'favorite book, favorite word, etc' -- do they play any role?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Princeton University
1

<p>does this section play any role in admission? do they judge you on your answers really or is it just to get to know your personality?</p>

<p>for example, even though i want to be a film producer and all, my favorite movie is a children's movie and one that most people don't consider a high piece of art or anything. i have my own reasons (both subjective and objective) for loving it though. would they judge this and think i don't have good taste in films or something? sorry if this is a stupid question but i'm a little paranoid. :P</p>

2

<p>As long as you don’t write the name of a porno flick and a cuss word, you should be fine.</p>

3

<p>Don’t stress about each answer individually, but I think that they are moderately important, if only because they contribute in a pretty big way to how they (the admissions officers) perceive you as a whole applicant.</p>

4

<p>The ‘favorites’ can give the adcoms an idea of your individuality and creativity. Honest answers can express your human side.</p>

5

<p>Definitely be honest. If your favorite movie is a kid movie, go ahead and put it down.</p>

6

<p>I’m at Princeton and this was my reply:
Favorite Movie: old version of Pride and Prejudice (from the 90s, it was actually a TV mini-series)
Favorite Book: Ella Enchanted
So, no, it doesn’t matter what you put =) They just want to get a sense that they are getting someone who doesn’t read the dictionary to relax.</p>

7

<p>what if someone really did read the dictionary to relax?? it seems like they won’t believe people about anything if it seems too “smart” and they’ll assume anything like that is just pretentious. sucks for people who really do enjoy nerdy stuff cuz then if they’re honest and they “be themselves”, people will accuse them of being pretentious. :frowning: not saying i read the dictionary to relax, but there are some things about me that would probably sound “unreal” if i actually told the truth about them.</p>

8

<p>

Ideally, this is an opportunity for the adcoms to get a glimpse of the applicants for who they really are as oppossed to what they have been packaged to appear to be. I presume they get a lot of pretentious responses and see right through them.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

9

<p>yeah but what if the stuff is true and not pretentious? they will probably still falsely brand it “pretentious”?</p>

10

<p>^There’s no way to know. All you can do is be yourself, be honest, maybe try to have a little fun with it, and hope for the best.</p>