Military Academies Face Drop in Applications

Fox News ^ | August 23, 2005 | Molly Bernhart

[Graymatter]

Sorry, I'll go back and do that again in a minute. I have Mommy Attention Diversion Syndrome here right now.

[Graymatter]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1469675/posts

Here it is. USNA grad of 2014 is making me look frazzled here today. ;)

[RedBeaconNY]

LOL... it's alright- I understand completely- I'm the oldest of 4 at the end of a long summer devoid of a formal 'vacation'. You mothers are an amazing bunch.

Thanks again for your help.

[The Grammarian]

Situation's a little different with the Army. I joined as a college-option OCS enlistment (I attend Basic Training, then OCS, then get commissioned a second lieutenant) precisely because the Army was running short on officers, particularly the staff grades. Something like 1500 LTs and a few hundred Branch-Qualified captains down as of the spring (around April).

[LS]

There is another, more important factor, at work here. For years, Annapolis and West Point were viewed as exceptional schools that gave a free ride to the person selected to attend.

In the last 10 years, almost all universities have become so obsessed with recruiting (and offering "student aid" and various "rebates") that the actual cost of attending many of these universities is nil. Some 60% of my U. of Dayton students (a small private college, usually rated in the top 10 of U.S. News's small private schools list) get student aid.

If it's essentially free to go to ANY school, West Point and Annapolis lose a great deal of their competitive advantage.

[Shawndell Green]

SAT is a little weak.

[affan76]

A 1600 SAT won't get you in if you did not exhibit leadership or athletic skills. Remeber it was a average.

[Shawndell Green]

Yes, which means that half were lower than that.

Rice
SAT - Verbal Range (25-75%): 660-760
SAT - Math Range (25-75%): 670-780

Of course they are not jocks, but I am not sure that being a jock is all that important in this day and age.

[Tom D.]

One key statistic:

"Despite the drop in the number of applicants, SAT scores and the class rank statistics have either improved or remained steady at all of the academies. The number of students they are admitting has not wavered considerably, either."

It looks like the drop off is in the applicants who would not have gotten in anyway.

[affan76]

My first response is: So what. Rice is a great school.

My second comment is being a jock is important at the Academies. Three pillars: Academics, Athletics, Character

[Shawndell Green]

"A sound mind in a sound body. Mens sana in corpore sano."