<p>death<em>by</em>happiness, agreed!</p>
<p>However, with college candidates, if you are QQQ'd you are basically getting an appointment, even though the QQQ letter says it does not garauntee it (its a generic letter). I believe the only reason tjm787 got an LOA is because his merits were exceptional but he was not QQQ'd (at the time the letter was sent)...USNA did not have any other way of offerring an appointment to him and they wanted him (there are no other/intermediate letters to send)! If tjm787 had taken the CFA before the letter was sent, he would not have been sent an LOA, rather a QQQ letter, followed by an appointment.</p>
<p>USNA would not send a QQQ letter to a college student and then a rejection letter; the board, at the point where college students are reviewed in the admission cycle, knows pretty much how much spots they can allow for college candidates, therefore they will not take too many more than they can hold. That doesn't mean there might be a few who are QQQ and then turned down, but the majority, say 95%, of college candidates will be appointed.</p>
<p>With HS'ers, a QQQ letter DOES NOT garauntee an appointment, even if one has met all the requirements.</p>
<p>My CO during one of my training evolutions last summer was a regional director in admissions who explained the college side of the admission process to me (I asked, since I was a college student and was interested to see how the 2nd cycle worked).</p>