<p>For those of you who've started the Columbia app, what are some of the favorite books, movies, etc. that you're putting down?</p>
<p>The Color Purple, Brokeback Mountain - My favorites in those 2 categories.</p>
<p>How 'bout everyone else?
Let's see how diverse the potential Class of 2011 really is.</p>
<p>Well, it doesn't ask favorites, it asks what you've enjoyed in the past year. Which is good, because I'd have way too much to put otherwise. This is my favorite part of the Columbia app though. Some of mine, will probably add more to some categories:</p>
<p>Books for pleasure-Middlesex, Freakonomics, Waiting for Snow in Havana, Caucasia, The Satanic Verses, The Plot Against America
Required reading-The Importance of Being Earnest, A Modest Proposal, articles/book excerpts for my summer History of Science class
Publications-NYT magazine
Films etc.-Lost in Translation</p>
<p>Lost In Translation didn't come out within the last year... ?</p>
<p>It doesn't matter as long as it's something you've done/enjoyed within the last year. Otherwise, Columbia would be inherently biased against kids who read Cervantes or Shakespeare for fun as opposed to, say, Danielle Steele.</p>
<p>Oh, awesome.</p>
<p>That doesn't make any sense. Why would they be biased against kids who read Shakespeare? It doesn't have to be a new book, or new movie (I just saw Lost in Translation). I just think that if you focus it like this, it gives a picture of how the applicant has spent their free time over the year.</p>
<p>edit:never mind, I thought you said something else when you were actually agreeing with me</p>
<p>What he's saying is that Columbia doesn't want a bunch of pretentious fakers who list a bunch of stuff just to sound impressive rather than just being themselves and letting Columbia know who they really are.</p>
<p>If you read Maxim or US Weekly, write it down. You're not going to get into Columbia because you listed the New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly.</p>
<p>Nobody said anything like that as far as I could tell...</p>
<p>No; that's not what I meant, although it's true (you should admit what you actually read). What I was trying to say is that the reason they ask what you have read within the past year as opposed to what you have read that has come out in the last year is because that would mean someone who enjoys ancient literature (for instance) would be unable to list his primary interests.</p>
<p>books for pleasure: The Phantom of the Opera, 'Salem's Lot, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Anne of Green Gables, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter (o_O this probably belong on a lot of people's lists, and yet I'll be the only idiot to list it), and there were some others, I need to narrow it (stupid character limit)/make it look more diverse.</p>
<p>required readings I enjoyed: the Great Gatsby, Life of Pi, The Joy Luck Club, Ethan Frome, Dreaming in Cuban</p>
<p>publications: the News and Observer (local newspaper), Seventeen (again, I'm sure other people read it and I'll be the only one to list it), USA Gymnastics magazine</p>
<p>Films, etc: Mad Hot Ballroom (really good, if none of y'all have seen it, I definitely recommend it), The Phantom of the Opera, Cars, the King Tut travelling exhibit, the Metropolitan Museum of Art (how do I list that? it's not a special exhibit or anything, but I really enjoyed it)</p>
<p>I think my application will look really childish somehow. Probably 'cause I listed an animated movie, a series of books aimed at children, and a magazine for teenage girls.</p>
<p>schmivy: among other, more "intellectual" choices, my son's application included the Lord of the Rings movies, a Springsteen concert, Sports Illustrated, and a book about the World Series of Poker. And he got in. What you want is your application to look both real and thoughtful at the same time. So a mix of different levels seems like a good idea to me.</p>
<p>thanks for letting me know that :) it's encouraging</p>
<p>Yeah, yours is very honest schmivy. I'm probably going to add more to my list, including The Penultimate Peril and possibly Over the Hedge. I will probably leave off the Junie B First Grader book where she goes to Hawaii, even though it's hysterical. Does anyone else agree that Junie B Jones books are hilarious for people way over the age of 8? Personally, I think they're actually bad for little kids learning to read, since they have horrible grammar.</p>
<p>actually, i'm going to columbia this fall for first year. i wrote harry potter. i wrote instyle, vogue, and us weekly for magazines. who cares!</p>
<p>Who cares, yes, as long as you have some interests. The info sess guy when I was there said some kid wrote "I don't really read much", which was honest, but told Columbia that he was not really right for the school, and wouldn't be up to all of the reading required of Columbia students.</p>
<p>Pleasure Readings: Div, Grad, Curl, and All That: An Informal Text on Vector Calculus; Feynman Lectures On Physics, Journey to Cubeville (Dilbert)</p>
<p>Required Readings: The Waves, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Beloved </p>
<p>Print/Electronic Publications: The ACM Journal of Experimental Algorithmics, Algebraic & Geometric Topology, Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science, Electronic Journal of Differential Equations</p>
<p>Films, performances, exhibits, entertainments, festivals, etc: Throne of Blood, Ran, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Exploratorium</p>
<p>books for pleasure: the kite runner, harry potter ( I don't care if it's childish i loved it), the alchemist, da vinci code and angels and demons (most likely on a bunch of peoples)</p>
<p>books for school: the great gatsby, the scarlet letter, kindred</p>
<p>print: national geographic, time, men's fitness, architectural digest</p>
<p>films, exhibits: V FOR VENDETTA!!!!, X-men 3: the last stand, Garden State, Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland, this art exhibit in florence ( i need to find the name of the musuem hahah) Mr. and Mrs. Smith, renaissance festival in PA, BSO side by side orchestra concert</p>
<p>i feel like i've read more books but i cant think of them for now..im more of a movie watcher if its not obvious</p>
<p>Believe it or not, "Kite Runner" was actually assigned in a comp lit class here last semester, and Natalie Portman visited a class on terrorism to give an advance screening of "V for Vendetta".</p>
<p>AHHH TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! V for Vendetta!!! i'm so excited! sorry hahah back to columbia</p>
<p>Books read outside of school: Lolita, White Oleander, Everything is Illuminated, the Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Robber Bride, the Time Travelers Wife, The Last Time They Met</p>
<p>Books read inside of school: Tess of the dUrbervilles (i LOVE this book), Murder in the Cathedral, Les Miserables</p>
<p>Print/electronic publications read regularly: Newsweek, Time, US News & World Report, toothpastefordinner.com</p>
<p>Films, performances, etc. in the past year: Igby Goes Down, the Royal Tenenbaums, Wedding Crashers</p>