You can feel it before you can name it.
Someone asks, “So what do you want to study at University?” and your brain does that quiet thing where it scrolls through a half-finished list: business, medicine, law, computer science… and then lands on the real fear: What if I choose wrong?
Here’s the reassuring truth. Strong University applications and strong IB exam results are built from the same habit: consistent curiosity guided by structure. Reading around a subject is one of the cleanest ways to show genuine interest. It gives you vocabulary. It gives you stories. It gives you opinions you can defend.
And for IB students, it can also do something else: make revision feel like it belongs to a bigger future.
A simple University reading checklist (so it actually helps)
If you only do one thing, do this. It keeps “reading for University” from turning into a pile of half-started books.
-
Pick one major you’re considering and commit for 2 weeks.
-
Choose one book + two credible article sources (journal, magazine, database).
-
Read 10--20 pages per session.
-
After each session, write 3 takeaways and 1 question you still have.
-
Connect one takeaway to an IB topic (EE idea, IA angle, TOK prompt, case study).
-
Keep a one-page “application evidence” document with quotes, summaries, and reflections.
To stay exam-focused while you explore majors, keep your revision loop tight: use RevisionDojo for IB as your home base, then reinforce knowledge with Questionbank practice and quick review using IB revision notes.
Business and Management: stand out with specificity
Business is popular at University, which means “I like entrepreneurship” is rarely enough. What separates strong applicants is the ability to describe how you think: incentives, trade-offs, organisational behavior, product design, strategy.
Business books worth your time
-
Adam Grant, Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World -- Great for innovation, persuasion, and decision-making.
-
Michael E. Gerber, The E-Myth Revisited -- Small business reality check; useful if you’ve ever sold anything, built anything, or managed a team.
-
Ben Horowitz, The Hard Thing About Hard Things -- Leadership under uncertainty, not just glossy success stories.
-
Osterwalder and Pigneur, Business Model Generation -- Practical frameworks you can apply to real companies.
Lighter, ongoing business reading
-
The Wall Street Journal (Business section) for current events and industry language.
-
Google Scholar for accessible academic articles.
-
JSTOR business journals for more formal research.
-
SSRN (Social Science Research Network) for working papers and focused business research.
If you want to translate reading into exam performance, pair it with targeted practice: How to use an IB Question Bank effectively shows how to turn interest into marks via feedback loops.
Law: reading is the training
Law at University rewards students who can read closely, reason carefully, and argue without sliding into emotion. The best preparation is exactly what it sounds like: sustained reading with notes that capture arguments, not just facts.
Core law books that signal depth
-
Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws -- Political theory meets comparative legal systems.
-
Ronald Dworkin, Law’s Empire -- Legal interpretation and jurisprudence.
-
Tom Bingham, The Rule of Law -- A clear exploration of what “rule of law” means in real society.
More specialised law interests
-
John Rawls, The Law of Peoples -- International law and moral reasoning.
-
Gerald M. Stern, The Buffalo Creek Disaster -- Corporate responsibility, environmental harm, and legal strategy.
Law journals and periodicals
-
Harvard Law Review and Oxford Journal of Legal Studies for academic seriousness.
-
The New Law Journal for consistent, real-world engagement.
-
Google Scholar for wide access.
For IB students, law reading pairs naturally with TOK and essay-heavy subjects. If you’re building independence for University, you’ll also like this reflection on readiness: IB and University readiness.
Engineering: your reading should sound like problem-solving
Engineering at University is not “bookish” in the same way as law, but the right books show how engineers think: safety, failure, design constraints, ethics.
Engineering books that work for applications
-
Harris, Pritchard, Rabins, Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases -- Demonstrates responsibility and professional awareness.
-
Samuel C. Florman, The Existential Pleasures of Engineering -- The creative identity of engineering.
-
Henry Petroski, To Engineer Is Human -- Failure as a teacher; perfect for reflective personal statements.
More specific engineering directions
-
Horowitz and Hill, The Art of Electronics -- A classic for electrical engineering.
-
Grady Hillhouse, Engineering in Plain Sight -- Infrastructure and civil engineering as a daily, visible system.
