<p>Is there any range I should be shooting for?</p>
<p>I second this question.
I was going to write about half a page for each question…maybe 250 words at the most. But I dont know what everyone else did.
For the list of books I put about 11… but the clear majority was for school.</p>
<p>Mine were each about a page double-spaced (half a page single-spaced) and my counselor said that they were fine. And I hate the book questions because I don’t read!!</p>
<p>yea i don’t have time to read books that aren’t for school.
<em>on top of my 4.99999 gpa, and playing 3 varsity sports, and starring in the musical, and saving a small village in kenya, i find time to read some literature…</em> NOT.</p>
<p>good thing i have some safeties on my list.</p>
<p>I just checked back over my Davidson Application and both of my short responses were 350 words. And my book list was 33 books deep. But it included a bunch of short novels and “young adult books” (Harry Potter and Eragon included). Also, only 7 of those were for school. I dug very deep for the book list, like a year and a half back. </p>
<p>Oh I should also include that I was accepted. Haha. Feel free to post more questions or PM with questions for Davidson or any of the below colleges, I know these tend to overlap occasionally… Rhodes, Sewanee, University of Virginia, University of NC-Chapel Hill, Clemson, Alabama, Texas A&M, and Washington University in Saint Louis. (again, I would like to think I was knowledgeable for all these schools, I also was accepted to these too)</p>
<p>How far back did you guys go for your booklist?</p>
<p>We read a TON of books in my English class last year, and I read a lot this past summer, so I included all of those + the books I’ve read in the beginning of this year (I submitted my application in early November).</p>
<p>Grand total:
62 books.
34 were for school.
Admittedly, a few of those books include plays such as Death of a Salesman, Inherit the Wind, The Glass Menagerie, and The Crucible, which I’m sure Davidson will recognize and take into account.</p>
<p>Also, my responses were approximately 300 words each.</p>
<p>ok i’m going back further.</p>
<p>If i go back exactly one year, my total is 19…but they’re books like Crime and Punishment
-they take forever to read.</p>
<p>I think it’s definitely healthy to have a good mix in your booklist (longer books v shorter ones, historically significant books v contemporary books, school books v nonschool books).</p>
<p>I feel like that’s what Davidson is looking for the most–taking your booklist in a larger sense, as another confirmation that you’re a well-rounded, well-read individual.</p>
<p>P.S.: Paigewg, how is Crime and Punishment? I need to read that before going back to school next week!</p>
<p>Just for some background info:</p>
<p>I go to a really competitive (albeit wonderful) public school, where we’re assigned and expected to read novels for nearly every class, not just English (and trust me, the teachers test to ensure that you read the whole book, not just the summaries!).
For example, we read multiple books every year in my history, foreign language, and social studies (like philosophy and psychology) classes…even once in my biology class!</p>
<p>ahh i see. i thought you were lying…
and i LOVED Crime and Punishment. I’m not just saying that because i know i should like it, i actually LOVED it. I couldn’t put it down.
I’m a slow slow reader, but i took that one at a pace of 500 pages/day. that really fast for me.
if your a fast reader you should have no problem reading it in a week.
I hope you like it!</p>
<p>haha, nah. 
At my school, it’s expected that at any given time, you’re reading at least two books (especially if you’re in AP classes). For example, by the end of this winter break (which lasts 2 weeks), I should be finished reading Invisible Man for AP English, Crime and Punishment for AP Euro History, and The Prince for Philosophy (luckily, I’ve finished Invisible Man, and I read The Prince my sophomore year in World Literature)!</p>
<p>Thanks for the recommendation! I’m a lot less hesitant to pick it up now!</p>