Class of '13 Summer Reading

skyraptor · 06-20-2009, 06:49 PM

I just got the three summer reading books in the mail today--and they all sound really interesting. I'm half way through the one called "Hunger"--it is SOOO good (but really sad...)

Plus in one of the other books, there's an entire chapter dedicated to explaining why Asians are good at math (apparently b/c numbers are shorter in Asian languages, Asian kids count faster = better in math?) Haha, I found that kind of funny considering math is not my strong point.

hpfan018 · 06-20-2009, 07:10 PM

You got yours already! Lucky! I thought we were supposed to receive them on June 26th?

llpitch · 06-21-2009, 04:02 AM

My mom had bought Outliers a while back so I've been reading it lately. I finished it the other day and it was really easy to read/pretty interesting. It's the book with the chapter about why Asians are good at math haha. He said they're good in math for a couple reasons: the length of the sounds of numbers in Asian languages are shorter than other languages, so they can count/remember numbers/add etc faster than other kids. He also said its because of Asians "legacy" farming rice. Apparently because farming rice is much more intensive than say wheat or something, Asians have a culture of working hard. Working harder = making more money, and he says that work ethic has been passed on through the generations. It's a good read, I recommend it to all incoming frosh.

uneverknow · 06-21-2009, 04:49 AM

Hey guys, I just got off the waitilst so I have no clue about what I'm supposed to get. What packets have you already received?

llpitch · 06-21-2009, 04:51 AM

UAL - Welcome to the Freshman Page

skyraptor · 06-21-2009, 11:45 AM

uneverknow,

so far, i've gotten four mailings:

#1- Congrats package- contains congratulations letter, cool magnet, Stanford alum magazine, financial aid offer (all admits get this)

#2 (if you decide to attend)- Approaching Stanford Package- approaching stanford student handbook (it's pretty thick); intro to IHUM courses (which all freshmen are required a few of these courses); another letter; and a handy to-do list w/ a list of the mailings you're supposed to get

#3 foreign language letter- stanford requires students to take at least 1 year of foreign language; you can fulfill this requirement if you have a high enough sat II or ap score; or take an entirely new language at stanford; if you want to continue in your language- you'll have to take a written online test over the summer (your testing is determined by the last name- I believe A-C's had theirs last week) and an oral proficiency test when you come for orientation

**make sure you create an axess account so you can fill out your vaden health forms (due by June 30) and read the Cardinal Care (stanford's health insurance) newsletter on their site too.

#5 summer reading books (aka potential icebreakers when you meet your dorm mates in september?)- you should also be getting three books in the mail to read over the summer. apparently the authors are going to come to stanford during orientation to discuss the books.

hope this helps!

uneverknow · 06-21-2009, 01:08 PM

Thanks a lot Skyraptor! Now I have a "To-do" list of my own. Although my offer e-mail asked me to check financial aid online. Does that mean i'm not getting a congrats packet, or did yours say the same thing?

skyraptor · 06-21-2009, 02:04 PM

^ mine was the same. I saw my financial aid offer first online and then a hard copy of the offer came along in the congrats package.

uneverknow · 06-21-2009, 09:10 PM

phew! I really want that Cardinal greeting =P

skyraptor · 06-23-2009, 08:10 PM

Just finished Hunger and started Outliers! I'm usually not a fan of nonfiction but Outliers is surprisingly good (whoever knew one's birthdate could affect one's chances of success?)

llpitch · 06-23-2009, 10:33 PM

I still haven't got the three books mailing yet =[

soxfan2048 · 06-24-2009, 12:51 AM

My beef with Malcolm Gladwell is that his books just state simple, obvious facts that should be apparent to anyone. For example, his reasoning for why Bill Gates is so wealthy is that he came along at the right time/right place and had access to a computer when most people didn't. (And, of course, he was smart.) There's no stroke of genius evident there. I fail to see why Gladwell is so popular, when he just states the obvious in his books. No in-depth cause and effect analysis or anything.
Now, there is a chance that this may not apply to Outliers. But it certainly applied to his previous two books (just talked about painfully obvious stuff with relatively no "higher level" thinking), and so I would imagine that Outliers is just more of the same. But we'll see!

skyraptor · 06-24-2009, 12:24 PM

soxfan2048, now that I think about it Gladwell DOES tend to point out the obvious. But I think that's partly why I enjoy his style so much (easy to digest).

soxfan2048 · 06-24-2009, 01:30 PM

I'm sure that's why lots of people like his books. Easy to understand, nothing complicated, etc. That's why they're NYT bestsellers. I'm just surprised Stanford would choose a New York Times bestseller for its freshman required reading... lol

gregh313 · 06-25-2009, 02:59 AM

im sorry but gladwell sucks. for so many reasons.

maybe im just jealous that hes making millions off of trash.