But a handful of new cadets have long since become used to operating in an Army environment. Including at least one with a Ranger tab.
"I enlisted with a couple of goals in my mind, and after achieving those goals, I realized that I really enjoyed the Army and I wanted to stay in," said Cpl. Michael Shin, reflecting on the path that led him from enlisting in 2013 to Ranger School in 2015 to joining this year's West Point class. "I looked into the officer options, and figured that the West Point option was the best."
Then-Pvt. Michael Shin poses during an exercise at Fort Drum, N.Y., in 2014. Shin earned his Ranger tab last year and will be part of West Point's Class of 2020.
Photo Credit: Submitted photo via Army
He was far from the only soldier to make that decision. More than 740 soldiers applied to the academy this cycle, up from 490 last year. The bulk of that increase comes from the school's Rapid Application Completion Exercise, an event that allows soldiers to complete most if not all of their application paperwork in a single day, aided by visiting admissions experts.
Five RACE events resulted in 316 applications to West Point. Shin was otherwise occupied – he deployed with 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in mid-2015, returning home early to take standardized tests for USMA admission – but the debut RACE event in December at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, had one of several success stories.
"I get to finish a degree I started … and I've seen the enlisted side of the Army," said Pfc. Carter Cullins, most recently with B Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, when asked about becoming a Class of 2020 member. "It's an opportunity you only get once."
Cullins took engineering classes at Texas Tech before enlisting in 2015. He said he hadn't considered West Point as an option during his initial college search, but after being flagged by the Army as a potential candidate due to his performance in the classroom as a Red Raider, it was just a matter of completing the process.
Pfc. Carter Cullins takes his Candidate Fitness Assessment as part of the U.S. Military Academy's Rapid Application Completion Exercise program held at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in December. Cullins made the cut.
Photo Credit: Michele Vowell/Fort Campbell (Ky.) Courier
Despite RACE and other help available through West Point's soldier-admissions program, it's not a simple process.
"From having gone through the college application process on the civilian side myself – and, to a point, the application process for West Point – it can be extremely long and tedious," said 1st Lt. Michael Milley, also with B Company. "That [RACE] program brings everything you need right to the doorstep. It's a wonderful idea."
Milley credited West Point officials with answering all his admissions questions as he facilitated Cullins' application. The lieutenant became an early advocate for RACE, which Maj. Jason Dupuis, USMA's outgoing soldier admissions coordinator, spearheaded late last year and said could be on its way to an Army-wide rollout later this year.
"The qualifications are pretty intense – you're not talking about your everyday guy who's qualifying for this, but for the ones that happen to meet the requirements … I would say absolutely, everybody should put those guys into it," Milley said.
RACE events are on tap for Fort Campbell, Korea, Hawaii and possibly other sites this year, said Dupuis, who wrapped up his West Point duties on R-Day and will head to intermediate level education at Fort Gordon, Georgia, before reporting to Alabama's Redstone Arsenal. He'll also remain involved in the West Point process as a military academy liaison officer, or MALO.
A member of the U.S. Military Academy's Class of 2020 gets a little off the side Monday during Reception Day for new cadets at West Point, N.Y.
Photo Credit: Staff Sgt. Vito T. Bryant/Army via Facebook
Prep-school prep
Spc. Ken Lanier won't be part of the Class of 2020, but plans to be part of the Class of 2021 after securing a spot at the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School this fall. An Army brat, Lanier's likely five-year stay at West Point would mark something of a first – he said he thinks the last two years of high school were the longest he'd ever been enrolled at the same school.
Spc. Ken Lanier will head to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School and hopes to be a member of the West Point Class of 2021.
Photo Credit: Army
Lanier "was horrible at testing" in high school, he said, dooming his first try at a West Point application. He wasn't aware the prep school existed until he started research on his second attempt. He re-took the SATs and earned a spot at the West Point-based prep school, where students can adjust to the academic rigor required of the academy.
"Being on the same level as people who have been going to school, that's the big thing," he said. "You have people who could get straight into the academy because they're really intelligent, or they have really good grades, and me, when I was in high school, my grades didn't really improve until my senior year."
Family members assemble during Reception Day activities Monday at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York
Photo Credit: Army via Facebook
The academy didn't make prior-service figures for the incoming academy or prep classes available, but did say 13 of the USMA freshmen are combat veterans, the same number as last year's incoming class.
"We value diversity among the Corps of Cadets and prior service Soldiers are an integral part," Col. Deborah McDonald, director of admissions, said in a statement to Army Times. "It is their proven leadership skills along with their tactical unit and combat experience they bring to the academy that enhance the overall make up of each incoming West Point class."
Soldiers interested in joining the Class of 2021 can learn more here.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
