Meeting three criteria is the threshold, not the finish line. The strongest petitions pick criteria that reinforce one another, so the final merits review reads as one story rather than three unrelated claims.
Choose criteria you can prove from the outside
Judging the work of others, original contributions of major significance and high remuneration are often the most persuasive, because the evidence comes from third parties rather than from you.
Drop the criteria that only invite questions
A thin criterion does not just fail — it weakens the officer's trust in the rest of the file. Four strong criteria beat six uneven ones.