Reading Children's Books Got Me into My Dream College

I mentioned this to one of my blog friends in an offline discussion today, and Cheryl suggested that I share it with people who read my blog. Specifically, she thought that parents would be interested. So here it is. I went to Duke University for my undergrad degree. It was a great experience (I was there right when the basketball team started to excel), and I feel very fortunate to have spent four years there. I was also fortunate to get support in my goals from my parents, and to receive generous finanical support from Duke. I was very, very lucky.

But here's the thing. I honestly don't think that I would have gotten into Duke if I hadn't loved to read. I wasn't much of a joiner in high school (I'm still not). I have no athletic, dramatic, or musical ability. I was the kid who sat around reading books all day (I know that many of you who are reading this can relate).

This sitting around reading does not directly look good on college applications. (What are you going to include? Pictures of yourself sitting in a tree reading a book?) However, I received a pretty high score on my SATs, especially the verbal section. This was before the days of SAT prep classes and re-takes of the exam (at least for me). I went in, took the test, went home, got my score, sent it off to colleges, end of story.

And I simply have to think that my verbal SAT score, and even my math SAT score, owe themselves to the hundreds upon hundreds of books that I had read up to that point. I remember reading Dickens in junior high school (David Copperfield). I remember reading Joseph Conrad and Shakespeare in high school. Not to mention Madeleine L'Engle and L. M. Montgomery and Alexandre Dumas, and ever so many other authors. And every one of those books was there with me, in one way or another, when I sat down to take that test.

I'm not writing this post to brag (though I'm aware that it might sound that way). And really, I don't sit around every day basking in SAT scores from 20+ years ago, or even thinking much about where I went to college - I have certainly moved on. But my point is that I am my own test case, and I personally believe that reading books helped drive the scores that got me into the college that I was dying to attend. I know that there are studies to support the link between reading and academic performance (try The Read-Aloud Handbook for examples), but here I'm giving a personal, specific example.

Of course getting into college is different today than it was in 1985 - you can't rely on just SAT scores, you need to be well-rounded and all of that. I also know that there are issues with the fairness of SAT scores, and that some schools are moving away from them. I'm sure that this is a good thing - we should be rewarding the many different ways that kids are remarkable. But still, a lot of attention gets paid to those scores...

That's why I'm telling you what reading children's books accomplished for me. I didn't read those books because, as a six year old or a fifteen year old, I thought that they were "good for me". I read those books because I LOVED them, couldn't possibly be without them, would have found a fifteen minute car ride an eternity if I didn't have a book for company. I believe that those books rewarded my affection by helping me get into into my dream college. No, of course that's not everyone's goal. And yes, there are plenty of other benefits that people gain from reading books. I just thought that a few parents out there might find this tiny little case study of interest. If you do, consider it one of the many reasons to be fostering a love of books in your children. We'll certainly be discussing others in future posts. Thanks for listening.

© 2009 by Jennifer Robinson of Jen Robinson's Book Page. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Cheryl Rainfield]

Jen, I'm glad you talked about this! What an incredible gift that reading gave you--helping you get in to the college that you so wanted to get into. It makes sense to me that your verbal SAT scores were so high, with you being such an avid reader. And what a great example of one of the benefits of reading (aside from the good feeling reading brings).

[Sara]

Hey Dukie...I went to Chapel Hill when THEIR basketball team was really, really doing well. Think Michael Jordan. :)

I agree on the reading = verbal SAT. I won't say what my scores were, but my daughter had a Verbal 800 as a sophomore. (And later, an 800 on the new writing section, too) And it was all from reading, not prep courses or studying or even particularly good schools. There is no substitute.

[Janssen]

What a great post - my personal experience has also been that reading for FUN has greatly enhanced my academic performance.

And car trips without books? Death first! :)

[Shirley]

In my son's high school scrapbook he has a page on what reading did for him. He says that reading made the difference in his life. He had been a kid with speech and coordination problems and overcame a number of obstacles.

He wanted to go to Duke but when time came to make the final decision, another college made a better financial aid offer.

[Jen Robinson]

Thanks for inspiring me to actually write about this, Cheryl! I was a little nervous about it (to make the point without bragging), but your encouragement helped.

