<p>I have been working on the Columbia application, and when I reached the supplements that told us to list off books we've read, movies we've seen, etc., I didn't actually list them off. Instead I names a couple works that particularly touched me and explained the effect they had on me. Personally, I find this to be much more indicative of my personality that a large list. Looking through forums, however, I've seen that most people are literally following the instructions and listing off everything they've read/watched. Should I do the same? </p>
<p>They asked for a list. You can decide if you want to follow the instructions.</p>
<p>It asks you to list the ones you enjoyed most and has a 150 word limit. So they aren’t literally asking for a comprehensive accounting. I think a curated list of what you actually ENJOYED will be more to the spirit of the question. It does not have a lot of room to expound on what you liked about each one, so I would not feel any need to do so. If you want to give a one liner about why you chose what you list, and it fits in the word limit, as momfromme says, you can decide that. At some point, they do want to know that you can read and follow instructions - and the instructions say “LIST…THAT YOU ENJOYED MOST IN THE PAST YEAR”</p>
<p>My approach would be to include at least 6-10 titles for each category. That alone is likely to fill up 50 or more words (of the 150 limit) if you did full title plus author for books and full title of movies. </p>
<p>When I applied, I simply listed the books I enjoyed. I got in. I’ve heard of a couple people who did it the other way though.</p>
<p>I was just there today for an information session and a tour and he touched on this. He said their primary goal is to get an idea of academic interest outside of your high school curriculum. Say, for example, your goal in life was to be an economist. Then they are looking for you to have a list of 10 to 15 books you’ve read over the last year (The intelligent investor, Driven, How to beat the stock market, Naked Economics etc.) and provide a short (1-2 sentences) explanation of how you either came to further understand a topic or apply it to real life from reading those works. Don’t make it a straight up 3 page list and don’t make it a melodramatic novella, just do what they are asking. </p>