12 excellent reasons to add a résumé to your college application toolbox

Union College provides for résumé uploads

Getting into college bears an uncommon resemblance to applying for a job: you need to persuade an organization that you possess sought-after skills and that you’re a great fit for their community. 

It sounds a little like marketing. And yes, you are marketing. Only instead of years of progressive work experience, you’re mostly marketing academic achievements, extracurricular involvement, community service, and special skills.

So it makes sense that you would need a tool summarizing those accomplishments in a clear and concise format. And that’s where a résumé comes in and possibly why over a third of all Common App members make provision for a résumé upload on their applications.

Yes, there’s debate among counselors about the use and usefulness of a high school résumé. Some ruin the effect by referring to it to as a CV (curriculum vitae) which is Latin for pretentious, and others persist in calling the document a “brag sheet,” which sounds well, a little icky. 

And the effect diminishes if you do a sloppy job or go on for pages and pages. Even the most accomplished student can fit everything onto two pages—really! It’s also important that you keep your résumé current and ready to send on a moment’s notice.

But whatever you call it, never underestimate the value of a well-constructed document summarizing your high school career. In fact, here are 12 excellent reasons to add a résumé to your college application toolbox:

1. Historical record. A résumé helps you keep track of accomplishments. It’s easier to remember you won Most Valuable Player for the junior varsity lacrosse team in the 10th grade if you’ve been documenting activities since you walked through the door of your high school.

2. Gaps. A properly constructed résumé that follows along the lines of what college applications request (honors, extracurricular activities and work experience) will suggest where gaps exist in your portfolio. If you’ve never volunteered or don’t belong to any clubs, those gaps will quickly become evident as you put together your résumé. And the sooner you act on the gaps, the better.

3. Special skills. A résumé may be structured to highlight special skills in the arts, sports, or in academics. If you’re a dancer, your résumé can provide a foundation for an arts supplement that tracks where you’ve studied, under whom, and where you’ve danced. Smart athletes also use a résumé for presenting relevant stats to communicate with coaches.

4. Degree of involvement. By providing a general timeline and noting dates of participation, a résumé suggests how deep the involvement and how extended the commitment. And by including information relative to hours or days per week and weeks per year, a résumé drills even deeper into the role the activity plays in your life. 

5. Applications. It’s easier to tackle the task of completing a college or scholarship application if you already have a single document summarizing all of your high school achievements and activities. Having a printout of your résumé sitting beside your computer as you fill in blanks not only saves time but also helps you prioritize which of your many activities are most important to you.

6. Color. Electronic applications tend to be fairly cut and dry. They ask only for facts. A résumé gives you the opportunity to color in between the lines and provide additional information that makes you come alive or stand out as a candidate. If you have specific computer skills, language fluency or certifications, a résumé is a great vehicle for presenting them. If you’ve conducted research, given presentations or participated in enrichment activities, you can add titles, summaries, or the names of your mentors.

7. Upload. Most electronic applications severely limit the amount of information you can provide in the way of extracurricular activities. The Common Application, for example, allows applicants to present ten activities, including school clubs, community service, and employment. Each entry is allowed 50 characters for a label and 150 characters for a description. Because of these limitations, many colleges specifically ask for resumes, so it’s good to have one on hand. But remember that a resume should “inform”  your application not “duplicate” it. If it doesn’t add anything, don’t attach it unless specifically requested.

8. Links. Résumés are becoming increasingly internet-friendly. Most of the time, documents converted to PDF format will support live links to online media including blogs, videos, websites, Facebook pages or articles appearing in newspapers, journals or magazines. Don’t hesitate to include these links in the form of complete URLs on your résumé to encourage readers to visit websites where you create, contribute to, or manage content.

9. Recommendations. An up-to-date résumé should be provided to anyone you ask to write a recommendation on your behalf—school counselor, teachers, or even the classmate who's agreed to write a peer recommendation. It helps them get to know you better and to remember all the details of your amazing high school career.

10. Interviews. A résumé is a great conversation starter for an interview. It puts you and the interviewer on the same page—literally. It also helps an interviewer remember specifics about you after the conversation ends. NOTE: You should always have a résumé available for an interview, but ask first before handing it over. Some college interviewers have rules concerning the use of background materials.

11. Employment. Having a résumé to attach to an application for a job, internship, or mentorship makes you look that much more professional and job ready. It can answer questions employers haven’t even thought to ask about your background or experience and will make your credentials stand out from the crowd.

12. Self-confidence. At the end of the day, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of all you’ve accomplished. Maintaining a résumé and looking at it once in a while will help you remember the highlights of your high school career. And that’s a good thing.

This is the second of three articles on the importance of résumés in the college application process. A list of colleges providing for résumés uploads on their applications may be obtained by emailing:  Nancy@CollegeExplorations.com.