How to submit a résumé, and how detailed should it be?Answered
I made an academic résumé in one of my classes, and the teacher told me to make everything fit on a single page in Google Docs and to not go into too much detail. I found this extremely difficult to do, because leaving out information goes against everything I thought I knew about what constitutes a good résumé. After touring a few colleges and listening to information sessions, I’ve learned that some colleges actually prefer what they call an extended résumé. Are there different types of résumés that I should make, and how do I find out what kind of résumé colleges I’m interested in prefer? Also, I’m not familiar with how to submit a résumé to a college. Will it be an option online while applying, similar to how I added the extracurricular info to College Vine, or is it usually done some other way?
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3 answers
Hi there @Lynx,
@Kaitlyn5394 provides a really great point about your resume. When applying to most colleges, there usually isn't a resume upload; rather, you input all of your classes, extracurriculars, awards, etc. individually. Your resume can be a good guide to follow so you don't forget anything, but I wouldn't worry too much if you're only planning to use it for college applications.
Some colleges do allow students to upload a resume if they wish to. In this case, you should only upload a resume if it adds some new information to your application. We have resume tips here: https://blog.collegevine.com/resume-for-college-applications/
As for filling out the application itself, our blog has step-by-step sections for the Common App. You can view an example here: https://blog.collegevine.com/how-to-fill-out-the-common-app-activities-section/ - hopefully this provides more clarity around what colleges are looking for when it comes to a resume of your activities.
If you're applying for a job or internship that requires a resume drop, then you should definitely keep your resume to one page.
Hope this helps!
Hi! So my personal opinion here is, don't worry too much about your resume. In all honestly, I don't believe that colleges read them that closely, if at all. Everything that you could (most likely) ever put in a resume is going to be asked separately on your application (for example, your work experience, your classes, and their rigor, your extracurriculars, inside your personal essay, etc.). Typically, if you decide that you do want to include a resume, I would limit it to anything that is not on any other aspect of your application. If that is a lot of information, go for it! As a general rule, I try to keep my resumes for work and such at a maximum of 4 pages, but ideally 3. Don't use full sentences, and give as much detail as possible in as few words as possible (so not a lot of “filler words” like adjectives, if that makes sense).
As for where you will put the resume, not every college even allows you to submit a resume. When I applied on the Common App, only some of them had the option to add one. So on the Common App there will be a specific area to add one, if you choose to do so :)
Here is a general article I found as well about this information: https://www.unigo.com/admissions-advice/should-students-include-a-resume-in-their-college-application#:~:text=Though%20some%20schools%20do%20ask,of%20you%20on%20your%20application.
I hope that this is helpful— best of luck to you!!
Firstly, have you tried checking some resume examples on the internet? If you haven't, try to check it out. There's a lot of good resume examples on the internet, make sure the essay you make is the academic one (which showcase your academic ability). There's also a lot of resume templates you can find on the internet if you aren't sure about what you have to write. I build my resume only by observing the good resume examples.
There's some point you have to write in your bio data (name, email, other basic information, and a paragraph that tells about you), your education (school name (be sure to write only 1-2), your GPA, your achievement at school), your organization/experiences, your achievement, and your publication (if any).
You have to make sure that your resume is short (1-2 pages) by using bullet points. Use strong verbs to showcase your ability and achievement. Also, put some numbers (stats) for example, I'm a committee of my school's anniversary event, so I wrote; "Built advertisement strategy and reach 20 (average) new participant per new advertisement."
In the CollegeVine community guidelines, it's stated that I can't post an advertisement, but I want to suggest you to try resumeworded(dot)com to score your resume. It can be helpful for you!
Good luck on your resume!
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