What to Include in a College Application Résumé

Résumés aren't just for jobs and internships. You actually need one for your college applications as well.

Why? It's a short 1-2 page summary of your accomplishments, abilities, and interests. It's a quick and easy way for college admissions officers to see what you've done during high school and what you'll add to their college.

It's easier to make a college résumé than you'd think. This post will show you how.

Sections to Include in a College Application Résumé:
Heading
Academic Profile (high school(s) and dates attended)
Co-Curricular Activities (school clubs, sports, etc.)
Extracurricular Activities (out-of-school groups)
Work and Volunteer Experience
Summer Programs
Honors / Awards
Hobbies / Interests / Travel


Detailed Breakdown of Sections in a College Application Résumé

Heading
-includes full name, social security number, address, city, state, zip code, telephone number, and email address

Academic Profile
-all high schools you attended
-city and state of each high school
-dates you attended them
-class rank
-SAT / ACT scores
-Honors / AP / IB courses (optional)

Co-Curricular Activities, Extracurricular Activities, and Work / Volunteer Experience
-each activity, positions held, grades in which you were involved
-specific contributions, duties, and recognition in each activity
-number of hours involved per week

Summer Programs
-short description of each
-month and year attended

Honors / Awards
-short description of each
-month and year you won it
-why you won it

Hobbies / Interests / Travel
-separate category for each
-items that are honest AND make you look good


College Application Résumé Tips:
-List everything in reverse chronological order within each category.

-Be sure to mention any unusual experiences that will impress admissions officers.

-Give a copy to each potential recommender. It'll help them write their letter for you.

-Proofread, proofread, proofread.

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How to Become President of a High School Club by 12th Grade

Even if classwork and standardized tests aren't your cup of tea, there's still hope. Extracurriculars are the area where people skills wins out over book smarts. However, if everything you do in extracurriculars happens behind the scenes, it's hard to show admissions officers YOU were the mover and shaker. This week's post gives you a road map to help you get that prized leadership position.

Let's pretend you're an admissions officer. It's Friday afternoon, and you've been sitting in a cramped room all day reviewing applications. You're about to leave when your fellow admissions officer calls you over to choose between two applicants with identical GPAs and SAT scores. Their extracurricular activities lists are the following:

Applicant #1 (Procrastinating Paul):

9th Grade: Member of Model Congress

10th Grade: Member of Model Congress

11th Grade: Member of Model Congress, Member of Chamber Orchestra (2nd semester), Member of Varsity Track Team (2nd semester)

12th Grade: Member of Model Congress, Member of Chamber Orchestra, Member of Varsity Track Team



Applicant #2 (Ambitious Annie):

9th Grade: Freshman Representative of Model Congress, Member of Math Club, Treasurer of Amnesty International chapter (2nd Semester), Member of JV Track Team

10th Grade: Treasurer of Model Congress, Member of Math Club, Member of Amnesty International Chapter, Captain of JV Track team

11th Grade: Vice President of Model Congress, Member of Varsity Track team

12th Grade: President of Model Congress, Co-Captain of Varsity Track team


Who will bring more to a college - a leader or a follower? Who sounds more impressive?

You'll notice Procrastinating Paul was only involved in one activity in 9th and 10th grade. Colleges know that to be a member of a club, all you have to do is join an email list and attend a couple of meetings. It wasn't until the middle of 11th grade that he actually started doing something. It looks like Paul woke up one day and realized colleges want to see applicants with extracurriculars. Unfortunately, it was too late for him to get any leadership positions because students like Ambitious Annie already had a track record of involvement.

Whether leadership positions are determined by student voting or application, whoever does the selecting wants to see someone who's already demonstrated dedication. After all, if your peers haven't selected you, why should colleges?

