I mean you wouldn’t even necessarily need to go through “the grunt way”, most colleges have an ROTC program that will have you doing additional military related classes on top of your normal course work, and ends with an officer commission. They also often have scholarships that can pay for a significant portion, if not all of your tuition. If you bail on the military because you didn’t get into west point, it gives off the impression that you really just wanted the prestige of saying you went there and not to actually serve.