Columbia gives you questions such as list the books you have read and why you enjoy them and list any electronic publications you have read. Do you find this to be a bit biased? What if that person who is reviewing that applicant’s application does not like that applicant’s interests and as a result rejects him yet he/she has good qualifications. What’s your thought on this?
Why are you concerned about a biased reader about the books/magazines? What about a person who might not like piano or football or the state of North Carolina or that your name is the same as the crazy ex that harassed her in college or their pet goldfish died that morning? C’mon… it’s all subjective.
^ Agreed…if a college looks at anything besides GPA and test scores, it’s going to be biased.
Personally, I would be positively biased towards somebody who reads, no matter what it is. Good for them for taking the time to do that.
It’s just another way to get to know applicants. They don’t want to build a class of people who are all alike and they want to have people who will contribute to the campus community.
@idealni which books will you list that you think the board will be biased against? Personally, I’d be biased against someone who only reads popular YA that’s badly written, ie Twiligt, Divergent, 50 Shades of Grey (why we’d u be reading this at our age???)
I’m writing a mix of classics, award wining books, literary journals and religious (Christian) sites that I habitually read. Columbia loves diversity. Columbia offers Common Core. If u really want to impress them, read books by their alumni, on their core syllabus, or of books reviewed in their literary journal, The Columia Review.