<p>How come I keep hearing about people who submit lists of books they have read? I personally read a great deal (about 40 to 50 books a year), but it seemed sort of dumb to put a list of the books I've read in my application. I guess it might show my interest in biochemistry (I read a lot of books on that), but.... why? and why would the college even believe the applicant like that? (i mean, anybody could bs a list... right?)
Yet I've read a few college books and several of them recommend doing something along the lines of that. Why?</p>
<p>List of books? I've never heard of anybody sending lists of books they've read.</p>
<p>But it does sound patently stupid; what on earth could possibly convince someone to send a list of books they've read as part of a college application?</p>
<p>That was one of the four essay questions for Davidson when I applied a couple of years ago. I don't know if it still is, though.</p>
<p>Deep Springs requires lists of oft-read publications, books read in the past year, and favorite books. For small, unconventional liberal arts colleges (a description Deep Springs exceeds), I can see how it might help, especially if an interview is required or the Adcom wants to get a feel for a student that claims he or she wants to attend a college dominated by discussion-driven courses.</p>
<p>Of course, arbitrarily attaching a book list to a larger university's application when it doesn't ask for one wouldn't make much sense.</p>
<p>Ah, yeah if it's part of an application for a school, that's fine, of course.</p>
<p>Harvard offers it as an option on their supplement.</p>
<p>It is common among homeschoolers. I beleive Reed requires it from their HS applicants.</p>
<p>So when I make this list of books... should I omit the ones that are "stupid" reads... or something? I still don't get the purpose of this.</p>
<p>And asks you to mark those that you read for a course. </p>
<p>Why not add the "stupid" ones, by which I'm guessing you mean something light and enjoyable - mystery novels, Harry Potter, etc.?</p>
<p>hm, so what if I read the books for the course BEFORE i knew it was actually for a course?
and also, should i sort them by genre or by order in which i read them?
thanks for your help. :)</p>
<p>Columbia asks for it.</p>
<p>umm... can somebody answer my question? should i sort by genre or by order in which i read them? thank you!!!!!</p>
<p>I don't think it makes an iota of difference.</p>
<p>I did the list for the Scripps application, and I loved it. In truth, the fact that they asked for such a list made me all the more sure it was the right place for me :)</p>
<p>I think that my list was alphabetical. I may have separated books read for courses from books read for pleasure and alphabetized each.</p>
<p>And ditto GoldShadow: it's not a big deal. Relax.</p>
<p>I submitted a book list for TASP by alphabetical order. My list was certainly not all "intellectual" in the sense that I had quite a few popular fictions, fantasy, etc. I got in, but then again, TASP is not "college" per se. </p>
<p>And I highly doubt a book list would make or break any candidate, so don't worry to much about it. :)</p>
<p>Goofy. And dangerous. I would prefer a short list of 3 books and be prepared to answer questions about them.</p>
<p>Too many people tell bs stories and take the risk.</p>
<p>I mean what if someone loves spy novels and the admissions officer hates them and thinks CIA is a bunch of weasels and worse? </p>
<p>Weird.</p>
<p>It clearly makes a difference in showing how your pursue your free time in reading if you put down "The Adventures of Captain Underpants" or "A Critique of Pure Reason"</p>
<p>I personally think it says great things if you can put both "Captain Underpants" and "A Critique of Pure Reason," but that's just me.</p>
<p>Within the boundaries of reality, just portray yourself the way you want to be portrayed. If that means cutting out the "fluff" books, then fine, do your thing. If it means covering up your obsession with romance and/or spy novels, then go for it. The same applies throughout your applications. But look through CC for awhile and you'll see that almost every single student is just scrounging for ways to make herself stand out from the crowd, be noticed, bring out her personality via boring application questions. If you happen to have a whacky reading list, then hey, seize the opportunity. Honestly, guys. If you have the stats to be a competitive applicant at a school, then an adcom's distaste for spy novels is not going to get you booted off the short list. </p>
<p>I think some of you are reading too much into this question. I can't speak for admissions officers, but I don't think it's intended to be quite so devious as it's being made out to be. The same rules apply here as anywhere else in an app: use good judgment (despite my advocacy of honesty, now is not necessarily the time to reveal your love of erotic fiction, but hey, I suppose it's all in how you frame it...a friend of mine did a great deal of undergraduate research, including her senior thesis, on romance novels), be honest, be yourself.</p>
<p>I hated this question on TASP, because they specifically asked you to star NON-school books... and I was just hoping that they'd see from my list of books for my classes how insanely loaded down I was just with those.</p>
<p>Note: I didn't get into TASP :-p</p>
<p>its still on the davidson app, the only book i read outside of school this past year or two was harry potter lmao. auto rejection right there</p>