College app question re: recreational reading lists

[readwithem]

If you have included a recreational reading list, did you include everything read 9-12th? And did you include authors?

 

I've had my dd keep a list since 8th grade, but have just discovered to my chagrin that she did NOT list authors! Is it worthwhile to go back and add the authors? Do a selected list with authors? Send the list "as is"? Scrap the list?

 

Thanks! :)

[TravelingChris]

If we get aa request like this, we are only sending in selections. We will have moved at least once in her high school career and this is not so essential. I am not sure what they will get out of her recreational list anyway. It tends to be mysteries, horror, and sci fi. I guess I can also include her semi-voluntary summer reading too. Those would be books she read her first two years of high school in the summer reading program of the homeschool group we were with then where we had one selection having to be from a list of books. It is semi-voluntary because she didn't have to do the program but if she did, she had to read one of the books.

[KnitWit]

We made a complete list (grades 9-12) and it is attached to the transcript and list of activities. (We do TOG, so I *also* included an academic book list to show all the books that TOG required)

 

We put it *all* down because we felt it contributed to a *well rounded* view of dd. She has a 4.0 and a 32 on ACT, as well as being a NMSF...so, we felt that showing that along with making straight A's in maths and sciences, she ALSO loves classics AND *cotton candy for the brain*...like Harry Potter and Twilight, presented her as NORMAL. LOL!

 

And...yes, we included authors....

Edited October 19, 2009 by MSPolly
additional comment

[Ravin]

It's beyond me why a college would care what recreational reading an applicant has done. No one mentioned this to me when I was in high school...though such a list for me would have been over a thousand titles long, most of it science fiction. Not sure what it would have demonstrated except that I had my nose in a book and that's why I didn't participate in many extracurricular activities. :b

[Julie in MN]

If you have included a recreational reading list,

 

Was this something a college has requested? Or is it something you desire to send?

[readwithem]

Was this something a college has requested? Or is it something you desire to send?

 

Some colleges request it, yes.

 

Nothing on dd's list, but it made me want to throw out the question :001_smile:

[KnitWit]

Yes, some colleges request them...more often, it is the *Honors* college within a college that requests it.

 

I had one that I needed it for, so I just made it part of the whole package and sent it to all.

 

But then, my dd reads a wide genre of things. I felt it was a *further* and *good* representation of who she is and how balanced she is. I can see where others might make a different choice. :)

[readwithem]

Yes, some colleges request them...more often, it is the *Honors* college within a college that requests it.

 

I had one that I needed it for, so I just made it part of the whole package and sent it to all.

 

But then, my dd reads a wide genre of things. I felt it was a *further* and *good* representation of who she is and how balanced she is. I can see where others might make a different choice. :)

 

It sounds like our dds are alike :)

 

So.

 

If you were my dd, would you go back and add the authors? (it will require many hours of work). Or would you send the list "as is" without authors? Or would you edit the list down, and make it a "selected list"?

:bigear:

[TravelingChris]

I would definitely edit down especially if your daughter reads authors. So in our case, there would be no need to list everyone of the SUe Grafton mysteries (she has written up to T is for ... and I think my dd is up to the F mystery right now).

[KnitWit]

I agree with Christina's point. I'd probably *not* list every title, but list them as "The alphabet murder mystery series by Sue Grafton".

 

It was time consuming for us too. However, my thinking was that whomever is viewing these is basically giving a cursory glance. I figured that authors names would be more recognizable than book titles.

 

Of course, be judicious, there might be *some* titles that show a bit more about a student than just that they enjoy popular books as well as assigned reading. LOL!

[Kareni]

We sent such a list to all of the schools to which my daughter applied though only a couple actually requested it. On her list the headings were:

 

Fiction

 

Non-fiction

 

Essays

 

Fantasy

 

Latin works (This included authors such as Ovid and Catullus as well as books such as Virent Ova! Viret Perna! by Dr. Seuss, Ferdinandus Taurus by Munro Leaf, and Asterix Olympius by Rene de Goscinny. Since she is planning to major in Latin and/or the Classics, we thought this showed her interest.)