Engineering research sources
-
ScienceDirect (engineering) for current research.
-
SAGE Journals (engineering) for a wide range of publications.
-
SpringerOpen for open-access engineering journals.
While you read, keep your IB exam engine running. Use digital IB study notes to reduce note-making time, then convert the best insights into active recall with long-term retention strategies.
Medicine and Biomedical Sciences: choose a lane, then go deep
Medicine at University is competitive, and reading can help you sound like someone who understands the field beyond prestige. A good strategy is to pick a theme (genetics, surgery, public health) and build depth.
Medical reading by interest
-
Matt Ridley, Genome or Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Gene for genetics.
-
Atul Gawande, Complications for surgery and clinical decision-making.
-
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring for epidemiology, public health, and environmental risk.
Medical journals
-
Google Scholar for broad access.
-
The New England Journal of Medicine for high-impact clinical research.
-
The Lancet for global and regional health insights.
If you’re choosing sciences with University prerequisites in mind, this guide helps you think clearly: Which IB science has the best University recognition?.
Psychology: show breadth without sounding vague
Psychology at University requires comfort with theories, studies, and uncertainty. Your reading should demonstrate both empathy and scientific discipline.
Psychology books that build serious credibility
-
Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning -- Human meaning under extreme conditions.
-
Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational -- Behavioral decision-making.
-
Jonah Lehrer, Proust Was a Neuroscientist -- Crossovers between neuroscience and art.
-
Solomon, Greenberg, Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core -- Terror management theory and mortality.
-
Stephen Grosz, The Examined Life -- Clinical insights from long practice.
Psychology journals
-
Psychological Science in the Public Interest (SAGE) for applied insight.
-
Journal of Applied Psychology for real-world contexts.
-
Google Scholar for accessible papers.
As you explore, remember: admissions teams like clarity. So do markschemes. If you need one system that keeps you grounded in what earns marks while you plan for University, start with the RevisionDojo app workflow and use AI Chat, Flashcards, and Grading tools to keep feedback tight.
Computer Science: read beyond coding
Computer Science at University is about more than programming. The strongest applicants can discuss consequences, incentives, and limitations: what algorithms do to society, how humans adapt to technology, and where risks live.
Computer science books that signal maturity
-
Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence -- Big-picture AI risk and strategy.
-
Nicholas Carr, The Shallows -- Cognitive impacts of the internet.
-
Cathy O’Neil, Weapons of Math Destruction -- Algorithms, power, and inequality.
-
Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone -- Core computing ideas explained cleanly.
Computer science journals
-
The Journal of Computer Science (free access in many places).
-
Frontiers in Computer Science for topical research.
-
Google Scholar for breadth.
To keep CS revision exam-aligned, combine reading with practice sets in the RevisionDojo Questionbank, then use Jojo AI Chat to ask “why was this answer wrong?” in mark-scheme language.
How to turn University reading into IB advantage
Reading is only impressive when it changes how you think and how you work.
-
Turn quotes into flashcards (definition, argument, example, counterclaim).
-
Use Study Notes to connect reading back to syllabus content.
-
Run mini “mock explanations” out loud: 60 seconds, no notes.
-
Add one reading idea to your EE, IA, or TOK planning.
-
Practice writing concise paragraphs and get feedback using Grading tools.
RevisionDojo makes this loop feel manageable because the ecosystem connects: Study Notes for clarity, Flashcards for memory, Questionbank for application, Mock Exams and Predicted Papers for pressure practice, plus a Coursework Library and Tutors when you need human help.
Closing: read for University, revise for your future self
It’s easy to treat the University question like a single decision you’re supposed to get right at 17.
In reality, it’s a direction you choose, then adjust as you learn more. The point of reading around majors is not to prove you’re already an expert. It’s to prove you’re the kind of student who follows curiosity with discipline.
If you want one place where that discipline becomes simple: use RevisionDojo to keep your IB revision on track with Study Notes, Flashcards, Questionbank, Mock Exams, Predicted Papers, AI Chat, and Tutors. Then let your reading do what it’s meant to do for University: make you interesting, not just busy.