And, Sara, I saw that you live in Chapel Hill (on your book jacket) but I don't think I knew that you went to school there. You were certainly there at a very exciting basketball time! Glad that reading has served your daughter so well.

And reading has served you well, too, Janssen. Sadly, I can't read in the car any more (due to motion sickness). But it was a key survival skill when I was a kid. We once drove from Boston to Florida. Can you imagine that without books? No.

Shirley, the idea of your son scrapbooking about what reading did for him makes me happy! It sounds like overcoming obstacles has made him a stronger person. I think it's Duke's loss not to have him.

Cheers to all! I'm off to watch the Red Sox.

[Becky Levine]

Yes! Right now, my son is racing through Piers Anthony's Xanth series. High literature? Well, not having read them myself, I can't say for sure, but I'm guessing not. :)He's hooked, and he's reading book after book! And he does this every time he finds a series that catches him. How can it not help?

We've been playing the game CatchPhrase lately--a lot like the old Password TV game show (I'm dating myself here!). He knows words and idioms that I have no idea where he learned them. I can guess though--BOOKS! Like you, I don't want his life to be "about" test scores and entrance exams, but how can this hurt? It can't.

[Sheila]

Hi Jen,
I'm so jealous. I think of all the years I wasted because I thought reading was boring. Reading was work. If only I had someone to steer me towards the right books when I was younger, if only . . .

But now I have you (and your blogging brethren.) Yipee! Now I can find great books for my kids. And I've also discovered that I, too, love, love, love reading YA books. So you've brought joy twofold to our home.

Thank you! You've made a huge difference for us.

Sheila G.

[Jen Robinson]

I would agree that reading books certainly can't hurt your son, Becky! I love hearing about kids who read book after book. I find that I know a lot of relatively old-fashioned sayings myself, and it simply must be from the books.

And Sheila, thanks so much for your kind words. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to think that I'm making a difference for you and for your children. The idea of bringing joy into people's homes ... it makes every minute that I spend on my blog (instead of on other things) worthwhile. Thank you! And I say, it's never too late to discover a love of reading (though it certainly helps kids when you do catch 'em early).

[TadMack]

:) Late to the conversation - but I, too, mourned the day motion sickness made reading in the car problematic. I tried reading and SWINGING, even. I was definitely one of those non-joiner kids who mostly read... And as I think of the life I have, I think it's mostly given me exactly the life I want.

Good for us, huh? :)

[Jen Robinson]

I wonder if the Introvert/Extrovert thing is apparent from a young age, TadMack. I'll bet a lot of us were non-joiners as kids. I wish I'd understood it earlier. But anyway, we eventually make the right life, I think.

Still wish I could read in the car!

[Alkelda the Gleeful]

I hesitate to post this, because I totally believe in theory that reading lots and lots helps with the verbal part of the SAT. The thing is, I never tested well at all where how much I knew/could learn boiled down to a number (and this is the case now with the library system where I used to work, where everything is distilled into a single score). I read profusely, yet my verbal scores were low. I took them again, and the math scores jumped but the verbal scores stayed low. No one but my mother could understand it. Essay tests were much, much better, and I got to demonstrate the rich vocabulary picked up from reading. Of course, this success happened after I had gotten over my obsession with the thesaurus.:)

[Jen Robinson]

Hi Alkelda,

I think it's good that you shared this. What your comments show is that the whole reading and verbal test score relationship isn't always straightforward. There's no guarantee, and everyone is different. I hesitated to write the whole post, because I didn't mean to imply any shoulds (especially about the type of college readers should end up at, etc.). But what you've said is that you still feel that you've benefited in other ways (like on the essay tests, and I'm sure in your storytelling). And I think that's valuable input. Thanks!

[Kaza Kingsley]

I don't know how many times I gave myself headaches and bad carsickness reading in the car growing up -- even though I knew it was going to happen! For me, reading kids books got me interested in writing, which is my life now! Yet it's still the same great escape it was as a kid...
Kaza Kingsley
Author of the Erec Rex series

[Sondra Santos LaBrie]

Jen,

Thanks for this post. My "story" is nothing similar, but did remind me of a story that I now plan to include in a post on my own blog.

Also, I look forward to getting your Newsletter!

[Jen Robinson]

I'll look forward to hearing your story, too, Sondra. And thanks so much for subscribing to my newsletter!