 

We did include authors but also shortened the list by having items such as: The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy plus six sequels

 

We did not include everything she had read for pleasure in high school -- for example, we did not include any manga (though she had read an abundance) nor did we include Calvin & Hobbes or Zits.

 

I also included a list of textbooks used.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[readwithem]

Thanks for your thoughts, everybody!! DD is paring down her list and adding authors, and doing subsections by genre. She could have a subsection just for C.S. Lewis:lol:

[Kathy in Richmond]

My dd is sending in a list of all her reading from grades 9 to 12 organized by author. She put it all in there - she's heavy on fantasy and classics, and she wants them to like her as she is :-)

 

Her list is part of her package and we'll send it to all her schools, whether or not they request it. It helps to show a better picture of who she is (especially for my math girl, who is a voracious reader on the side). We did the same thing for my son four years ago.

 

I think it would be nice if you could include the authors, too. When I was helping dd with her list, we just kept Amazon.com open and looked up any details we were uncertain on.

 

~Kathy

[katilac]

My grad school app asked for a representative sample list, but not a complete list. Even if a college didn't specify this, I can't imagine keeping track of every book a student reads recreationally over four years! dds and I recently gave up maintaining a complete reading list now, in middle school; it's just way too time-consuming.

 

I think any school that's not happy with a representative list in various genres is a school that's too picky for us!

[SW in IL]

We made a list that included most of his assigned reading along with recreational reading. If he read a few books by a certain author we listed the titles. For other books, and all series, we listed them as "The Complete Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling" or "Assorted works by Edgar Allen Poe including ....."

 

He will be sending it along with his transcript (which we're working on) to show that he's well-rounded in his reading. And we did include authors for all the books listed. We intentionally kept the list to one page, mostly in the hopes that the college will think it's a small representation of what he's read instead of a comprehensive list.

 

Hope this helps,

Sue

[Mary in MN]

My son reads lot of sci fi series, so I'm giving the title of the series (if there is one) or the first book if there isn't, followed by (s-12) or whatever the number of volumes is that he's read in the series. I explain this at the top of the booklist.

 

I agree with the others that a homeschooler's booklist is a good thing to send, whether or not it's required--and that all kinds of reading belong on it from J.K. Rowling to Steinbeck. I think it's more impressive than we realize that our kids read--so many kids in ps don't. I teach cc English, and I can't tell you how many students I have who tell me the last book they read was in...ummm...maybe sixth grade....:001_huh:

 

That said, I probably wouldn't worry too much about the authors--no one's going to look at the list that closely. I'll bet they're going to quickly glance through the titles, note that your child is unusually literate for this day and age, and move on.

[Beverly L. Adams-Gordon]

I made a form my dd fills out for every book, both recreational and required. It includes all of the bibliographic information usually required for a report, including a short remark about the book/selection. I think it is a good habit to form to record all of the information in this way. When it comes time for her to put her college package together, she will have everything she needs plus a quick memory jogger about the books. My middle daughter was one of the first early entry students in our state. At that time the colleges had seen very few home schooled students and they really didn't know what to do with us. The admissions interviewer asked her about various books on her list-- which surprised me -- I guess he thought it was a made up list meant to impress him. Fortunately, she is one of those people that never forgets a detail about a story and he was well impressed. My youngest will need the memory jogger if she gets asked about anything she has read -- even if it was the day before. lol. Well maybe she isn't that bad, but her focus is more on the here and now. Now, if they asked her about music she has played or the composers, she would go on forever and bore you with every detail. lol

[katilac]

I made a form my dd fills out for every book, both recreational and required. It includes all of the bibliographic information usually required for a report, including a short remark about the book/selection. I think it is a good habit to form to record all of the information in this way.

 

I like the idea in theory, but in reality, my youngest would do a lot less recreational reading if she had to do this for every book.