<p>I’m curious…
How common is it to receive an LOA from the USAFA? And when do they tend to send them out?
If there is anyone who got an LOA or whose son/daughter got one, could you tell me what their stats, etc were like? Any input is appreciated…</p>
<p>First time user,
Mike</p>
<p>They should be coming around in october or november i believe.</p>
<p>The faster you fill out your application and go through the process the greater chance you have of getting an LOA.</p>
<p>They're not abundant, but certainly not uncommon. I had one in late October. Brief stats:</p>
<p>3.8-4.0ish GPA (don't remember)
15%-ish percentile in HS class of 200
1450 SATs (2160 on the new one)
Solid AP scores
Many years of cross country and track (captain, etc.)
I attended Summer Seminar, that probably helped a little bit
I felt like my interviews all went very well, that probably helped quite a bit too</p>
<p>If there's anything else you want to know, just ask. The bottom line is that if you and the Academy seem like a match, there's a good chance that you might hear early.</p>
<p>Our son got an LOA in Dec before Christmas. He took a total of
7 AP classes- his unweighted GPA via the AFA was 3.98 and weighted
was about 4.4. He had varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball
his junior year and had tons of community service, captain of basketball
squad his senior year and was just all around solid. His SAT scores
were the average for the USAFA at 650 Math and 630 Reading. He was 6th in his class of around 500 students. I think you need a good interview
with the ALO.</p>
<p>Only about 100 LOAs are sent out, the rest of appointments are mostly done in March. </p>
<p>A big key to getting an LOA is STRONG academics AND strong athletics. If you only have one, probably best to wait till March. :) (Speaking from experience here!)</p>
<p>My son's ALO said that LOA's (in November or December) go to those who DODMERB physical qualifies them as "Pilot Qualified". </p>
<p>He said the USAFA is trying to keep those kids at USAFA, many who may otherwise accept an appointment to the USNA due to any delay.</p>
<p>He said you could be strong in every area, academics, EC's, CFA, etc - but if you cannot get PPQ you probably are not getting a LOA from USAFA.</p>
<p>He is mistaken. There are at least a couple of 2011' who weren't PPQ that got LOA's. They just go to the very highly qualified candidates that have completed the applications early enough to be considered. Hornet is right most of the appointments come out in March, but there was a pretty good CC 2011 track record for early appointments. Both LOA's and rolling admissions. There is an old thread that shows when the appointments were offered and accepted by many of the 2011 cc'ers. Hornet, G4C, Eagle, Ramius and others were exemplary in their support, and encouragement of the 2011 crew, and I am sure Redhead, Petko, Z-man, Bluemer, Banana, Potterfan and the many others will do the same with the excellent leadership and guidance of thier Upper's.</p>
<p>PETKO, you had some pretty good SAT scores there. My son's are good, but not that good. 1930 SAT. 29 Composite ACT.</p>
<p>Can anyone say how the "Weighted" to "Unweighted" GPA works. On the online application, it shows his GPA but it doesn't say if it's weighted or not. Online can't be weighted, because it's exactly what his real GPA is. His class ranking is correct. Not sure when you would see a weighted GPA. All of his classes were IB.</p>
<p>Also, when you say 100 LOA; is that 100 letters of appointment or letters of assurance? Or are appointments not called "LOA". Reason I ask, is the counselor and ALO both said that if my son gets selected during the early selection, he wouldn't get a letter of assurance but instead an appointment being he already has a nomination. </p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for all the great info. Later... Mike....</p>
<p>A letter of assurance is given to exceptionally qualified candidates pending a nomination and medical qualification. However, with an LOA in hand you can receive a nomination from any source (by that I mean any senator, not just your own).</p>
<p>LOA refers to letter of assurance. It has nothing to do with medical qualification and is in fact dependent upon future qualification through DoDMERB.</p>
<p>Once the USAFA gets the official school transcripts, they will put
in their own GPA and I'm not sure how they figure it out, but somehow
they try to keep it even and that is what I meant by weighted and
unweighted as not all schools give extra points for AP classes.
