The nominations are made in each year by the Secretary of War, on the recommendation of the representatives in Congress of the several districts then unrepresented at the Academy, or whose representatives are about to quit the Academy. In addition to these, the President of the United States may nominate ten cadets in each year, to be selected according to his own will and pleasure, from the community at large.
The number of vacancies at West Point in any one year varies according to the number of cadets who happen to complete their period of residence, and of those, who, not having completed their term, are yet discharged as deficient in studies or discipline, as hereafter explained. The number of yearly admissions varies from 50 to 70.
The date of admission in each year is the 1st of July, and the candidate for admission is required to report in person to the superintendent before the 31st of May, with a view to his qualifications being tested. But if sickness or any other unavoidable cause should interfere, he may present himself on the 28th of August. Except at the two periods above named, no admissions can take place.
Candidates must be over 17 and under 22 years of age, except in the case of any candidate who may have served faithfully as an officer or enlisted man in the army of the United States, either as a volunteer or in the regular service during the late civil war, who may be admitted up to 24 years of age.
Candidates must be at least five feet in height; free from any deformity, disease, or infirmity which would render them unfit for military service; and from any disorders of an infectious or immoral nature. They must be able to read and write well, and be thoroughly versed in the first four rules of arithmetic, in reduction, in simple and compound proportion, and in vulgar and decimal fractions.
Although the examination for entrance is not difficult, the prescribed tests, both medical and intellectual, are rigidly applied, and many candidates are rejected.
The examination for entrance is not competitive, but simply a qualifying examination. The competitive system commences after a cadet is once admitted; it enters into every branch of instruction, and continues in full force to the end of his residence.
Subjects and Course of Study.
The length of the course of study, for all who may succeed in graduating, is four years; its nature, after the first year, is principally professional, and the course of study is identical for all the students. The subjects are not all studied simultaneously, separate periods of the course being devoted to certain subjects, as shown by the time tables annexed.
The relative importance of the different subjects is indicated by the maximum marks of merit assigned to them respectively, at the summing up of the results of each student’s attendance at the end of his fourth year, according to the following scale:—