I used to contact my friends pretty frequently once I graduated, but its a lot less now. Contact former roommates maybe 1-3 times a week or every few weeks. Companymates and other friends, a 1-3 times a month or few months. A lot of people become busy with their own lives once they part ways. Leadership responsibilities, other work, and people getting into relationships become priority. But sharing memes, asking each other how they're doing still goes on.
The biggest change I had to make to become successful at school was to shift from a "me" mentality to a "we" mentality. Sure many people go to USMA for "selfish" reasons. It's a prestigious school and people want to use it as a stepping stone to get a leg up in the future. A lot of these people can be selfish and unhelpful. I know this because I was one of them. But once I started caring about the institution/organization, I made better friendships and cared more about improving myself as a leader.
I think the Academy was good for me. There were a lot of great opportunities that many people don't get in other schools (internships, military training, etc). It helped me grow/mature much faster than my friends at other colleges. Not sure about other grads' experiences, but I had friends at normal schools who sometimes complained about trivial things like having to wake up for a 0900 class or having 16 credits in one semester. However, a lot of cadets are so used to already being awake by 0600 and in class by 0730, having an average of at least 18-20 credits a semester, and just keeping our head low as we chug away at our busy lives. Don't forget about parade drills after school, inspections/parades on Saturdays, military training on Saturdays/during the summer, random taskings, etc. What I'm trying to say is that life at USMA was so busy that it became a norm. Yea sure cadets complained, but generally most people would just accept dumb things and do them (we also had no other choice). At other schools, I noticed that people were pretty immature in the sense that they would throw hissy fits, complain to an administration, act like kids, etc.
I was challenged academically/physically, requiring me to manage my time even more, and this also made me a mature person compared to my friends who went to normal schools. Some people at USMA don't really care about their grades, but most, in my experience, are competitive people and are fighting for a specific branch/duty station. Competition can be stressful, but it helps achieve success. Peer leadership can be difficult at times and doesn't really exist at other schools --> helps people learn interpersonal skills. Lastly, I'm the type of person who needs structure/routine because I can become pretty lazy. I may not necessarily like a regimented lifestyle, but I know it's what I need to do well in life and become ambitious.
There's always the thought of whether going to a different college and living a normal life or doing ROTC. Knowing what I know now, I probably would've dropped out of ROTC or just not do it because I think I would've rather just lived a normal life. Life would've probably been harder too because of school tuitions and struggling to find a job.
