How To Write A Resume For University Application

How Important Is The Resume For College

Well, it depends.

In general, most colleges have a dedicated space on their application system called the Activities List where you will be able to list out all of the things youve been involved in outside of school. That section is your BEST place to share those details. Dont skip it.

However, some colleges offer the option of submitting a separate, more traditional style resume.

If you feel like youve totally communicated all of the important details in your Activities List, you may not need to submit a separate resume. In fact, for many colleges, you may not even have the opportunity to upload a traditional PDF resume.

But if given that option, should you do it?

Some colleges strongly recommend that you submit a resume along with your application While others forbid it So be sure to check with individual colleges to see what they prefer.

However, keeping a professional resume on hand will serve you in a few ;other ways. How?

Your resume:

Finally, its like having your own business card. Theres a professional cool factor when youve got a slick resume to slap on someones desk.

Now, lets make one.

Fill Out All Resume/cv Sections With Relevant Information

After determining what sections you will include in your resume, you should take your time filling them out to ensure you include only relevant information. Focus on your experiences and academic history that directly relate to the program you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a Ph.D. program in English, emphasize your classes and experience that detail your work in the field of English. Minimize or leave out information that does not relate to the program you are applying for.

Best Verbs To Use For Resume For A Phd Application

The following is a list of a few of the best action verbs to incorporate into your Ph.D. application resume:

• Accomplished
• Developed
• Designed

The best place to include these action verbs is when listing your duties or experiences as part of your education, research, teaching or work sections.

Related:Resume Format Guide

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Profile/skills Summary/highlights Of Qualifications

• The purpose of this section is to highlight your top three to five qualifications to the employer.
• If you include this section, use a bullet format and highlight only the skills and/or qualifications that are relevant to the position you are applying for and substantiate with brief explanation of the experience that helped you build that skill or quality.
• Please review the accomplishment-based statements worksheet for tips on how to write this section.

• Include dates attended, program, area of study, institution.
• Include relevant courses if related to job posting.
• Include GPA if it sets you apart from other applicants or if the employer has specifically stated that you need to. You should also include the scale .
• Include high school if you are in first- or second- year ;note if you graduated with honours or awards; include high school if it is unique, such as the International Baccalaureate.
• If you dont include high school but wish to include awards/honours from high school, put them in a separate ‘awards’;section.

• Add any academic projects that demonstrate key skills/qualifications;
• Include Project Name, Name of Course and Calendar Year
• Use the same formatting that you use in the experience section ;

How To Write The Best College Admissions Resume

Resumes are important tools for seeking employment but are not usually associated with college admissions. Recently, colleges have become more interested in seeing student resumes as part of the overall application package. College applicants should provide a college admissions resume along with their traditional application materials. In this article, we will explain what a college admissions resume is, what to include in it, how to write one, tips, a template and an example.

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When To Use A Curriculum Vitae

If you are considering positions in academia , you are generally asked to provide a curriculum vitae instead of a resume. Your CV will highlight your scholarly and professional experiences when applying for academic , research positions, academic postdoctoral research opportunities, grants, and fellowships. Keep in mind the purpose is also to have the hiring committee interested in interviewing you. Therefore, be selective in your accomplishments to show you are a strong candidate for the job, department, and institution.

CVs vary from discipline to discipline. It is recommended to reference the CVsof others in your field and have your advisor review them as well. The CV is focused on expertise and provides a complete summary of your academic achievements. The typical CV length is 2-3 pages, with additional pages added to further your career and academic successes.

Standard CV sections include: Education, Teaching Experience, Research Experience, Honors and Awards, Professional/Volunteer Experience, Publications, Presentations, Scholarly/Professional Affiliations, Research Interests, Extracurricular Activities, Licensing/Registration/Certifications, Grants/Fellowships, University Service, Technical Skills, and References.

The Best Resources For Additional Grad School Cv Samples

Here, we give you two top-notch resources for CV samples.

UPenn

UPennâs Career Services department offers a large variety of CV samples in addition to the resume samples listed above. Although all of the CV samples are geared toward employment purposes , theyâre still solid resources you can use as models while crafting your own graduate school CV â especially if youâre entering the science, engineering, or math sectors.

