So if I Google “what to put on a résumé” I get things like Heading, Objective, Qualifications, Education, Awards, Skills, etc.
But since this is for applications for admissions and things like education, awards, honors are already listed in Common App and unlike activities they don’t require further explanations, is it okay to omit those sections? Is the purpose of résumé elaborating on activities in a further detail that limited space on the Common App’s activities section doesn’t allow for? What do I exactly need to put on these kind of résumés?
You don’t need a resume for college applications. Your application should have what colleges need.
@happy1 Some colleges have an optional résumé submission and no space to give details to extracurricular activities. Cornell has it, and they don’t have any space for me to elaborate on my extracurriculars. (and there are some activities I want to give further details on).
Cornell does not give “no” space; it gives limited space. Editing is a life skill. If you want to expand upon your ECs, you can use the additional information section of the Common App. At the end of the day, the application itself is the key document.
Be aware that an AO will spend about 10 minutes reading your app. Sending more stuff does not get you more time; it just means that some sections are skimmed in order to get you file read in the allotted time.
@skieurope I don’t understand. There is a space to upload a résumé just like optional portfolios, and people are telling me not to submit it. Why not submit if you can?
Just because you can do something does not mean that you should. Some schools allow additional recs, but that does not mean every student should submit an additional rec.
What you need is some adult to objectively evaluate your application and see if a resume would be beneficial; we don’t know you, so we can’t do that. What I do know is that for the vast majority of applicants, the application itself will give the AO everything they need. Sending more stuff just to send more stuff will make you stand out, but not in a good way. At some point, the old adage kicks in - the thicker the file, the thicker the kid.
The question is asked often. Here are a couple of examples,but you can search for more.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/2024100-attach-resume-to-common-app.html
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/common-application/2014322-resume-with-common-app.html
Different colleges treat resumes differently. If you feel that it will enhance your application, by all means include it. I view the resume as another place to voice who you are and what your ECs / achievements / work may have meant to you.
In my view, you can use your resume to group things and highlight things that the Common App just isn’t very good at allowing you to do. For example, why not put on your resume the section about the art that you do at home and never won an award for? Why not put on your resume the volunteer work that you ran out of room for on your common app? Why not list the activities in X category and put in a single sentence at the top summarizing for the adcom what that set of activities meant to you? How about at the top: What does that college mean to you in 1-3 sentences?
In other words, include whatever items on your resume you feel highlight who you are and whatever things will help them understand you as a person fitting into that college. The list of stuff on the common app is dry compared with the resume, IMHO.
By submitting a resume, you offer the very human AO the temptation to make a preliminary judgement based on just that, skimming the rest of your application. If your resume alone is both short and outstanding (e.g. you have a good number of prestigious or widely-recognized awards, honors, internships that don’t require explanation), you might (might!) be in a position to go for it. If you feel the need to elaborate on anything, it’s probably better to leave it off so the AO WILL have to read a bit slower through the rest of your file.
@Groundwork2022 Would you recommend writing a few sentences in the Additional informations section then? I was considering using a résumé NOT because I have extraordinary awards, but more like the case that @Dustyfeathers mentioned, I actually have “the art that I do at home and never won an award for”. That’s my music production, I do it much passion but I’m not (yet) an international star as you see. But still want a room to mention that somewhere in my application. If résumé isn’t the good place to do that I’ll write in the Additional info section.
Show, don’t tell. If your music production is significant to you and good enough to go on your app, I’d consider attaching or putting a video link in the app, provided it is fairly short. That might be more interesting to an AO than reading about it. Consider carefully before you do this, however. Is music production related to what you want to study (it doesn’t have to be, but ideally it ties in with your other interests so it’s not out there in left field)? Do you spend a good amount of time doing it? Will the music add insight to your talents, skills and personality not seen elsewhere in your application? What will it add that is not already expressed? Will the video be an appropriate demonstration of what you can “bring to the table”? Anything you submit may be passed to the Fine Arts Department for professional review and opinion. Done well, however, this is more interesting than a resume.
Keep in mind that if you send an music or art supplement your work needs to be of exceptionally high quality (more or less conservatory level) for it to help an application. Admissions officers are swamped and you don’t want them to take time away from the rest of your application to review supplements that are less than outstanding. If you are unsure as to the quality of your work, ask a professional (perhaps a music or art teacher at your school) to asses.
If you have activities sooo special, they go in the Activities section. Try to resist the desire to put in every single thing you do or lengthy explanations. What you include should be relevant what those colleges want to know about your efforts and commitments. Not a bio or every last detail. This is a thinking task.
Try to understand what matters. It’s a skill to present the right elements, not too much, not too little, just right.
I don’t think that there’s a hard and fast rule for how to present any student. The OP may have passion for X art, and knowing that she has the passion may be more moving and important that the actual quality of the work. She’s not going to major in that field, but she could add to the overall liveliness of the campus. This is also valuable. So in this case “showing not telling” may not be the way to go. Not showing anything that’s not “conservatory level” is also not necessarily the way to go. Telling might be the way to go, whether on a resume or in the extra info section.
Schools value people with passions even if they aren’t world-class or conservatory level or groundbreaking. They like people with passions because, well, they are passionate and make for a nice learning environment for others. Also: just because a person isn’t conservatory level or world class YET doesn’t mean that the skill or talent won’t develop at college. College is a petri dish where new thoughts and arts meet and blossom. If new thoughts are arts don’t blossom at college campuses, then why attend college. It’s okay to be a passionate amateur and to talk about it rather than showing it.
Do not submit an additional resume unless you need to–and you only need to if you have so many activities, awards, and achievements that you can’t fit them all in the Common App (including the “additional information” section). Vanishingly few applicants should submit resumes when they apply to college.
To me, a resume is only needed if you can’t put everything you want to on the COmmon App