NUGGETS

General Information

•  An activities resume is a 1-4 page visual picture of a student’s academic, extracurricular, sports, hobbies, talents and other involvements.

•  Creating a very clear, organized activities resume is a way of outshining your competition.

•  An activities resume is a critical tool in identifying what you want colleges to “get” about you.

•  You can give an activities resume to

√  your high school counselor

√  teachers who are writing recommendations

√  other recommenders

You can also

√  include your resume as an appendix to your application

√  offer it as a give-away at admissions interviews

√  send it as a part of a thank-you note to a college representative with whom you have visited

•  Some colleges (including the University of California system and Stanford University) ask you NOT to submit a resume. Others, such as University of Southern California, have specific instructions for how they want resumes formatted. Consult college websites for specific directions.

•  In addition to college applications, an activities resumes has multiple other uses--attaching it to a scholarship application, using it to apply to special programs such as Girls’ or Boys’ State or as part of a job application.

•  Activities resumes should not only identify activities, sports and awards, but also something about what they are and how you participated.

•  Colleges are impressed with students who choose an activity, stay with and develop it over a period of years. If you began soccer as a five year old, mention that on your resume.

•  Colleges appreciate students who, instead of engaging in school activities, work to help their families or take care of younger, disabled or elderly relatives. Identify and describe those activities on your resume.

•  The content of your activities doesn’t matter, so long as you demonstrate that you enjoy, even love, what you do. Use your resume to show how you have taken one activity, e.g. writing, and pursued it in a variety of ways (writing for a school paper, using your skills to put out press releases for a nonprofit, enter writing contests, etc.)

•  Unusual or different activities tend to catch admissions officers’ eyes (e.g., becoming a trapeze artist, learning to make goat cheese, climbing Mt. Everest, learning to speak an African language, playing an unusual instrument).

Timeline

•  Freshman and sophomore years keep a record of everything you do, as well as any awards or honors you receive.

•  Junior year is a good time to put together a first draft of your activities resume. Have a finished resume by the summer before your senior year.

•  Senior year make sure that you provide copies of your activities resume to everyone who is writing letters of recommendation for you.

Click here for format of a resume.