<p>I attended a seminar last night regarding west point admissions and a couple things they said raised questions. They said that you should try to get in your application as early as possible (rolling admissions etc etc) but what I dont understand is how are people getting LOA's as early as October/November when my congressional district doesn't even give out nominations until december at the earliest? Is it through service-connected nominations? Are you granted admission provided your congressman will give you a nomination? Clearly, the theme of the evening was "do everything early" - West Point is where I want to go and I would appreciate any and all tips from you guys about getting in and making my application stronger aside from obviously practicing for the PAE and boosting SATs. (Btw, I know some people had been asking - the admissions officer said that the West Point education is now valued at over $320k!)</p>
<p>LOA's are awarded pre-nomination. The letter states that your admittance is conditional on getting a nomination (and usually, completing your DODMERB as well as your CFA).</p>
<p>You can actually get an LOA before you submit your completed application (if you've attended SLS, and your preliminary stats - SAT, GPA, EC's) are stellar.</p>
<p>The LOA is a promise of an offer of admission PROVIDING that you meet all remaining criteria; medical, nomination, pass the PAE. Thus it can be offered prior to an application being completed, the medical having been passed, or a nomination offered (or even the interview completed). It has been said that the sooner you application is in, the better your chances of receiving an appointment.
CM</p>
<p>I didnt get accepted to the SLS (I am sure my PSATs weren't strong enough.. pshhh) but do from your experience what type of people get LOA's? Obviously, every candidate would like one - but is there something that would particularly stand out and give my application an edge? (For example, I heard that USNA likes to see people who are scuba certified) Thanks</p>
<p>My daughter received an LOA (not a recruited athlete) in mid July, roughly a month after she returned from the IAW in June. If it will help answer your questions, her main stats were as follows:</p>
<p>Weighted GPA 4.52
Un- weighted was 4.0
Class rank was 10/732
School size 3000 (4 yr public High School)
SAT verbal 710 Math 650
ACT 31
8 varsity letters (4 in track, 3 in cross country (all league and team captain), 1 in basketball
editor in chief for yearbook
VP school club
Usual club memberships (CSF, NHS, etc)
Usual volunteer work (American cancer society etc)
Student ambassador for People to People (England, Ireland, Wales)
Usual school academic awards</p>
<p>She also had an LOA from USNA that I believe she received in October.</p>
<p>One thing you need to do to get an early LOA is to make sure you send your official transcript into admissions right after your Junior year ends (yes, even before you send in your regular application at which time you send in yet another one). They won't issue you one without it.</p>
<p>Her PAE scores at 2004 USMA's IAW were:</p>
<p>pushups in two minutes 55
Basketball throw 43 feet
Flexed arm hang 34.8 seconds
300 yard shuttle run 66 seconds
Long jump 79"</p>
<p>She is 5' 9" 125 lbs</p>
<p>You do not need a nomination to get an LOA but make sure you get your nomination apps in to your MOC asap, My daughter had her apps in to both senators, her rep and the VP by June 1, and updated her file with her latest transcript my 9/15. Once you have an LOA you only need a nomination (not the principal one) and your nomination isn't charged against the MOC's quota--you are a "freebie" for the MOC. </p>
<p>Hope that helps</p>
<p>yeah she was a solid candidate, the LOA doesn't surprise me (congrats). Here are my stats as of now:</p>
<p>Weighted GPA: 4.2
Unweighted GPA: 3.7
Class rank 30/300 (however, the school is highly competitive, blue ribbon, distinguished, voted 95th in the nation by newsweek)
School size 1,500 (4 yr public HS)
SAT 1800 (equivilent to a 1200, will definitely raise)
ACT - awaiting scores
4 years track (2 varsity letter, 2 team captain)
Usual club memberships (CSF, NHS, etc.)
Eagle Scout (senior patrol leader)
ASB Class Officer (member of executive board)
Certified Personal Trainer
4 years staff manager at private training gym (avg 15 hours/week during school year, 20-25 hours/week during non-school year)
Black Belt (member of demonstration team, instructor of youth classes)
Total of 6 AP's and 3 honors (by end of senior year)
USNA summer seminar (rejected from SLS)</p>
<p>I will let you draw your own conclusions. All i will say is that I plan to score higher on the SAT and top percentile on the physical aptitude exam. I also plan to turn in all paperwork to USMA as fast as possible. Thanks for all the feedback.</p>
<p>Hey WP,
I attended the Seminar for West Point as well. It was kind of interesting, but mostly a repeat of everything I have learned about the academies. What district are u in?