Our high school awarded AP students who go an A, 5 points instead of 4.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Not according to US Law.</p>
<p>US Code Title 10 Subtitle D Part III Chapter 903 Paragraph 9342 Subparagraph f (with clause (3) being the Senators):</p>
<p>
[quote]
Each candidate for admission nominated under clauses (3) through (9) of subsection (a) must be domiciled in the State, or in the congressional district, from which he is nominated, or in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, or the Virgin Islands, if nominated from one of those places.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I could've sworn I've heard of at-large nominations (non-presidential). I'll have to check.</p>
<p>There are. Hundreds of them. Do the math. Once all the MOCs, Senators, Presidentials, SecAFs, etc are filled, there are still many openings. USNA calls it the national pool. Federal law is the same for all academies. All those who have a nomination and no appointment via the normal sources, are ranked by order of merit and selected until the class is filled. They don't go against anyone's quota. By some slim chance, an LOA doesn't get selected by his normal nomination source, by nature of his order of merit, he will be ranked high enough in the pool to be selected. </p>
<p>Probably meaning the same thing, just saying it differently.</p>
<p>I guess I'm still a little confused about the weighted score. Klassmom showed weighted as 4.4. Is it possible that the online application doesn't show the weighted score. The reason I ask is; if a student took AP classes, or in my son's case was in the IB program which the whole curriculum is considered honors, wouldn't that then be weighted to a higher grade like klassmom did, going from a 3.98 to a 4.4 like klassmom demonstrated? Thx... Mike...</p>
<p>Okay well I think I would be qualified for one academically.
2280 SAT, 3.75 gpa (according to AFA, 4.0 according to my school), Ap classes, blah blah
I've been qualified medically by DODMERB.
I haven't had any nomination interviews yet.
I'm not sure though if I've got the physical stats for an LOA to Air Force. My CFA results are:
BBall throw: 75 ft
Pull Ups: 10
Shuttle: 8.7
Push ups: 44
Sit ups: 79
Mile: 6:40</p>
<p>The push ups and the mile are the main things that bring my physical aptitude into question. I did much worse on the CFA in those two events than I could do (and did while practicing for it).<br>
So anyway, I guess that gives you a decent picture of me. Sidenote: I got an LOA to West Point in July, before my CFA and even before the regular application is sent out.</p>
<p>There's no way for us to predict whether or not you'll get an LOA until you actually get one. Each year is different and each person's file is different. And getting one from WP does not equate to getting one from USAFA. So, just wait and see what happens.</p>
<p>Oh and a note on GPA:
I was very confused when I saw on my USAFA application site that my GPA was 3.75. Everywhere else it is 4.0. So I called my admissions counselor, and she explained that they calculate your GPA on a 4 point scale by taking your unweighted average (in my case 94), and multiplying it by .04. Makes sense when you think about it -- someone with 100% unweighted would have 4.0. </p>
<p>However, what they look at more importantly is your PAR (I think thats what it was - personal academic record or something). With that, they consider your weighted average, classes taken, etc. and give you a score. </p>
<p>I think that's accurate =]</p>
<p>yeah..i can't believe WP sent me an LOA...the regular applications haven't even come out yet and I didn't have my CFA yet. I have no idea why they thought they had enough to base it on..but hey, i'm not complainin' :D</p>
<p>With USAFA, I was told that the reason I didn't get an LOA was because I wasn't involved in TEAM athletics. My GPA was 4.65 w, 3.9 unw, ranked 17 of 651. I think 2100 SAT, 8 AP classes....blah blah blah. Basically, great academics, above the norm, but they really wanted TEAM sports. I had 8 years in Taekwondo, 2 state titles, top ten placement twice in the world. blah blah blah. TEAM SPORTS. Very important. Even the CFA doesn't matter much with sports!</p>
<p>OK, I think I get it. I was looking at Klassmom backwards. UNWEIGHTED, meaning from the school was 4.4. The Air Force Academy gave them 3.98. MisterM had a 4.0 in school and the Academy gave him 3.75. I thought Klassmom's was being given a 4.4 from the academy. So therefore, a 4.0 is the highest you can get or see from the Air Force if I am correct. Got it.</p>
<p>MisterM, you definitely have some fine numbers there. There isn't anything wrong with those CFA scores. But like the others, I am a little shocked that you received an LOA from WP before your application was sent out. Oh well, good for you. Good luck. Later... Mike....</p>