Annie got an early start with extracurriculars at the beginning of high school. Within the first month, she ran for, and won, the position of freshman representative of Model Congress. She was also interested in Amnesty International, so she went to a few meetings but didn't have time to do much more first semester. However, when the sophomore who held the position of

After a sophomore who held the position of Treasurer became too busy with AP classes to fulfill his responsibilities, Annie stepped up and volunteered to be Treasurer for the rest of the year. At the end of her freshman year, she ended up running for and winning the position of Treasurer of Model Congress for sophomore year. Her track coach picked her to be captain of the JV team, so she decided not to run for treasurer of Amnesty International. However, she stayed on as a member because she's made some friends in the club.

For 11th grade, Annie won the position of Vice President of Model Congress, so she became too busy to stay in the Math Club or Amnesty International. She maintained her involvement in Varsity Track because she had won a few races and enjoyed it. Her teammates respected her and knew she was dedicated to the team's success. Given that she'd already served as JV captain in 10th grade, they picked her to be captain of the team for 12th grade.

Annie didn't let her Model Congress responsibilities slip, though. She attended Model Congress conventions throughout 9, 10, and 11th grades, bringing home several awards. She was voted President for 12th grade, and she became the first Model Congress President to host a convention at her school.

Colleges like to see dedication to a few activities rather than membership in many. It's okay to be involved in several during 9th and 10th as you figure out what your interests are. However, as time goes on, it's important to pick a few to stick with, building the relationships and skills necessary to take your involvement to the next level.

Lessons Learned:

-Run for positions as early as possible. Take some initiative and risks.

-Get involved in several activities early to determine your interests (and see where there may be opportunities for leadership).

-Do something new and interesting like organizing a conference or creating a newsletter.

-Prioritize. You won't be able to stick with every club AND keep your grades up, so pick a few activities as school gets busier in 11th and 12th grade. In 11th grade, you'll have the SATs and, potentially, Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) courses.

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Recommendations for Getting College Recommendation Letters

Here's the who, what, when, where, why, and how of asking for college recommendation letters.

Who to ask: your guidance counselor, teachers, coaches, employers. Basically, anyone in a position of authority who's supervised you in some way. They should know you well, like you, and respect you. Most importantly, however, they should be reliable. A great recommender is one who actually writes and submits the recommendation letter on time.

Who NOT to ask: parents, other relatives, your friends, famous people you don't know well. In short, anyone who's clearly biased and anyone who doesn't actually know you.


What to ask: Explain what you hope to achieve in college and ask if the potential recommender is willing to write a positive letter for you. If the answer is yes, give them a brief list of potential "writing points" for the letter. This list can include any research papers you've written, any insightful comments you made during class, etc. Give the recommender this list. Make writing the letter as easy as possible for them. If they offer to let you write a draft, that's great, but never bring up this idea yourself. Also, give them addressed and stamped envelopes for each college.


What NOT to ask: "I really need a strong rec letter because my grades are terrible. I know I haven't done all the work and I've turned things in late, but I'm really going to turn things around in college. You'll write a good letter for me, right?...No?...well, how about I just write it myself and you'll sign it?"


When to ask: EARLY! I can't emphasize this enough. The nicest teachers (the ones most likely to write gushing rec letters) are likely to get a ton of requests. Beat everyone else to the punch and ask at the end of junior year. This also gives recommenders plenty of time to write a nice and detailed letter for you.

When NOT to ask: Anytime from September to January of senior year. If you're reading this, and it's already the fall, ask the potential recommender ASAP. Other bad times to ask include when the teacher is in the middle of a lesson, when other students are standing around, when you've recently bombed a test or when you've recently gotten into trouble during class.


Where to ask: Ideally, in the recommender's classroom / office after school or during an off-period.

Where NOT to ask: In the cafeteria, in the parking lot as the recommender is running to his/her car, while you're sitting in the detention room


Why to ask: Because colleges require recommendation letters! These letters help admissions officers get a fuller picture of you.

Why NOT to ask: If you want to sabotage your college admissions chances by not including everything the application requests.