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University of Illinois

This PDF offers two full-length CV samples and instructions detailing how to write a CV and what to include on it. Note that both CV samples are employment oriented ; however, you can still use the general layouts of the samples to help you come up with ideas for your own CV.

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Graduate School Resume And Cv Samples

Now that we know what makes for an excellent graduate school resume and CV, letâs look at a few high-quality samples. Graduate school resume examples are helpful resources because they give us ideas as to how to organize our resumes and what to include on them.

Below, we give you four original graduate school resume and CV samples. Each sample is unique and offers a variety of features you may incorporate into your own resume, if desired.

Were also giving you one annotated graduate school resume sample and one annotated sample CV for graduate school. These annotated samples each contain notes explaining what features make them strong contenders for graduate school.

Organizing Your College Resume

Organize the information into an easy-to-read document that is no longer than two pages. Below are some categories to consider for your college resume:

• Education: Your high school, GPA, and test scores.
• Activities and work.;Briefly describe the activity, your role in it, your contribution to it, the school year you participated, any leadership positions you held, and how many weeks and hours per week you contributed.
• Honors and awards.;Provide the name of the award or leadership position, a brief description, why you won it, and the date you received it.
• Other experiences and skills.;Choose those that show your initiative and commitment. Describe the experience or skill, the challenges you faced, the period of time you devoted to it, and the result of your commitment.

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Write A Section On Work Experience And Skills Outside Of Academia

If youre fresh out of college or more geared towards academic work, you might not have a long list of work experience to show.

Thats fine.

Your previous work experience wont define you in the same way it would if applying for jobs outside of academia.

Butif you had working experience, especially ones relevant to the field youre studying, then this section will signal to the admissions office that youre more than just a student.

Show this in a resume work history section.

Its the place in your graduate CV to showcase how diverse you are as a candidate and what path you took along your way to arrive at this decision to apply for this particular grad program.

If youre applying for a psychology program and have worked with at-risk students in the past, then it is still in line with your overall interest to apply to that grad school.

It also can help to explain why you might have taken some time off from when you graduated to now. Just make sure not to throw everything youve done in this section. Dont be as thorough as you would for a regular job resume:

Graduate School Resume Objective Statementexample

Spot the difference?

The first example tells a deeper story behind their desire to attend that specific grad programand why. As for the secondall potential students applying have an interest in clinical psychology, but its a given. It adds nothing to the candidates profile.

Expert Hint: Not sure how to write your grad school resume objective? Heres a hack. Leave it to the end where youll have more material to paraphrase your overall candidate profile.

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Focus On Depth And Length Of Commitment

When deciding which activities and accomplishments make the cut, keep in mind that colleges would much rather see you excited about one or two key experiences than sporadic involvement in 20 clubs. If having an after-school job limited your ability to participate in clubs or sports, make sure your resume plays up your work responsibilities, training, and on-the-job skills.

Read More: Everything You Need to Know About Applying to College

What Should Go On A College Resume

Any of the sections below could appear on your resume for college applications. Pick an assortment that works for you!

• Heading with your name, address, and e-mail
• High school information with your graduation date, GPA , class rank, and SAT/ACT scores
• Academic awards, publications, honors, and other achievements
• Coursework

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Write Your Resume Objective

A resume objective is a short heading statement in your resume, where you describe your professional goals and aspirations.

Fun fact – hiring managers look at your resume for 5-6 seconds max.

Yep, thats right. In most cases, the hiring manager is literally drowning in resumes. So, they have a couple of seconds to skim each one.

Well, this section is your chance to catch their attention .

A resume objective is usually 3-4 sentences max and includes information on:

• What your field of study is;
• What;your skills and experiences are ;
• Why youre applying for this position and/or this company.

As with contact information, you dont need to label your resume objective with a title. Just write;it underneath your contact information section.

Heres an example of what a resume objective looks like:

Recent Communications graduate looking to apply for the role of Secretary at XYZ inc. Extremely organized with good writing and multitasking skills. Practical experience in management gained through several university projects, which involved coordinating tasks between different team members and ensuring that everyone was in sync with the latest information.

