Summer College Admissions Reading

Summer College Admissions Reading July 4, 2013 Reading over the summer months can set you apart in the highly selective college admissions process (photo credit: Steve Jurvetson from Menlo Park, USA). Its summertime and what better time is there during the year than summer to read books for pleasure? If youre a rising high school senior, reading for pleasure over the summer will give you the added benefit of improving your odds of admission to highly selective colleges. Thats right highly selective colleges want readers. A love of reading, after all, conveys a deep intellectual curiosity and thats precisely what admissions officers at these schools are looking for. Why would they want to admit students who dont enjoy reading? Theyd have one boring, intellectually inferior class then, now wouldnt they? Many high school students write about books in their college essays. And thats a great thing! But too many of these essays focus on books that are obvious required reading in high school. Yes, The Great Gatsby is required reading at just about every high school across America. Same with To Kill A Mockingbird. And with The Scarlet Letter. Yes, Hamlet, too! Really you think Beowulf isnt required reading in most schools across this country? It is. Same with Of Mice and Men. Youre not fooling anybody! So spend the summer reading books that arent on your high schools required reading list. Walk around a Barnes Noble. Smell the books. Touch the glossy covers. Peruse all of the books that you do and dont want to read and pick some out to buy. Or sit in the store all day long and just read. Nobodys going to stop you. Try to find a rocking chair. There are always a few in each store. Its coveted real estate. Find books that you can really connect with and maybe youll be able to write about these books in your college admissions essays so that you come across as intellectually curious. Not to mention youll enjoy reading the books and itll make you smarter!