Student Resumés
Last Updated on July 26, 2019 by Jill Schwitzgebel
Even if a college does not ask for a student’s resumé, most scholarship applications will ask for it. And if they don’t, there is no reason not to send it anyway (unless of course, they explicitly advise you NOT to!). A well-done resumé can enhance an application, when the evaluator can easily see a summary of the student’s achievements on one page.
See Also: The Application Process…More Than Just Test Scores and GPAs
So what should go on the resumé?
Contact Information
This is the easy part! Student’s name, address, phone number, and email. Some students may have an online presence via Linked In or they may even have their own website. This is the place to list that too.
Education
Have your student list their high school, location, and their GPA. Sometimes, students also like to include coursework relevant to the major they are applying for, but that depends on how much other information needs to go on the resumé.
Test Scores
If sending the resumé as part of your college application, consider including relevant SAT and/or ACT test scores toward the top of the resumé, under education. This is optional. Sometimes, students also wish to list AP coursework taken, as well as their scores from AP exams.
Work and Volunteer Experience
If your child has a lot of experience in either area, then it may be worthwhile for them to split this into two sections. But, the average high school student only has a bit of each, or a lot of one and little of the other. Remember that work experience does not need to be formal – it may be mowing neighbors’ lawns or babysitting. It still counts as experience!
Think about work and volunteer history, and then write a summary of what types of skills were part of each experience. Consider what types of skills colleges and employers might like to see in an applicant and how work and volunteer experience contributed. Leadership? Communication skills? Work ethic? Initiative?
Activities
This includes all clubs, extracurriculars and sports that your child is involved in. If they are the captain of a team or a club officer, that should definitely be noted too. If it is not obvious by the club or extracurricular name, it may be a good idea to include a brief summary of what that activity entails.
Achievements
This section is the place to note any awards or achievements that the student may have. This would be the place to list “Eagle Scout” or the “Sportsmanship Award” or even “High Honor Roll” – anything that might help a student to stand out. Not everyone will include this section and that is perfectly OKAY!
Skills
This is the place to highlight things like fluency in a foreign language or computer programming skills. Skip listing things like proficiency with PowerPoint or Microsoft Word. Those are skills that are generally just expected of an applicant these days.
SKIP References
It used to be that all resumés said “References available upon request”. Colleges and employers pretty much assume that to be the case, and it is not necessary to include that anymore.
Remember…
Keep it to one page. Use action verbs. Provide detail, but also keep it concise. Show dates to show the depth of your commitment to your activities and experiences. Highlight activities and skills you may not have been able to include in essays that are important to you.
And finally, Google is your friend for finding resumé styles and formats. There are literally dozens and dozens of high school resumé samples online for you to use for reference.
