<p>Hi everyone. Im currently working on my common app and everything needed for Cornell basically. I am working on a resume of activities, awards, etc at the moment and I wondered whether or not a couple of sentences describing each activity, and why I did it was ok? Because its gonna come out a little long...the resume i mean. Maybe around 3 pages double spaced but neat. Please help me, cus i dunno if im doing the right thing. I want the adcoms to understand why i did wat i did and what it meant to me. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Anyone...please help. I put an activity and in about a paragraph described what i did, why i did it, and its purpose in my life.</p>
<p>A 3 page resume is excessive...you don't need a paragraph, just maybe a sentence...I don't even think my descriptions were sentences...I don't even know if I really had any, lol...um if you want to see the one I used when I applied I can look for it on my computer and send you it.</p>
<p>I agree - three pages is too much. One would be better. You don't need to talk about the activities purpose in your life. Just a brief description is best, like spanks says. Use your essays to talk about why a particular activity is important to you. Isn't that one of the essay topics on the common app?</p>
<p>You don't even need an extra resume, in the common app I believe there is a section for extra information in that just do brief descriptions if you feel it needs a description, not all activities or awards should</p>
<p>umm...see...ive asked a lot of people and detail about the activity and why i did it cant be described in 1 sentence...especially mine cant....i read in 2 books that length doesnt matter as long as its not fluff...and i can assure you mine isnt fluff....i use suggestions from IvyWise counselor Katherine Cohen...she's a college counselor and she wrote a book on how to write up the best app for the ivy and other top schools and she has been with many ppl...and strongly suggests a resume and one with detail...so i dunno wat to say to your comments</p>
<p>the resume came out to 4 pages just now...im basically done with it...it has a combination of awards, activities for each grade level and an explanation, work experience, and hobbies/interests</p>
<p>Man, how many activities did you do ??! IMO two page is best for resume.</p>
<p>its not the amount of activities...its the depth at which i did them</p>
<p>They just won't read it, most likely. Cut down it's length, theres no reason it has to be that long. It may be painful, but at least they'll glance over it. :)</p>
<p>Are you sure you didn't repeat things in your explanations? Is there any way you can be more concise? These adcoms have to read through the apps fairly quickly and if they end up skimming a really long resume as opposed to reading a more concise yet still explanatory resume, it may be to your benefit to shorten it. Just a suggestion.</p>
<p>My resume was a page and a little, and I had a good number of activities. I don't know about these paragraph descriptions haha...I've never heard of that before. If it's recommended, I suppose it's OK, but I don't see why all that detail is necessary. I thought a resume is supposed to give an overview of what you do, not an explanation.</p>
<p>Mine just listed my stuff, in bullet form with sectional headings for: my contact info, GPA/Scores, ECs, Summer Activities, Awards, and Employment. Within each one I'd have bullets for whatever I'd accomplished, or a sentance long job description to explain what I was doing.</p>
<p>Unless it's something really important theres no need to get all expository IMO...and in that case those "really important ones" should probably be the subject of your essays...</p>
<p>You are, however, speaking in really broad generalities, so none of us knows what these "description neccesary for my resume" ECs are. Maybe they do, in fact, require more than a sentance. If you're willing to say what they are, I think everyone would better understand the situation and be better able to give you more poignant advice.</p>
<p>Ok...lol...um ok...ill give u a little excerpt or 2:</p>
<p>11th Young Democrats (President & Founder) Founded a Young Democrats chapter at Midwood High School, only the second High school chapter in Brooklyn. I founded the chapter because I felt that students needed to discuss current political, social, and economic issues to get students politically active in our diverse community and to have the youth voice heard throughout Kings County and New York City. Weekly meetings featured forums, discussions, signature drives for Democratic support, and open debate on current events. I then distributed members to various Democratic campaigns for NYC Mayor for the Summer 2005. Starting the Young Democrats at Midwood became widely known among the faculty and students, and the fact that students actively became involved due to my initiating the club and corresponding events brought me great personal satisfaction. </p>
<p>Introspect School Biology Journal (Assistant Editor & Science Advisor) As assistant editor and science advisor of the school biology publication, I reviewed every article for grammatical, factual, and scientific correctness. I held the responsibility of deciding which articles would be eligible for submission. I also wrote feature articles myself specifically on teen nutrition and the dangers of dieting for a developing adolescent body. I enjoyed writing articles pertaining to contemporary public health issues because they are very important to me.</p>
<p>IMO that can be reduced to (and this is still giving the important details, you should notice):</p>
<p>Young Democrats:
-President & Founder
-Organized active support in 2005 NYC mayoral campaign
I reduce it to this because I think it's obvious that most "young your party here" clubs talk and meet, but the mayor thing is unique and shows extra involvement.</p>
<p>Introspect (School Biology Journal)
-Assistant editor, science advisor, & contributor
-Responsible for typographic and scientific correctness of every article
I reduce it to this because it says everything important you said above in just 19 words. If nutrition is so importnat to you (relates to a prospective major, perhaps?), you should mention it in an essay (and should undoubtedly mention the relation to your involvement in this club)</p>
<p>In other words, your format is:
Club Name (explanation of club's purpose--if neccessay):
-Positions Held
-Highlight(s) and or explanation of responsibilities held/work performed.</p>
<p>No offense, but "i enjoyed this because it's important to me" and "it's satisfying to see people like my club" stuff is the aforementioned fluff. You want colleges to see what you accomplished in stark, easy to read terms. Padding it with sentimentalities only masks the substance and confuses the reader. Excuse the cliche, but sometimes you have to learn to "cut the crap" as they say...I had a beautifully written and fairly relevant paragraph in my main college essay...that put it 75-100 words over the limit...it had to go, because it wasn't essential, and didn't add much to my point.</p>
<p>lol....thanks...i was thinking if i had to cut it down......i would take out the "satisfying" quotes like those...but ye...you're right....i do need to cut the crap, lol. Thanks again...ill prob cut it down as much as i can.</p>
<p>good good, i was hoping you wouldn't put up a fight. haha.</p>
<p>that format is obviously not set in stone, as some extraordinary formatting or description situation might necessitate a change (or you could put stuff in bold, etc.), but it seems like a good guideline.</p>
<p>i got the description in italics and the title in normal...so there is some way of distinguishing</p>
<p>ok..its still....3.5 pages...even with the cutdown...cus i have around 5 activities senior year....7 junior year, 3 soph and 2 fresh, plus i put my 5 awards....and my 2 work experiences...and i put a hobbies section with 3 things too....what should i do?</p>
<p>if you take off the name, address, and all that header at the top, its like 2.7 pages....</p>
<p>You have to ask yourself now are all of the things you are listing most important to you? Don't list everything, don't put down something that doesn't add that something extra to your application. The main thing would be to look at your hobbies and your activities. If any of your activities do not have leadership (president, vp, founder, etc) then do not put that down. Don't double up on activites either, you said 5 senior year and 7 junior, hopefully those are unique activities to each year.</p>
<p>By the way what are the hobbies you are putting down?</p>