European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine bits recruiting push vying for cadets with private colleges by James Feron new York times the military Academy at West which historically has been in the envia ble position of choosing from among the top students in the now finds itself having to compete with private colleges to attract Ca dets in a shrinking Market of it has revised its recruiting procedures to compete with the better colleges and universities As Well As the other military service some of the new proce dures resemble the marketing and headhunter efforts of private while the Overall efforts Are special emphasis has been placed on getting Blacks to Mantey the director of admissions at West said that in recruiting for its often an executive search Type of operation Tele phone letters and visits to the Home or the kind of thing youd see for an we even have faculty members go to the Homes of outstanding minority students to explain the the environment and the career opportunities he despite those Blacks represent Only 7 percent to 8 percent of West Points and the percentage has been declining in recent although they compete with each other for outstand ing the admissions directors of the service academies also Exchange tips on recruiting procedures and common such As dealing with High Attri Tion who is retiring next month at the age of 57 after 17 years As admissions chief at West said recruiting has changed significantly since when the Academy had difficulty attracting prospects because of the Vietnam in the Early 1970s the Academy also had recruitment problems because of a cheating More recently West Point and the other service Aca demies have been required by Congress to attract qualified women for military in response to the new Rogers has in creased the number of cadets used As recruiters from 100 to focused on High schools that consistently produce desirable West Point and added Community centers to the forums used for he has established a nationwide Force of 400 Reserve officers and 600 graduates to help he also makes sure that West Point maintains links with qualified applicants who dont get in right Rogers invites High school guidance Counselor to the As Many As 45 at a to encourage Asser Tive counselling for those students who show an interest in West a few Days ago he spoke to such a group about How to Deal with disappointed Robert Lee didst make it the first time and Jefferson Davis took the he told the counsel Pershing didst make it for two Macarthur  get in the first year and Eisenhower took an extra year of High school to get George Patton the world War ii took three years to get in and five to get he High school Counselor represent an important resource to the military especially those who display their material or promote Cadet James Kennard of a West Point or said his interest was stirred in my freshman or Sophomore year of High school when i saw West Point material in the guidance accepted also by Ohio Ohio state University and Dartmouth Kennard said he was drawn to West Point by the Promise of a Good Educa Tion plus he said he was still not persuaded about pursuing a military Nancy Nakahara of a plebe who turned Down acceptances by Stanford the University of Southern California and the University of California at los was living on an army Post in where her father worked As a civilian for the army corps of i was a clerk typist in a summer hire program while going to High school and one Day a sergeant asked me if i had considered West she the guidance Counselor had an application so i sent it she said she was drawn by the cos free aspect of the facade my the government pays expenses for All cadets Well As the Job Security it but was flexible about making the army a women were admitted by Congress in 1977 Over the objections of the and they now represent 12 percent to 13 percent of the Cadet West Point opens files on about students a but that group is narrowed to nominated of whom Are found to be qualified and Are the mean Scholastic aptitude test verbal score for this years freshman class was with a 640 mean score for Well above the National averages of 430 for the verbal test and 470 in the West Point results have not changed much in 30 roughly half the members of the entering class this year were varsity team a proportion that has grown steadily Over the while 83 percent of new cadets were in the top 20 percent of their com pared with 72 percent Over the last three quarters of the entering cadets Are nominated by members of with most of the rest coming from the army enlisted Academy officials say there is a widely held belief that it takes political pull to get but most senators and members of the House form local committees to do the interviewing and then ask the admissions office to make the final the number of dropouts at West Point re Mains last years graduating class of 986 officers began with an attrition rate of 33 it has been As Low As 28 percent and As High As 40 the Academy considers 20 percent the mini mum it should asked How West Points attrition compared with that of private there much but Harvard Doest consider anyone a loss until he Dies without a because they say he can always come Back and the military Academy shares another problem with the Best colleges alumni the pressure you feel the most is from the the army there Are a lot of associates and trying to get their kids the Only Way to Deal with it is to make sure the winners Are winning on their a Cadet entering the military Academy gets instructions from a senior a photo May the stars and stripes Page 13