<p>how strict is CMU with the 1 page max policy? I have around 1.5 pages, is that too much? should i cut back?</p>
<p>I have another question regarding the supplement… in the section where you are supposed to list 4 books read recently, do you write the authors as well?
What books have you guys read this year?</p>
<p>“one page max”
says it all.</p>
<p>Cut it down to a page. Many admissions committees state that they will simply just stop reading at the 1 page mark.</p>
<p>And don’t list the authors - it’s just a waste of character space. Try and avoid listing the books you were forced to read for AP Lit/Lang/whatever unless you really, really enjoyed them. Even if it’s just Harry Potter or something, list books that you genuinely enjoy :)</p>
<p>Another question about supplement:
Under the College of HUmanities and Social Sciences, besides selecting a department there is another box under it asking for “major/degree”
What does that mean?
If I plan on majoring in Philosophy (just an example) isn’t that implied when I select to appy for the Philosophy department?
Is the question supposed to be repetitive?</p>
<p>Yes, Philosophy would be your degree (again). This is redundant for the Philosophy department because it only offers one degree. However, this isn’t the case for all H&SS departments. For example, if you were applying to Modern Languages you would need to pick a specific major (Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese) within that minor department.</p>
<p>thank you completelykate… so basically, if I enjoy reading stuff that might be considered not so “intellectual” I should still go with it?</p>
<p>Don’t get too worried about the books you list as showing or not showing you as the most well read student on the planet – b/c that’s most certainly not what is behind the question. This is one of those questions at CMU and loads of other college applications that is meant to be another opportunity for adcoms to get to know you in a glimpse-- that glimpse for their convenience-- 10 seconds to read a list vs. spending a week with you and learning who you are as a great person.
The choice of books doesn’t have to be intellectually challenging nor even major related. Heck-- if you enjoy cooking immensely and have a favorite cookbook, that’s a way to tell the adcom- I COOK! I think my S listed two comic books/graphic novels, physics of superheroes and Lord of the Flies (he really like the book). He also applied to Stanford-- listed the same books there-- they were not as impressed with his choices. D listed Cat in the Hat-- b/c it really is one of her all time favorite books – we read it every time she’s home-- it makes everyone warm and fuzzy (puke puke). So be it! </p>
<p>Point being-- pick 4 books you REALLY REALLY enjoyed and spread them out over fiction/non fiction if that provides adcoms with some additional info about you (although “Joy of Sex” would not be a good choice).</p>
<p>This part of your application probably is worth less than 1/100th of a percent of the totality of items being reviewed. It’s a blink-- it may catch someone’s eye but I would wager of the 25000 applicants, there’s probably a list of 10 books, one of which shows up on most applicant’s listing. It’s the geniune sincere eye catching titles that might matter in some silly way.</p>
<p>Yeah, agreed. Don’t list Twilight, Major Crush, Boys of Summer, Pool Boys or The V Club (I’m directly reading titles off of my sappy eighteen-year-old sister’s bookshelf for these names, by the way) and you should be fine regardless of what you list. Unless you’re applying for a writing/English degree it’s doubtful that the department faculty will really care much.</p>
<p>thank you guys so much! that was really good advice :)</p>
<p>do you guys think Times New Roman, 10 point font, single spaced is fine??? cause this is the only way I can say everything I want in 1 page haha.</p>
<p>amu suggestions on a font and font size that look “big” and can still fit in a page?</p>
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<p>Yeah, I’m in the same situation. I am applying to four of the schools, so naturally I’ve gone over the one page limit. Not sure what to do! Do you think they would be like… bitter if I made the font too small?</p>
<p>11 point in NY Times, Courier or similar is the smallest you should go.
Once you can see that it’s smaller-- they can too.</p>
<p>Play with the margins-- can you go to .75 inches on the top and bottom instead of shrinking your font.</p>
<p>DO NOT GO SMALL-- you could have an adcom with eyesight issues and s/he will notice immediately -and be unable to read it without being annoyed.</p>
<p>EDIT CUT EDIT CUT</p>
<p>how important do you think talking about the cultural traditions at CMU is. I spend a solid pargrpah discussing why I would love the various traditions at campus. i simply have it because it goes to show that I know stuff about the school and that I’m more than a student who wants research. any thoughts?</p>
<p>Do not use courier by any means. It is a very illegible font at small points because it’s a serif font, which is a big no-no in anything smaller than 14 point. Times New Roman (ALWAYS use ths unless there’s a good excuse not to), Arial, Tahoma, or Helvetica are really the only fonts you should be using on official college essays. </p>
<p>Eagles, After looking at your essay, I’d suggest cutting a lot of the extraneous sentences in your first three paragraphs. There is a lot of ‘I want to work for NASA one day’, which is a little superfluous considering you are trying to fit three majors into this one essay. Additionally, cut anything that sounds like ‘Carnegie Mellon is a great school and will prepare me to do ______’. They know this already. :)</p>