Tips to Write an Impactful Academic Resume

We’ve all heard of resumes for employment applications, but there’s another type of resume that every student requires for college applications: the perfect high school resume. You can go into detail about your leadership roles or community service participation on this resume, as well as sharing hobbies that you’re enthusiastic about, to give the admissions officer a sense of who you are. It’s helpful to have one on hand for a college interview or to give to your high school instructors while they’re writing letters of recommendation for you.

Creating a high school academic resume that makes you stand out among the other applicants, will take time. In this article, Aplicar will discuss how you can create an impactful academic resume along with some bonus tips:

Following are the basic tips you should know before you create your high school academic resume.

1. Use the right format

Each section of your resume should be organized in reverse chronological order, with the most recent experiences stated first. All sides should have one-inch margins, and the typeface should be between 10 and 12 points. Arial, Calibri, and Helvetica are the finest font styles that you should consider for your resume. The sections should be organized as follows:

• Contact information
• Educational experience and achievements
• Extra-curricular Activities
• Athletics (if applicable)
• Practicum Experience
• Special Interests

2. Include your name and contact information

Keep your name towards the top of the sections. You can bold it and make the font larger than the rest of the text, but no font size larger than 14 points should be used. Include your contact information, such as your phone number and email address. You can also include a link to your LinkedIn profile, which highlights your skills, expertise, and community engagement, as well as an online portfolio or, if appropriate, an Instagram page. An Instagram page featuring your images, for example, could be a terrific method to share your work if you’re applying to college as a fine arts major.

3. Add your education

If you’re still awaiting a graduation date, provide your school’s name and mention it as “pursuing” stating the end date of your graduation year. Include any academic achievements and awards as well as your GPA/percentage if it’s above 65%. You may also include any AP classes you’ve taken.

4. Include activities

Mention all the activities which you have participated in through your school or in your school club. Detail specific ways you were involved with the organization as a leadership position holder or a club member. Use action words and include responsibilities and achievements you gained through your role.

5. List athletic participation

If you participated in sports, list teams that you were involved in, the length of time you participated, tournament details, and any accomplishments or leadership roles you held within that team.

6. Include practicum experience

Start with the most recent job or any summer job shadowing experience and provide a description that includes the company name, your title, the duration in which you were employed, and some key accomplishments from the time you were with the company. Emphasize the leadership possibilities you had while there, as well as the opportunity for personal growth you had. If feasible, define your impact on the organization with statistics and numbers.

7. List special interests

Include any interests that make you especially unique as an applicant and is also relevant to the program you are applying for. You may include:

• Volunteer work
• Projects like websites you’ve built, art portfolios, or public service projects
• Passions like making models, reading books, or playing guitar (include it in your essay if not in your resume)
• Foreign Languages you speak

Once you have written the first draft of your resume, keep in mind the following tips while editing it –

1. Keep it short: Keep the resume to the point and do not beat about the bush.
2. Focus on consistency: If you have been involved in an activity for a long period of time and have taken a deep interest in the same, it is worth mentioning in your resume. Instead of many activities that you don’t excel at, mention one or two that you are very good at.
3. Highlight missed details: Things that are very important but did not make it to your college essay should find their way onto the resume.
4. Simple formatting: Stick to a legible font, clear headings and an understandable chronological order.
5. Keep to the facts: Don’t try to fluff up your resume as lying won’t take you very far and could, in fact, jeopardize your future.
6. Proofread thoroughly: Go through everything that you’ve written at least a couple of times. If possible, have someone else read it and point out any mistakes that they see.