recipients. The admissions process is a lengthy one and applicants usually begin the paperwork during their junior year of high school.
=== Class size ===
There were 306 cadets admitted for the first class (class of 1959). By 1961, class size was down to 271, but due to the need for officers in the Vietnam War, grew to 745 admittees in 1970, and peaking in 1974, with 1,620, and 1975, with 1,626, the largest number ever admitted. After that class sizes shrank down to about 1,300 before spiking to 1,485 in 1988 (class of 1992). Despite a peak of 1,350 (admitted 2004) and 1,418 (admitted 2005), from 1995 to 2005 class size averaged about 1,250 freshmen. From 2005 to 2010 class sizes were slightly down from the 2005 peak. The 2013 class (beginning 2009) had 1,286 and the 2014 class (beginning Fall 2010) had 1,285. Cutbacks were ordered in 2011, so by 2012, the entering class (class of 2016) was down to about 1,050. The class 2022 began with 1,286 students, lowered to 1,282 by the end of BCT. The class of 2023 began …
