<p>Is it pretentious to attach a resume to my application? I have a lot of stuff (especially good extracurriculars) that I would like to fit on there, as well as some brief, concise explanations that can be done only on a resume. But I heard it's pretentious and haughty, and gives a bad impression. Is that true?</p>
<p>bump would like an answer as well. i find the common app doesnt allow us to explain activities</p>
<p>I read in one college admissions advice book that sending a resume was pretentious… or at least that was the opinion of the author. It made me a little wary of my son submitting one last year when he was applying, but the more I read and heard the opinions and experiences of others, the less concerned I was about it. It’s true that the Common App isn’t designed in a way to reveal much about important ECs, and particularly ones where you have complex involvment including both leadership and volunteering and diverse responsibilites and achievements. So I went ahead and encouraged my son to write one. I think (just to hedge my bets) I suggested to him he call it an “activites summary” instead of an “activites resume.” 
It was evidently not so off-putting as to occasion his rejection.</p>
<p>It’s standard practice at my school, and we have good college placement, so it can’t bother the adcoms that much. The resumé is especially helpful if you have awards or anything that doesn’t fit on the Common App.</p>
<p>They have additional space on the Common App for things that don’t fit in their specified sections. I don’t know if it’s pretentious, but I wouldn’t send a resume because I doubt they pay close attention to it. They have thousands of apps to read, so they’ll probably look at the required items first. If you get in based on the required parts, they’ll never look at it. If you get rejected based on the required parts, there probably isn’t much on the resume that could save you. I’m saying that because the most important things should be on the actual app. If there is some debate over whether or not to admit you, they may look at it. And if you get waitlisted, send it later.</p>
<p>Standard at my HS. GC requires a resume. She includes them with every transcript sent</p>
<p>We sent an attached resume with my son’s application two years ago (he was accepted ED, btw). It was about 1 1/2 pages (with lots of white space) and basically explained a few activities in greater detail than could possibly fit into the Common App. space. It’s hard to summarize a year-long community service activity with a culminating trip to a 3rd world country to build something in that small space. That was also true of an unusual (and interesting) extra-curricular activity he was involved in. I don’t think it hurts, as long as you’re not repeating information and/or making it too long.</p>
<p>That being said, there are some schools, e.g., Columbia, who I think specifically ask you not to send a resume. Their application, however, does give you more space.</p>
<p>I don’t think that it would warrant a rejection, since it’s such standard practice nowadays that it would be hard to believe that adcoms would have a grudge against submitting a resume when half the applicants do it. However, sending in a 10-page list of everything you’ve ever done since kindergarten would obviously negatively impact your application (and I’m guessing top schools get things like that every year from high school students who think that doing everything under the sun is a good thing)</p>