Hey guys,
How long should the Resume to upload to Common App be? I know some schools (eg Stanford) don’t have a slot for a resume and some schools like CMU specify the number of pages.
What about other places that only specify the size of the doc to be uploaded (500kb) like Princeton?
My resume is 4 pages long and has all my accomplishments, participation, and volunteer work since the 9th grade. Some of these have been written in the “Activities” section as well.
Any advice?
Preferably 1 page, at most 2 pages. Definitely not four pages – you need to consolidate and key in the highlights… Keep in mind that adults who have been in the workforce for years manage to have 1 page resumes.
Agree with @happy1 and would add that any school that asks for resumes will have THOUSANDS to review. A powerful, one page (two at most) resume is a welcomed encounter for any admissions officer.
Does that mean I should not write about things I have already written in the Activities section?
Should I leave out scores?
Sorry for all the questions, but I am extremely confused. All the advice I have seen/received online is the opposite of what my Academic Guidance Counselor says. (She has gone through my 4-page resume and approved it!) I can definitely see how all the repetition can annoy the officers though, but I only have ONE DAY to finalize it all (Early deadline).
The answer is, as always…it depends.
If you are writing a resume for a school that has your CA Activities, there is no need to be redundant. If you are sending it to a school in lieu of an activities section, then maybe multiple pages (1-2) is ok.
I’m sure your 4 page resume is a beautiful document, but unless a school specifically says “give us every without limit” (and some do) you should work on getting down to 1-2 pages.
do you think I should utilize the “Additional Info” section instead, and not send in a resume at all?
It feels wrong not using all the options the universities give us to market ourselves haha
The way I see it, I have 4 options (10 Activities being constant) :
1)
Other ECs in Additional Info
No Resume
2)
Other ECs in Additional Info
Full, 4 page Resume
3)
No ECs in Additional Info
Other ECs in shortened Resume
4)
No ECs in Additional Info
Full, 4 page resume
Additional info section is usually reserved to explain extenuating circumstances, like poor grades due to illness, etc. I wouldn’t fill that section with ECs.
I would choose option 3 from your list. But it seems to me like you need to pare down your list to the MOST important ECs. Remember, quality over quantity. Eliminate the one day events and less important things that happened 3 or 4 years ago.
I’m not an expert. Just a parent trying to give common sense advice. Hopefully @happy1 will chime in with some expertise.
^^^^I agree with the advice above.
Can someone like @MYOS1634 or @T26E4 clarify this please? Why submit a resume? The common app does not ask for one. Are there some colleges that ask for resumes? What is the point, when all the same info is on the common app?
Yes, many colleges ask for a resume.
No idea why some do, some don’t.
1-2 pages with the usual categories for HS students: Education (GPA, rank, HS, graduation date, AP/IB classes as well as Honors classes that paint a profile like Humanities,STEM, arts…); Work &volunteering experience; Activities; Honors.
Be selective, don’t list everything.
You can put eveything you want to emphasize or new info on one page. Don’t go beyond 1 page. Don’t repeat things found elsewhere in the app.
@Lindagaf T26E4 has replied on my other thread about the AI (http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1932071-what-do-i-put-in-additional-information-and-in-the-resume-cv.html#latest)
Both these threads have pretty much combined at this point
Here’s what he said:
"Don’t add more activities – I guarantee you they stopped reading after 4 or 5. A resume isn’t wanted (that’s why colleges begged Common App to remove the resume upload feature that existed in previous years).
AI is for something extraordinary or unusual. Detailed descriptions of otherwise normal ECs or more ECs is NOT what’s wanted.
you CAN use that slot for whatever you wish. I’m saying that schools (incl Princeton) don’t need you to elaborate on 10+ activities you did while you were in HS. That WON’T add to your file’s strength."
@STEM2017 @happy1 @MYOS1634 @preppedparent Thank you all
It seems like most say option 3)
In this case, I’ll upload a resume, but it will only have parts NOT ALREADY in the application. So, basically, an incomplete resume
I was actually leaning towards option 2), so even schools that don’t allow me to send a resume will see the other ECs. Those that do allow a resume will get an additional document with everything in the Activities + AI but in slightly more detail, in an organized format. If they choose to go through it, good. If not, that’s okay too, because pretty much everything will have been covered.
Maybe I should reconsider now?
I am a parent giving my best advice. I’m not sure what you mean by an incomplete resume – I would edit your resume to fit all major sections in 1-2 pages. But in the end it is your application and you should do what you want.
A high school student’s resume should never exceed one page. Never.
Correct. Do not include redundant info that is already in your Common App. If, after removing that info, you still think you need a resume, you may attach one, but very few students actually should do so.
My professional resume is one page, my college resume is two. I believe there are quite a few things that a college admissions officer would be interested in that an employer would not, such as school clubs and academic awards which couldn’t fit. I might be unique in that I am part of a military family, and when I moved I had to stop a lot of huge time commitments and start new clubs, yet I still want my resume to be reflective of what I have done. I added those on top of my work experience and professional awards which I keep on my actual resume. I would disagree with @marvin100 that a high school student never should exceed one page. As Marvin indicated by italicizing it, never is a strong word. It begs for exceptions by its very nature. If you’ve been up to a lot, don’t short change yourself by omitting substantive things from your resume to fulfill an arbitrary rule. If you can’t fill the page with substantive things, don’t include it.
I’m just a student figuring this out like you, so my advice is worth very little. I hope my personal experiences gave you some information. Good luck on your journey. I hope you can breath a little easier once you hit submit.
Your resume should be a synthesis of what matters in your application. It’s not ‘additional information’ - there’s a box for that.
What honors/awards and ECs you place in your application and/or resume should be the handful of most important items to you. List them in order of importance to you. Remember, the reader in a holistic evaluation is going to give you 12-15 minutes, max.
Consider if that detail of your 9th grade one-day fundraiser, the details of how many kids are in the tutoring program, the numbers of conferences attended as a member of club X – is really going to be worth your readers’ time. They’re not going to extend the time allotted to you – they’re going to skim and skip and move along. Thus, I vote for pithiness.
There’s not much a student can say about involvement in DECA or MUN or JV Tennis or tutoring Middle School kids or working at KFC – that the reader hasn’t seen before.
Your goal isn’t exacting completeness – but the building blocks that form a succinct narrative.
The best advice we received during my daughter’s college application process was “Always compete.”
I think the most important word you can take away from all these responses is the word “powerful.”
Your application should be the most powerful, competitive document you have ever written about yourself. That may or may not mean you attach a resume. Personally, I don’t get a mic drop feeling about four pages that list every club and activity since 9th grade, or your GPA. All of that is already in the application. My daughter’s resume lists nothing about school - no clubs, no GPA. It’s all about her work outside of school. Most colleges she applied to did not want her resume and she never included it in the extra activity section at the end. (If I’m recalling correctly, I believe only two schools allowed her to attach a resume.) This meant the other colleges she applied to did not know about years of media appearances, speaking engagements, etc., so it was up to her to ensure her app stood out despite not being able to include those things.
Determine how to explain the last few years of your unique life in a way that most powerfully grabs your reader. Help the reader understand what makes you a dynamic student that they need on their campus. If you can do this with your CA then perhaps you do not need a resume.
I disagree with #16 above. You don’t want to anger the ADCOM by regurgitating everything in other parts of the app. Think about what you want to highlight and lead with that in case they don’t get through the whole thing. It’s another opportunity to frame your app or say something you feel isn’t adequately covered elsewhere.