes buts". None of them are saying yes but this, yes but that. They did, do, and will continue. They didn't do everything, but what they did do, they fully engaged and exceeded the rigor of their competitive pool, not depend on it to make them competitive. Then they all have something even in a short forum post that you can tell make them INTERESTING. 3 dimensional - volunteering in Africa? Manual labor? WOW - tell me more! Worthy of a thread hijack here!

My advice to my DD: The real questions you should answer are Why should they bring you to the brigade (regiment, etc)? How have you demonstrated that you have the capacity to make the most of their resources, and on the flip side what will you uphold/contribute to this SA? Again, it's the interview vignettes, essays, and letters of rec along with your hard stats. Ideally you want to be 3-D with the application alone, and the interview hammers it home.
 
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DD submitted application Dec 15, 2018 and received LOA January 11, 2019. her ACT and SAT (1240) were not impressive. She doesn't test well. 13AP classes with 3.75 GPA unweighted. 3years Captain of her Varsity team (decided not to play her Junior) recruited athlete. Highly competitive school district and service academy. NHS, several awards, comes from a line of military family. Female Asian
 
DS Finished his app in November 2018 and received his LOA in December. He was not a recruited athlete

SAT - 1410 - 780 Math
GPA 4.0 unweighted - 10 AP Classes
HS Rank 2/59 - private school
Above Average CFA - 18 Pullups, 75 pushups, ~90 situps, 68 BB Throw, 8.4 Shuttle, 6:15 mile
Sports: Varsity XC, Captain Varsity Tennis, Captain Varsity Swim
worked 10-12 hours per week

Same stats though got a turn down from USCGA and wait-listed at USNA so its obviously not all about statistics.
 
DS Received LOA in November and Nomination in December. Here are the stats:

ACT: 35 total score (36 English, 35 Science, 35 math, 34 Reading).
GPA: 4.6 weight/4.0 Unweighted.
HS Rank: 2/313
CFA: He will go to the grave before sharing that, but he passed.
Sports: Fencing (Local epee champion; competed at Junior Olympics/Nationals).
BONUS: 3 Years JROTC, final year as one of the 5 commanding officers; Captain of the Varsity Academic Team; Commander of the CyberPatriots Team
JOB: Summer Coach for Historic European Martial Arts program for kids.
 
LOA Received in November and 2 Congressional Nominations in December. Here are my stats:

ACT: 33(32 English; 30 Math; 36 Reading; 35 Science)
Classes: 12 APs; 4 dual enrollment classes
GPA: 4.60 Weighted/ 4.0 Unweighted
HS Rank: None (school does not rank)
CFA: 3 events slightly below average; 2 at average; 1 at max (passed overall)
Sports: Varsity Swim Team (Team won State Championship 3 years in a row)
Extras: Started non-profit to provide amputees with prosthetic limbs, published research with professor about nanotechnology, Captain of Robotics team, NHS Officer
Other: Asian female; not recruited; do not come from a competitive district

One question, I received my LOA in the mail, but it has not been updated in my portal. Is it supposed to? When I called admissions to ask about this in early December they said to wait, but it's been over a month, should I call again? Any feedback appreciated.
 
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