ZN</p>
<p>It's my observation that LOA's are issued to applicants by West Point to keep their interest and allow them to compete with good to top universities. Think of LOA's as a form of early action. It seems that LOA's typically are issued to women, athletes, and minorities. Shogun's daughter has great numbers and I'm sure will be a great cadet but a male with the same numbers would not have received an LOA. A professor at USNA recently estimated that only 50 percent of the slots at USNA are "competitive" and that the rest of the slots are for women, minorities and athletes. So, in effect, if you're not in one of those categories you're competing for just 50 percent of the potential appointments. Keep this in mind when you see average SAT scores - since the total average is lower than the average from the group you'll actually be competing against. Princeton Review lists the average SAT at 1268 - the average of the competitive 50 percent is probably 1350.</p>
<p>I'm just trying to be informative here - not start any arguments. I agree with the system as it is - our military academies have to represent and reflect our society.</p>
<p>I was contacted over the summer by a gentleman (I believe in Tennessee) who asked how my daughter got her LOA so early (he stated his son had similar stats to my daughter). I suggested that his son send in his transcript early as my daughter did. Three weeks later he emailed me to tell me that two weeks after the transcript went in his son had the LOA in hand. He was a male and not a recruited athlete. Your statement that she received an LOA because she is a girl is off base and inaccurate.</p>
<p>Her LOA (as well as appointment) from the Naval academy was earned as well.</p>
<p>Everyone needs to work on making their own candidate file stronger, not finding rationale for why someone else's might be--that amounts to wasted effort. Everyone thinks their school is "highly competitive", everyone assumes they will improve their sat scores, etc., etc., the key is to follow through and make your case to the Academy with results.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>
[quote]
professor at USNA recently estimated that only 50 percent of the slots at USNA are "competitive" and that the rest of the slots are for women, minorities and athletes.
[/quote]
Just to be accurate - it was prior enlisted, minorities, and athletes that Fleming mentioned. Women have the same average stats as men at USNA.</p>
<p>However, I've also noticed the trend on these boards that more women than men seem to get LOA's. Purely speculation on my part - but perhaps the pool of qualified women interested in service academies is smaller - so they are more active at attempting to lock them in in advance.</p>
<p>my apologies - "prior enlisted" were/are also included. And I agree that women are probably included because a fewer number want to go into the military. I keep telling my 16-year old daughter that West Point has a great dance program but she doesn't believe me.</p>
<p>LOA's aren't "earned". They aren't a badge of honor. They are tools used by the academies to maintain the interest of certain types of candidates. And they take a lot of pressure off of the students who receive them. I'm delighted that Shogun's daughter is going to West Point and I hope the LOA made the difference - it's always nice to be wanted. [It's been my experience, by the way, that ethnicity is difficult to determine over the phone.]</p>
<p>"ethnicity?" What does determining ethnicity over the phone have to do with anything?</p>
<p>"LOA's aren't "earned"."---Hmmm..... perhaps you should read one.</p>
<p>The facts are that if a candidate's file is strong enough they will get an LOA, no matter who they are.</p>
<p>My knowledge of LOAs lines up with Big Green's. That being said, the female cadets are an amazingly qualified group, great academics and just about all become corp squad athletes. If our a male that doesn't fall in to the catagories mentioned above then it is best to maximise your SATs, leadership, and academics to rise high in your district comp. or the NWL, as an LOA is unlikely. By the way URM is very loosely defined at USMA compared to civilian colleges.
Mom 08</p>
<p>Sorry - I thought when you said you were contacted by the gentleman from Tennessee that it was over the phone and you couldn't have known his ethnic background (and whether he fell into an LOA category/URM). I assume from your response you met him face-to-face.</p>
<p>My knowledge of LOA's is only "first hand." I agree with the point that it allows WP to compete for highly qualified candidates. It doesn't "lock" them in like an early decision program--my daughter was still able to apply (and later decline) admission offers from Navy, Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, and USC. The LOA definitely "takes a load off" and I would assert (again, based on "first hand" experience) that candidates who receive them (that are not specifically recruited athletes) are deserving of early offers. I would be surprised to see another candidate turned down who is more qualified academically/physically/EC- wise unless they were dqed by DODMERB. I certainly haven't seen that happen on these boards----not a lot of real surprises here.</p>
<p>Big Green--The contact was via email on the USMA prospective-net. I have no idea what his son's ethnicity is. He has no idea what my daughter's is. If his son's stats are as he stated---his ethnicity is irrelevant--he was a superior candidate.</p>
<p>Good conversation folks!!!!</p>
<p>Shogun,
My experience is first hand, too, Parent's Clubs, RDay, ADay, & PPW, etc.
I posted so that candidates will have a realistic idea of the road ahead. There are plenty of very qualified candidates that are not appointed and are just as qualified and maybe more qualified the the ones that are appointed. The process is a hard and stressful one for the candidates w/o LOAs and they should be prepare for it.
Mom --->08</p>
<p>LOA's are the topic of discussion of this thread. Questions were asked how are they issued, why, etc. From what I have seen, on this particular thread I am the only poster that has had first hand knowledge of an LOA (having seen one, and watched my daughter go through the process of getting one) and as such I was concerned about some of the info being posted here which does not match up to our experience.--I agree those without LOA's need to prepare---but that wasn't the topic.</p>
<p>"There are plenty of very qualified candidates that are not appointed and are just as qualified and maybe more qualified the the ones that are appointed."</p>
<p>I agree, but that's true for every college and life in general, and in the end "maybe more" isn't reality. Life isn't fair from everyone's perspective.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I thought the OP's questions were a bit more general then you did.
Your experience and my mine would be considered anecdotal and should be taken by the OP as such. Your daughter is a great candidate LOA or not. By the 2nd day of Beast all of that is forgotten, anyway.</p>