Hi! This is my first post here on CC so sorry if it’s in the wrong place. I’m a rising senior in high school working on creating my resume but had a few questions on formatting, sections, etc. They’re all general questions so hopefully this thread can help out others wondering the same things!
First, what are the key sections? I currently have academics (GPA, SAT, etc.), school activities (clubs, school sports), awards and achievements, and community service. Any other sections I should add? For example, should I put a section for interests and hobbies, or is this info unnecessary? I don’t have any work experience, so that section wouldn’t be relevant for me personally, but others should include it.
Second, how should I go about organizing my activities? For example, if I’m in a club at school that involves community service, would I put that under school activities or community service? I considered putting it in both sections and addressing different aspects in the respective sections, but I have a feeling I shouldn’t put the same thing on the resume twice.
Third, this question is a bit more specific, but how should I address sports that I participate in outside of school? This sport (which is kind of unusual) is important to me so I definitely want to include it somewhere, but it’s not a school activity.
Finally, I’m making this resume mainly for recommenders, but should I also attach it to my common app? Most of the info on my resume will already be elsewhere on my app, but I know some people suggest to attach a resume in addition. Is it a good idea or just pointless since it would be mostly repeated info?
Sorry for all the questions, but I want to make a solid resume! Feel free to answer any or all- I really appreciate any help!
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I think the sections you have just about cover it, but you should split school activities into smaller categories (clubs, sports, etc)… You could do interests and hobbies, if you have some unique ones.
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I would actually recommend you split clubs into a “Clubs” section and then a “Community service” section, and only clubs that focus on CS go in the CS section.
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Put it in the sports category.
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Some schools specifically say they accept resumes- I would attach it there.
The common app removed the resume upload function a few years ago b/c colleges didn’t want students clogging up their apps with this. The format of the common and coalition apps is perfectly fine for colleges.
You might well be wasting energy on this.
@yonceonhismouth Thank you for your help!!
@T26E4 I may be wrong, but I believe some colleges allow you to submit a resume in the college-specific section of the common app? Either way, teachers writing me recommendations have requested one, and a resume is good to have in general.
If you google college admission resume (or anything like that) you will find tons of examples and can see how they are formatted.
It’s to your advantage if you write a brief description of your involvement in your activity/club. Merely listing the name of it doesn’t give much insight into your level of participation or passion for the activity, and doesn’t differentiate between a heavy involvement or sporadic attendance just to claim it on a resume.
Worse than pointless–it’s a waste of adcoms’ time. Don’t attach a redundant document. If you have important activities or awards that you can’t fit in the Common App, put them in the “Additional Info” section. Do not submit a resume full of the same stuff you’ve already reported in the Common App. Adcoms do not appreciate having their time wasted in such a manner.
@ready2launch Good idea- thanks for the tip!
@marvin100 This is good to know. Thanks for the advice. Would not want to make adcom angry!