 Following the graduation from the Gordon Military Institute in Barnesville, Georgia, he sought for an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, but it was hard to come by, so he entered the Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia instead.Smith completed almost three years there and finally received an appointment to West Point in June 1913.He was a member of the class, which produced more than 55 future general officers.