Common App Supplement: Favorite Books, Singers, etc...?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Stanford University
1

<p>Hello Stanford Students. Would you be kind enough to provide your opinion here?</p>

<p>When Stanford asks me to list my favorite
books, authors, films, singers, newspapers, magazines, websites </p>

<p>What exactly do they want to hear?</p>

<p>Should I be honest, or should I just put something totally academic?</p>

<p>For example, for my favorite book, should I be honest and put Harry Potter? or should I put my favorite academic book, which is probably The Catcher in the Rye????</p>

<p>Please Help! I am so so so confused about why they ask these questions!</p>

2

<p>They just want to get to know you better. Don't lie about your favorite things to make yourself look better. They want to see that you have a personality and a life. Don't be afraid to say that you like rap music or movies with Owen Wilson or whatever. Your admission doesn't depend on things like that. Plus, I'm pretty sure I put JK Rowling as my favorite author and I got in ;-)</p>

3

<p>i like lil wayne but idk if i wanna say it</p>

4

<p>Say it! just don't quote 3 Peat...</p>

5

<p>all right, thanks for the reassurance :)</p>

6

<p>lollipop - definitely not putting that on my list</p>

7

<p>Definitely put down what you love. I mean, if Catcher in the Rye is one of your top favorites, put that one down too! If not, don't push it. </p>

<p>But I was wondering, it says to write it in "2 lines or less." How do you put a list of your books, songs, films, into 2 lines?</p>

8

<p>If your admission to Stanford depends on whether or not you put that you like [insert musician/book/movie] here, God help us all.</p>

9

<p>It cant hurt you to put anything (I mean, within reason.) but it can help if done well. Im not saying to be false, I'm just saying if you history and want to study that at Stanford, and have written somewhere about your passion for history, you can indicate that you are well read and interested in it by listing some history books that you loved - and if you havent read books about the topic your interested in, they I suggest you get to it anyways. </p>

<p>Be honest, but if your second favorite book is the I, Claudius and your first favorite is Harry Potter...</p>

<p>Try to be unique and honest. Nothing you say here will get you in, but this part can synergize with the rest of your app... thats why its there. It can show that you are multi interested or deeply interested, and help give off a honest, unique aura. It wouldnt be there if it was purposeless.</p>

10

<p>Don't go by what they "want to hear." Not that any of us would know, anyway.</p>

<p>Agreed completely with frog139 and Stanalum96.</p>

11

<p>Do you think they’ll google the titles if they don’t immediately recognize them? My favorite books are:
The Shadow of the Wind, Dombey and Son, The Constant Princess, Wuthering Heights, Poor Folk and Other Stories, Breath Eyes Memory, When the Nazis Came to Skokie, The Undertaking, The Glass Castle, White Oleander…</p>

12

<p>I was completely, shamelessly honest with my preferences, because honestly, I don’t believe these answers were the ones that clinched my acceptance. It just gives the application more color and character. As both a lover of literature and pop culture junkie, I listed a combination of things that were admittedly a little more intellectual as well as everyday. And as a science major, I included some things that touched upon my field of interest, but they were there by happy coincidence rather than a conscious inclusion to seem more in-line with the rest of my application. Quite honestly, seeing the diversity among my fellow admits, there really is no wrong answer! For the whole, “two lines” thing, I’m not even sure I necessarily followed these instructions, but I definitely didn’t go over seven or eight responses for each. Good luck with your application! #GoCardinal</p>