The answer was "Yes!" for hundreds of thousands.

Few people know this, but as a high school senior, I gave serious consideration to the United States Military Academy, a.k.a West Point.  I even went so far as to contact Senator John Glenn’s office in regards to the required nomination.  Being the little civic-minded nerd I was, I had already received my Eagle Scout award and an award from the governor for my volunteer work in the community.  Reality set in when I realized the commitments required post-graduation were daunting and that’s not even to speak of life as a cadet that would be a little more grueling than racking up merit badges.  (I didn’t even consider the Naval Academy because I was and am an awful swimmer.)  So, a free world-class education was not to be my destiny.

I have great respect for those men and women who join the service academies especially when their other options often include far less rigorous and demanding colleges.  (Unlike a Harvard or Stanford, you’ll never hear anyone say, “The hardest part about West Point is getting in!”)  I’ve also found it fascinating the continued role that military persons have on the American university system.  While debate rages over the role of government program in health care, you’re going to find few level-headed people who wouldn’t agree that one of the greatest governmental successes in the history of the United States was the G.I. Bill enacted after World War II.  It allowed for one of the largest class shifts in modern times.  All of sudden, huge numbers of well-traveled and well-lived men–many from working class backgrounds–flooded the campuses of schools around the country.  Even the most elite Ivies found their well-heeled prep-school boys nudged to the side by guys removed from the battlefields of Europe by just years.  It transformed America and arguably created the middle class that would keep us a superpower in the decades to come. A great review of the G.I. Bill can be found here and a small excerpt is below: Click here to read more »

"Did Thom Yorke even go to college?"

Was catching up on some old email and came across a rather interesting tidbit in the Common Application’s October Counselor Update.   The 2010-11 Common Application will not go “live” until August 1st which is a full month later than the release date of July 1st in years past.  The Common App folks attribute the timing to a technical issue whereby the later date will allow high schools to submit final transcripts electronically which was previously difficult for some schools that ended the academic year late.

But as they note in almost an aside, “The later release date will also help combat the “admission creep” that concerns many counselors.” No, “admissions creep” is not your least-favorite admissions officer–though a few fit the phrase well.  Rather, it’s describing how a process that used to take place in the fall of the senior year and sometimes well into the spring, has moved all the way into the summer months before senior year in many cases.  The concern over the past few years is that kids are more focused on finishing their apps and getting decisions than being truly considerate of their best options.

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