Resume

The college admissions resume—often called a "brag sheet"—lets you show colleges what you've been up to during high school. As an added bonus, the resume also serves as a valuable resource for the people writing your recommendations.

You should include a resume with your application if a college requests one, or if the application itself does not provide enough space to describe all your involvements.

Sample Resume

If you'd like, you can download a sample resume that is based on the instructions below.

Building Your Resume

To create your own resume, follow the basic recipe below. After your "Heading" and "Education," feel free to rearrange, rename, combine, or omit categories so that they make the most sense with your unique background. For example, you can leave out "Special Projects" if you have none, or break "Experience" into "Work Experience" and "Volunteer Experience" if you have a lot of each.

Heading

At the top of your resume, include your name, address, phone number, and email address. If the college has requested your social security number or applicant number on other documents for tracking purposes, include that number on your resume, too.

Education

List your high school(s), including location and years attended. Consider specifying your GPA and class rank. You can include academic awards here, or list them in a separate "Awards" section.

Extracurricular Activities

Think about everything you're involved in: clubs, sports, art, music, drama, journalism, religious groups, and so on. Then list these extracurriculars, with the most significant or most recent at the top. (If this list seems overwhelming, consider grouping it into sub-categories like "Music" or "Sports" first.)

For each item on your list, do the following:

• If necessary, briefly describe it.
• Specify your periods of involvement (e.g., spring 2008) and optionally the amount of time spent (e.g., 5 hours per week).
• Mention any leadership roles. You can also include awards here, or list them in a separate "Awards" section.
• Put your achievements in perspective whenever possible. For example, write, "This team is ranked in the top 10 for California" or "Only three students at Liberty High School received this award."

Special Projects

This category is optional and gives you a way to include one-time activities, like a science fair project or a weekend working for Habitat for Humanity.

Awards

You can mention your honors and awards here, or simply include them in your "Education" and "Extracurricular Activities" categories. Specify the date and describe the awards if necessary.

Experience

Describe both work and volunteer experience. Don't forget non-traditional work, such as babysitting or helping out with the family business. For each item, include the job title, name of organization, location, dates, and description of responsibilities.

Other

Feel free to mention any special skills, trips, interests, or hobbies that are important to you.

Resume Tips

• Keep the resume on one page if possible.
• Don't include activities from before 9th grade unless you have continued those activities or you have received exceptional recognition.
• Ask family members if you've left anything out.
• Be sure to include an inoffensive email address.