A ONE Institute
Aug 7, 2024
Today, we’ve prepared a session to discuss the method of writing a resume.
*Top EC List*
U.S. college admissions applications are primarily processed through two websites: Common App and Coalition for College. I will explain based on the Common App, which is widely used by many students.
Within the Common App, there is an Activity section. You can list up to 10 activities, with over 30 categories available. In this section, you can select a category, briefly explain your position and leadership role, and provide the name of the organization and a description of the activity. Additionally, you need to specify the grade level during which you participated, the timing within the school year, the frequency, and the hours spent on the activity.
While the Common App allows for up to 10 activities, it may still be challenging to fully express your personality and interests within these limits. Therefore, many top-tier universities accept resumes, which allow you to better convey your activities and interests.
When searching online for how to write a resume, the information available tends to be very general and abstract, making it difficult for students to apply it concretely.
If you search online for "What should a Resume for College Application Contain?" you’ll find obvious suggestions like a resume objective, education, relevant activities, skills, and additional sections.
Common online College Resume Tips include:
- Use simple, direct language instead of difficult words.
- Be honest about your activities.
- Proofread carefully.
- Show your resume to others to see if you've missed anything.
- Focus more on what you specifically accomplished (achievements) rather than just your responsibilities.
While these are good tips, they tend to be general and abstract. Therefore, I will share resume writing methods that students can apply directly.
*Resume Format*
Write in a format familiar to admissions officers!
A resume is reviewed by admissions officers, so it’s important that the format is familiar to them. If you try to stand out by using an entirely new format, it may feel exhausting to read, making it crucial to present your resume in a way that is easy for the admissions officer to read.
- Example 1) A Resume that is too long
- The first resume shown is too long, making it somewhat off-putting and less appealing to read.
- Example 2) A Resume with too many colors and too much text
- If a resume is filled with strong colors and too much text with no white space, it becomes difficult to read and may even be rejected without being thoroughly reviewed. If your resume is prepared in this way, please reconsider.
- Example 3) A Resume with properly divided titles and categories
- A good example would be a resume format similar to the image above. It’s well-organized with one line of embellishment and titles followed by lists under each.
- Ultimately, use a standardized format that is familiar to admissions officers for your resume.
- Resume format and layout should be standardized and familiar to admissions officers!
*Resume Categories*
How should I categorize the activities?
I will explain this by dividing students into three groups:
- Students who can adequately fill the 10 activity slots in the Common App - Standard
- Students who find it very difficult to fill all 10 activity slots in the Common App
- Students who have far more than 10 activities
*Students who can adequately fill the 10 activity slots in the Common App - Standard*
For students who can adequately fill the 10 activity slots in the Common App, try writing your resume like this:
- Resume Objective: I recommend including one line.
- Education: Include any academic awards you’ve received, the AP classes you’ve taken, your AP test scores, and your SAT/ACT scores.
- Extracurricular Activities: List activities inside and outside of school, and although leadership roles can be listed separately, it’s okay to combine them.
- Awards and Honors: List your awards.
- Community Service: List your community service activities.
- Additional Skills: Optional; you can include any additional skills, or omit this section if you don’t have any.
Standard students can use these categories to create a well-rounded resume.
**Students who find it very difficult to fill all 10 activity slots in the Common App**
For students who struggle to fill all 10 activity slots, it’s important to still include the Education section. However, if you divide activities, leadership, awards, and community service into separate sections, each may only contain one line. Therefore, it’s more effective to group them like this:
- Education
- Extracurricular Activities and Awards
By grouping categories like this, you can provide a more substantial description.
Students who have far more than 10 activities
For students with many activities, simply listing them all would appear messy and overwhelming. It’s important to combine categories and then divide them into subcategories, as shown in the image above:
- Education
- Extracurricular Activities and Awards
- Community Service
By dividing the categories like this and then listing the activities in subcategories, you can create a cleaner and more organized resume. It’s a good idea to categorize the activities by type and then create subcategories for each. As shown in the image above, you can divide awards and honors into 8 categories. This approach is based on guidelines found on the websites of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton Universities.
These schools have analyzed the conditions they want students to fulfill after admission, leading to the identification of these eight categories. Keep these eight categories in mind and try to classify your activities from 9th grade onwards according to these standards. If you start organizing your activities from 9th grade according to these categories, it will make it easier to write your resume for college admissions.
*Education/Award*
For all students, it’s important to include SAT/ACT scores in the Academic and Award sections and to specify any academic awards you’ve received as you progress through the grades.
We will discuss how to effectively arrange the order of these sections in Part 2. Please look forward to the next post, and we’ll wrap up here for today.
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Today, we provided useful information on how to write a resume in Part 1. In Part 2, we will offer tips on effectively organizing your activities.