LoA Chances and Recommended Conduct

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I logged in today at admissions.usma.edu to find my admissions file complete (finally).</p>

<p>My question is...when do I find out about a possible LoA, and should I ask my West Point Regional Representative about it?</p>

<p>Stats:
ACT: 27 Math
31 Writing
35 Reading
30 Science Reasoning</p>

<p>SAT: 640 Math
770 Verbal</p>

<p>GPA: 3.39
Class rank: 2 of 54</p>

<p>Strong EC record: Class President in 11th grade, captain of CC this year, 3 varsity letters (hockey, track, cc), youth group president, boys stater.</p>

<p>Any advice appreciated. Thank you.</p>

<p>You should speak with your MALO who may be able to let you know where you stand. And don't worry about the LOA. They are great to have in hand, but most cadets never received one. Good luck to you. Keep us posted.</p>

<p>You have good test scores. But what about the CFA? How many AP or honors classes have you taken? They look at that when taking into account GPA. CFA is 10% of your whole candidate score. It has the potential to keep you out. Another big hurdel is getting a nomination. Good luck! GO ARMY!</p>

<p>SLS2P7S,</p>

<p>You certainly have credentials that put you in good standing for an LOA. I don't see any downside to asking your USMA admissions rep about your chances for an LOA.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that LOA's are not only limited in total number but, like overall admissions, they are allocated by geographic area as well. For that reason, your chances of receiving an LOA depend on the strength of other candidates in your region as well as your own credentials. </p>

<p>Hope you receive a good response from USMA.</p>

<p>Thanks for the replies all.</p>

<p>My CFA was about average. I did well on a few events and poorly on 1 or 2.
CFA:
34 Pushups
54 Situps
2 Pullups
67 ft. BBall Throw
8.7 shuttle run
5:50 mile</p>

<p>As you may have guessed, I'm a pretty lanky guy: 6'3, 140 lbs. I took that CFA at SLS, and they give you the options to retake it in the fall. I have still yet to take it again...should I?</p>

<p>Also, my school is a very small Catholic college prep school, and it does not offer AP classes. I have, however, taken every honors course available and (as you can see by my class rank and unweighted GPA) the courses tend to be VERY difficult.</p>

<p>Thanks for the input, all.</p>

<p>Edited for Grammar mistakes.</p>

<p>i would retake it. your upper body events (pushups and pullups) are a little low. i would shoot for 50 pushups, and at least 6 pullups.</p>

<p>as for an LOA. based on what I've seen/heard around here, your test scores might be too low. Good enough for an appointment, but not for LOA. dont quote me on that though, i am in no way an expert on this stuff. I've just noticed that the people that are getting LOA's have high class rank, and killer SAT/ACT.</p>

<p>Try to get permission to take the CFA again. Two pull-ups is very low and there are stories of kids with not enough pull-ups not getting into West Point at all regardless of their other attributes. Practice a lot before you retake the test.</p>

<p>Well, hopefully that will not happen to me.</p>

<p>While we were at SLS, they gave us sheets indicting whether we passed or not. I got a pass, so I'm assuming that is a good sign.</p>

<p>And I do have permission to take it again. That was one stipulation of the SLS program.</p>

<p>You kind of need to think of the CFA as not being pass/fail. As one of the previous writers commented or alluded to, each candidate gets a total candidate score which is a combination of a lot of things. The CFA counts for ten percent of that score. Don't leave any points on the table as one point could seperate you from someone that gets an LOA, or someone that doesn't get in at all. I have also heard other candidates say that they passed the CFA only to find out later that they really did not. Push-ups and pull-ups are measures of upper body strength, some thing West Point takes seriously...</p>