USAFA LOA

DomerDad

DomerDad

Proud Dad of a USAFA 2026 DD
Joined
Mar 4, 2021
Messages
455
I am curious about what it takes to receive a Letter of Assurance from the Service Academies. I love crowdsourcing information. It would be interesting to identify the common threads connecting LOA recipients.

If you received a Letter of Assurance, can you please share some information about yourself? Are you a recruited athlete? What is your UW GPA? Weighted GPA? SAT/ACT Scores? What leadership positions do you hold? What ECs do you participate in? Did you win any awards? Did/Do your parents serve in the military? How did you perform on the CFA? What do you think makes you unique?
 
Almost all LOA holders are recruited athletes. I think this is because D1 tier athletes likely have other offers, and USAFA wants to give them a sign that if they apply and are qualified, they will get in.
 
I had heard the same about recruited athletes, but it was probably from this forum. Does anyone have actual data vs anecdotal evidence to share?
 
TheRightStuff said:
This statement (bold) is simply not correct.
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From what I have seen, both on this forum and from those who I know personally, this is the case. If you have data proving otherwise, I'd be more than happy to correct myself.
 
USAFA_86 said:
From what I have seen, both on this forum and from those who I know personally, this is the case. If you have data proving otherwise, I'd be more than happy to correct myself.
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Can you show me where on this site there is a correlation between LOAs and recruited athletes to draw your conclusion? I honestly have never seen anything that indicates this.
 
A1Janitor said:
Can you show me where on this site there is a correlation between LOAs and recruited athletes to draw your conclusion? I honestly have never seen anything that indicates this.
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Now looking at this I should rephrase what I said. I personally know an LOA holder and he is playing football at USAFA next year. He also had multiple offers from other amazing schools, but because he had an LOA from USAFA, he felt comfortable pursuing the rest of the application and turning down the other offers. This is why I would think many of the recruited athletes are LOA holders. It logically makes sense that USAFA would want to secure them before another school picks them up. As for on the forum, I have seen one non- recruited LOA holder. This person was appointed to Navy, Westpoint, and Airforce and had absolutely incredible stats. That is why I believe that a non-recruited LOA holder would be rare. But I suppose that I may have just seen two of the extremes and will admit that there are certainly others.
 
USAFA_86 said:
Now looking at this I should rephrase what I said. I personally know an LOA holder and he is playing football at USAFA next year. He also had multiple offers from other amazing schools, but because he had an LOA from USAFA, he felt comfortable pursuing the rest of the application and turning down the other offers. This is why I would think many of the recruited athletes are LOA holders. It logically makes sense that USAFA would want to secure them before another school picks them up. As for on the forum, I have seen one non- recruited LOA holder. This person was appointed to Navy, Westpoint, and Airforce and had absolutely incredible stats. That is why I believe that a non-recruited LOA holder would be rare. But I suppose that I may have just seen two of the extremes and will admit that there are certainly others.
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My son has fairly good stats and got an LOA to USNA - not a recruited athlete.

I think the right analysis is a SA can give LOAs to secure candidates they want for whatever reason they have, which may include recruited athletes or not.
 
A1Janitor said:
My son has fairly good stats and got an LOA to USNA - not a recruited athlete.

I think the right analysis is a SA can give LOAs to secure candidates they want for whatever reason they have, which may include recruited athletes or not.
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100% agree
 
DomerDad said:
I am curious about what it takes to receive a Letter of Assurance from the Service Academies. I love crowdsourcing information. It would be interesting to identify the common threads connecting LOA recipients.

If you received a Letter of Assurance, can you please share some information about yourself? Are you a recruited athlete? What is your UW GPA? Weighted GPA? SAT/ACT Scores? What leadership positions do you hold? What ECs do you participate in? Did you win any awards? Did/Do your parents serve in the military? How did you perform on the CFA? What do you think makes you unique?
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Obviously the SA can give LOA for a multitude of reasons, but my DS received and is not a recruited athlete but is very well rounded with extra curriculars/ GPA/ACT/leadership.
no military background
Above average on most of CFA
GP 4.4/3.8
Several academic awards throughout high school
Eagle scout
High school government leader
Lots of volunteering
2 sports and team captain
LOA from West Point and USAFA but not USNA. No understanding why from one and not other. I’m sure they have their own system of giving.
 
My son was not a recruited athlete and received an LOA to USAFA. He also applied to USNA where he was waitlisted and then turned down, and also USCGA where he was deferred from EA and turned down for RA.

While I think it is true that LOA's are used for highly rated recruited athletes that the academy wants, this is also true of candidates who have other skills they desire. It could also be as simple as knocking the interview out of the park and the evaluator ALO writing up a glowing, eye-catching, recommendation. In short, LOA's are at the discretion of Admissions and they can issue them for about any reason they wish.
 
My DS received an LOA. 3.81 GPA, Non recruited athlete, Eagle scout, OA lodge officer, Crew president, fireman, drum major, musician, swimmer, water polo, life guard instructor, captain/president of everything, two jobs, IB program, lived all over the world, lives with a special needs adopted younger brother, etc. He also interviews very well. Lots of awards, including a couple of national awards. He is so we'll rounded, he is a sphere.

No LOA for the other SAs but has noms/ appts to USMMA and CGA.

My guess is that his situation is unusual, dynamic, and interesting compared to the typical super qualified applicant, not better, just different, but that is only a guess. I was still surprised he got in and doubly so he received can LOA.
 
My son received an LOA and was not a recruited athlete.
NW GPA: 4.0 / W GPA: 4.8
SAT: 1500 / ACT 32
Class President and VP
Team captain x2
3 Varsity Sports
FFA
Plus other extra curricular activities
 
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