How To Write A College Application Resume

“A well-aligned and crisp college resume plays a key role in your application process. While applying, one often fails to give proper attention to it”, shares Anushka Desai, educational consultant and co-founder of student mentorship program, Application Ally. “Think of a resume as a short trailer to the movie that is your story. A weak resume could result in lower chances of being considered by the admissions committee.” adds Arya Diwase, Anushka’s co-founder of the program.

It’s important to remember that an admissions committee receives tens of thousands of applications. Wading through this sea of admissions is a task in itself; amidst this, coming across a resume that is either too lengthy, cluttered or all over place can lead to it being tossed in the rejection pile. It is essential that your resume be crisp and entice the admissions committee into exploring your application further. What you need to craft is a well put-together synopsis; something that will set you apart from a crowd of applicants. While the content depends on the purpose of the resume, you also need to pay attention to the manner in which the content is presented. Concise, clean and crisp is the aim. An excellent, well-drafted resume must showcase why you are the best fit for the program and earn you a well-deserved spot. Crafting one is not the problem, getting started is and we have just the formula for you.

A Break-Up Of Your College Application Resume

As you must already know, a resume is a well-written summary; an overview of your academic qualifications, skills, certifications, accomplishments and professional experience. Below are the key elements that can help you make sense of your profile to create a solid resume! These tips will allow you to form a skeleton that you can build on.

Personal Information: This should include your name, address, phone number and email address. Include website links to your portfolio - basically relevant work that will add value to your application and is aligned with your goal.

Education: Add details about your educational profile - name of school/university, year of passing, class ranking or percentage. Plug in notable details, for example, if you fall within the top 10% of the class or have stood first, condense the same and add it as a crisp note.

Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular Activities: Your co-curricular activities are a round-up of all your student-related activities like drama club, sports club etc. Extra-curricular activities are separate from school activities, like tutoring, fundraising, etc.

Employment: This will cover all your internships, part-time jobs or full-time, if any. Include name of the organisation, designation and job tenure.

Anushka’s & Arya’s Tip: Remember to cover every single internship or project no matter how inconsequential it might seem to you. Real-world experience always counts!

Volunteer Experience: This is important. If you haven’t volunteered yet, we encourage you to do so. Showcasing this makes it known that you care about social causes, which can further strengthen your resume.

Skills + Achievements + Interests In crisp bullet points, note down not more than 5-6 under each category.

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Tips To Help Format Your Resume

Now that you have your skeleton in place, it’s time to refine it. Here are a few tips that might help.

- Choose a professional template - something simple with clean lines.

- Include a summary statement to highlight your best attributes and accomplishments.

- Follow college guidelines and keep your resume between 1-2 pages.

- Focus on highlighting your education, work experience, skills, volunteer work and extracurricular activities crisply.

- Showcase how the skills you possess make you the perfect choice for the program.

- Make it brief, sharp and succinct.

- Pay attention to the formatting, use a consistent font. Play with bold, caps and italics only when necessary.

- Ensure the text is left aligned or justified - this makes it easy to peruse.

- Use active voice and action words to show accountability.

- Avoid inserting a photograph or adding information that may not be relevant to the program/college you are applying to.

Proofread till it’s perfect. Then read again before you send it!

Following these guidelines will help bring structure and quality to your resume. It’s time to stop procrastinating and get cracking on that resume. If you think you need help formatting a winning resume, feel free to get in touch with us here - https://www.applicationally.net/contact-us