I am planning on applying to Carnegie Mellon. They have an essay with the prompt “List the books (if any) you’ve read this year for pleasure. Choose one and in a sentence describe its impact on you.”
This is quite a struggle for me. I really don’t enjoy reading stories. Everything I read has a practical reason for doing so. While I acknowledge that books can give you overall themes and messages that do have practical applications I prefer to get those themes from movies instead.
So if I was being honest “books I have read for fun” would be:
"How to talk for business partnerships" (I wanted to grow my social skills.. probably not going to mention this one because it doesn't really reflect well on me)
"The new way things work" (this is technically a children's picture book, but its descriptions of the way certain machines work are incredibly detailed and well explained)
"Game engine architecture" (I LOVE this topic in programming)
"GPU Gems" by NVIDIA (another topic I love in programming, I needed better explanations of refraction and light propagation formulas)
"Fahrenheit 451" (Every once in awhile I like a good sci-fi. For some reason my 9th-grade teacher skipped this book leaving our class to hear other students laud it. I read it for fun because I wanted to know what the fuss was about. I don't think I will include it because they will probably think I am lying and that this was assigned reading)
"Torn" (about homosexuality and Christianity)
"Bible" (this is my family and my culture. I could talk about the huge effects it had on me in the past year but I am far from the only one who could)
"Guns Germs and Steel" (My world history teacher recommended it, and I was curious. I also figured it would help me in my pursuit of a 5 on the AP history exam)
Although I am not a huge gamer and have not bought a system since the DSI, I am a subscriber to the Nintendo Force magazine.
The problem is I don’t feel like any of these choices really fit what they might be looking for. No I am not a library nerd who reads for “fun”. I admire those people but they just aren’t me. Most of the books I have read for fun don’t reflect well on me, are too simple, or seem like I am sucking up to a tech focused school.
Will they actually get suspicious if I put Fahrenheit 451 down?
I really don’t know what to do now. Should I just leave that section of the application blank.
I think this list is actually really interesting. It has a good balance of tech books (which probably relate to your major). At the same time, it shows that you’re willing to explore. By the way, Guns Germs and Steel is a great book
I think you’re allowed to use some discretion with lists like these. For example, I review young-adult and romance books and I would be super embarrassed to list some of the books people send me. Also, I read 20+ books a month; I wouldn’t have the space to list all these books (and I wouldn’t want to).
I would choose the books that impacted you the most over the last year. If that includes the “How to talk for business partnerships”, I think it could show that you have another dimension. Entrepreneurship ties in well with most technology.
I think that you shouldn’t worry about how they might see the books. Just be completely honest. If you don’t like reading fiction, then list your favorite nonfiction books. Your list seems fine. I included two gothic novels in my list because I like gothic literature. I’m sure that they won’t be suspicious of anything you say unless it all comes together to form an honest picture of you.
" ‘The new way things work’ (this is technically a children’s picture book, but its descriptions of the way certain machines work are incredibly detailed and well explained)," as well as “Fahrenheit 451,” are true for.
You have no reason to believe someone would not believe you sought out any of the above titles and actually opened and enjoyed them.
You’re also not in a club of one in enjoying the two aforementioned titles, as I’m sure you know.
Stop worrying about what you think the admissions committee is “looking for.” What they are looking for is a truthful answer to the question that tells them something about you, and this is a really interesting and eclectic mix of reading material that tells me something about you. You’re someone who seeks out practical reading to increase your knowledge of the world around you; you’re interested in game design and graphics processing; there’s definitely a strong undertone of science/technical interest here; you’re looking towards the future with the business partnerships books - maybe even thinking of creating a startup,* your Christianity is more serious than just a cultural thing but an actual practice.
Not everyone reads Jane Austen and Nathaniel Hawthorne in their spare time (in fact, I expect that few people do). I have a PhD and if I had to list all the books I read in the past year they would have zero classics, a bunch of YA literature and some historical non-fiction.
Just be you!
*I know that’s not the reason why you did, but if I saw this on the list, this is what I would think. Especially in the context of the GPU Gems and Game Engine Architecture books.
