Recruiting Veterans, Columbia Finds an Impressive Applicant Pool

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Two years ago, in an effort to attract more veterans to Columbia, Curtis Rodgers, a dean of admissions, began recruiting at military bases. Almost immediately he noticed differences between the Marines and the typical 18-year-old Ivy League applicant.

Marines are less aggressive. When Mr. Rodgers asked Sgt. Tiffani Watts at the end of a recent interview if she had any questions, the Marine answered, “I do, sir, but I don’t want to make you late for your next interview, sir.”

Marines are open about academic weaknesses. “To be forthright, sir, I did very poorly in high school,” Cpl. Leland Dawson began his interview. “It was a bit shaky, sir.”

Marines are understated. While 18-year-olds describe in detail a week they spent in Costa Rica building houses for the needy, Sergeant Watts, Cpl. Benjamin Vickery, Cpl. Tyler Fritz and Cpl. Andrew King barely mentioned their deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. “No one wants to brag about something so terrible,” Corporal King said. “In a brief 30 minutes you can’t explain something that dramatic in your life.”

Which makes the dean’s interviews with Marines a little tougher. “They tend to play down their accomplishments,” Mr. Rodgers said.

Life has come full circle for the military and Columbia. In 1947, Columbia opened its School of General Studies to accommodate returning World War II veterans whose education was financed by the G.I. Bill. During the Vietnam War protest years, veterans all but disappeared from campus and stayed disappeared for decades.

And now, in good part thanks to passage of the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill in 2008, veterans are returning in numbers not seen in half a century. Of the 1,500 undergraduates at Columbia’s School of General Studies — which serves older, nontraditional students — 210 are veterans, up from 50 three years ago. (General Studies students take the same classes and get the same degree as other Columbia undergraduates.)

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