How To Get Started With Your Resume For Your College Applications

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Final Thoughts On Resumes And College Admissions

If your prospective colleges give you a black-and-white answer to the question of resume submission, then simply follow their directives. If one or more of your potential schools does encourage enclosing a CV with your application, then go about creating one, remembering the tips outlined above. Chances are that a resume will come in handy at some point during the application processwhether one of the schools on your list requires/recommends/accepts them or if a scholarship or honors college opportunity is in the cards.

What To Include In Your Resume

Begin with a resume summary statement. A;resume summary statement; is a list or a few sentences at the top of a resume that highlights your qualifications for a position. It is a great way to quickly show an employer why you are a strong candidate for a position.

Resume summary statements can be useful at any career level, including as a college student.

The summary statement should be located below your name and contact information. In a few sentences , state some of your skills and accomplishments that make you an ideal fit for the job. Try to include;keywords;from the job listing.

Mention a strong GPA. Along with your school and degree information, include any achievements, such as a high;GPA; and any academic awards .

Emphasize your teamwork and leadership skills. Employers are always interested in job candidates who have demonstrated personal initiative in assuming leadership roles and who have proven themselves to be productive team members. Be sure to describe all leadership positions you have held within campus organizations or in academic team projects.

Emphasize all related experience. Even if you do not have much employment history, you can include;volunteer experiences and any extracurriculars related to the job. You can put all these experiences in a section titled Related Experience, or divide them into different sections.

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Add Extracurriculars To Your Grad School Resume With More Sections

Okay, basics down, but somethings missing.

You didnt get to show how you successfully balanced the demands of a rigorous course load with numerous extra-curricular activities.

And how you spent your time outside of the classroom is extremely important for the selections committee.;

Why? As a student and hopeful graduate of their institution, youll be an ambassador for the rest of your career.

All eyes on you.

To show them your worth, add relevant extra sections to your grad school CV. Here are some

suggestions:;

Tailor Your Phd Application Resume To Suit Each Program You Apply For

It’s important to revise each resume or CV you submit to ensure it is as relevant as possible to the program you are applying for. If one program requests a certain qualification but another program does not, you should remove the mention of this qualification in the resume you submit to the latter program. The more specific your resume or CV is in relation to the Ph.D. program you are applying for, the more likely you will be noticed by the admissions committee.

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Resume Example With Summary Statement

Below is an example of a resume for a college student that includes a resume summary.

Louise Lerner

• An honors student with a record of academic and extracurricular success
• Extensive leadership experience, particularly within a higher education setting
• Adept at working across departments, with faculty, administrators, and students
• Award-winning written communication skills

U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C.Intern, Spring 2021Generated concisely written synopses of current legislative action for use by the department, members of Congress, and the general public through the Department of Education website.

• Researched and presented to policymakers several successful school design and construction projects to support the Administration Schools as Center of Community” proposal.

American University, Washington, D.C. Research Assistant,;Spring 2021Examined how the increasing dependence of needy students on federal loans instead of grants for higher education has affected college access and enrollment, culminating in a 65-page paper.

• Received Outstanding Final Paper award.

Historical Society of Hopedale, New York Research Assistant,;Spring 2020Researched archival materials, wrote text panels, and selected objects for a historical exhibit on Hopedale in the 1930s.

Guidelines For Preparing A Cv

• The order of topics in a CV format is flexible.
• Arrange sections to highlight strengths for the position you are seeking.
• Elaborate on accomplishments and skills within categories.
• List items within each category chronologically, the most recent appearing first.
• Include additional headings when appropriate to reflect certifications/licensures, workshops/training, languages, book reviews, etc.
• Present information in an easily accessible and attractive style.

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Honors College Applications Sometimes Require Resumes

Florida International Universitys Wilkes Honors College states that To strengthen your Wilkes Honors College application, we encourage you to submit a resume and academic research paper. The College of Charlestons Honors College flat-out requires a resume. The Plan II Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin goes even further, requiring an expanded resume and practically begs for detail warning applicants that, This is NOT a place to be overly concise. Clarkson Universitys Honors Program also requires a CV but conversely limits the document to a one-page maximum. Visit our Top Honors Programs Dataverse page for more information.