How to ask: "May I stop by during your off-period or after school to chat for a few moments?" Then, you actually ask them in the course of a one-on-one conversation about your goals and future.

How NOT to ask: "Hey teach, can you write me a rec letter? It's due next week."

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Top 10 Ways to Boost Your SAT Score

The SAT can actually increase your college admissions chances if you plan ahead. Here are 10 tips to help you make the most of it.

1. Take it early.
If possible, take the SAT at the beginning of junior year. This way, you will be able to do the bulk of the studying for it over the summer at a more leisurely pace, and studying for the SAT will not detract from your junior-year grades. Too many high school students wait to take the SAT until the end of their junior year. However, this is generally the busiest time of the year because students are preparing for Regents and Advanced Placement Exams.

2. Learn SAT vocabulary.
Students often freak out after seeing long lists of SAT vocabulary words. However, if you begin learning the words on these lists several months before you actually look at a practice exam, you'll find that you've already done much of the necessary preparation for the Verbal section.

Here are two free computer programs that allow you to create your own flashcards: SuperMemo (PC) and Genius (Mac). The programs are adaptive - if you have trouble with a particular vocabulary word, the programs will you show that word more frequently. You can also an SAT vocab application for your iPod or smartphone.

3. Be clever.
If you can eliminate at least one choice, guess. Learn the directions by heart so that you'll save time on test day. Skip around and do what's easiest for you. The math and vocabulary questions are presented in order of difficulty, but remember that every question is worth the same amount.

4. Take a timed practice SAT.
Get used to taking a long exam. The SAT is 3 hours and 45 minutes, and it's usually administered in the morning. Build your stamina by taking several practice tests. Make sure that when you take a practice exam, splice in a section from another exam to represent the experimental section. With a half hour spent bubbling in your name and address, you'll be there for about four hours (if you're lucky). Speak with a teacher or administrator and try to reserve the classroom, gym, or auditorium where you will actually be taking the exam so that you can take a practice exam there.

5. Study like it's game day.
Practice at the time of day when your exam will be, and try to study under real testing conditions. Make sure that your study area is quiet and without distractions. Silence your cell phone, put on your away message, and ask your parents to keep any siblings or pets out of the room. Try to study for at least 1-2 hours each time to get your juices flowing and to get in the zone.

6. Avoid the calculator as much as possible.
Use your calculator sparingly on the math section. You might not always need it, and it takes time to enter numbers when working rapidly. When students are rushing, they tend to have to re-enter the equation into the calculator, losing valuable time. Use your brain and guesstimate. It wouldn't hurt to brush up on the old times tables either.

7. The dreaded essay.
Remember that the essay portion of the writing section isn't looking for creativity. Make it easy for them to read. Write in script if you are able to do so legibly. Longer essays also tend to do better. More paragraph breaks. This is true for high school English class as well.

8. Exercise and eat healthy.
If you do not already exercise and eat healthy, now is the best time to start. You might feel like your brain is a machine, but it's actually organic gooky gray stuff. If you take care of it with exercise, which gets the blood flowing, and protein, which gives it energy, it'll take care of you on test day.

9. Only take it once.
Try to make the first time the only time. Don't take it first just to practice. Even though colleges only count the highest score of each section when formally calculating your strength as an applicant, colleges will see all of your scores. You probably wouldn't want a first date to see a picture of you when you first wake up in the morning. Instead, you show yourself at your best. The same goes for test scores.

10. Consider the ACT.
The what? Yes, you heard correctly -- the ACT. It's an alternative standardized test created by people who weren't too fond of the SATs. More students on the west coast take it than do east coast students, but colleges across the country now accept it instead of, or in addition to the SATs. You might actually perform better on it than you do on the SATs if it lets you play up your strengths. The ACT has an entire section devoted to science. Take a look at it to determine if it's worth trying out the ACT instead.

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