How to Write an Activities Résumé for College Applications

authorVitalii Anufriiev
June 1st, 2023

Table of contents

The activities résumé is a vital component of the Common App resume, which can significantly increase your chances of acceptance into your dream educational institutes. This succinct document allows you to highlight your extracurricular activity, leadership, and successes.

You can create a compelling portrait of yourself outside your academic accomplishments by showcasing your passions, dedication, and the difference you have made. In this article, we’ll go through how to make unusual activities resume to enthrall college admissions officers and stand out with a common app essay.

Importance of an activities résumé for college applications

In the college application process, the activities résumé is crucial since it thoroughly summarizes a student’s extracurricular activity, accomplishments, and personal development. The activities résumé provides insight into a person’s character, interests, and commitment outside the classroom. At the same time, academic transcripts and test results show one’s intellectual capacity even for a fee waiver.

The Résumé for Common App and An Overview

The Common App résumé gives students a crucial chance to highlight their strengths and commitment to making a positive difference in addition to their academic accomplishments. Students can use it as a potent tool to highlight their distinctive characteristics, passions, and experiences, giving admissions officers a more profound knowledge of who they are as people.

Purpose of the Common App résumé

The Common App résumé’s main objective is to give college admissions officers a succinct and well-organized summary of an applicant’s extracurricular activities, successes, and experiences. It gives students an in-depth account of their activity outside of the classroom, showcasing their passions, skills, and dedication to civic engagement.

Common App Resume Format

The Common App résumé has a systematic pattern with several components that it adheres to in terms of the format. Typically, these sections include:

Activity type: Students classify their extracurricular activities into various categories, including community service, athletics, the arts, leadership, job experience, and more.

Activity name: Students identify each activity or group they have participated in by name or title.

Position: Students can describe any leadership positions or positions they have held within an activity in this area, emphasizing their duties and accomplishments.

Organization Name: Students identify the company or institution connected to each activity.

Duration: The amount of time or length of participation in each activity is given, usually in years or months.

Hours a Week: To demonstrate their commitment, students might list the typical weekly hours they devoted to each activity.

Weeks per Year: Students can list the number of weeks they participated in each activity each year in this section, noting whether the activity was seasonal or ongoing.

Duties: Students briefly explain their engagement, duties, successes, and any essential contributions they made throughout each activity.

Awards and accolades: Students can emphasize any accolades, prizes, or other recognition they have won for their efforts or accomplishments in this section.

Determining the Need for a Résumé

Depending on the situation and goal of use, a resume may or may not be necessary. Resumes are frequently required or advised in various circumstances, such as job applications, college applications, internship applications, scholarship applications, and professional networking.

Many universities and colleges allow candidates to submit a résumé as an addendum to their application for college admissions. If a résumé is required or advised, it is crucial to thoroughly research the particular guidelines and standards supplied by each institution. A résumé may be clearly stated as needed or optional by some universities, although others may not.

Even if not explicitly requested, making one can still be advantageous. Using résumés, applicants can thoroughly account for their activities, successes, and involvements outside the classroom, highlighting their talents and achievements.

Critical Components of a Common App Résumé

The following are the key factors to think about:

Contact information: Include your full name, mailing address, phone number, and email address at the top of your resume to make it easier for employers to contact you.

Objective: Include a succinct or summary statement outlining your objectives, passions, and what you want to offer the campus community.

Education: List the name, address, anticipated graduation date, and any appropriate academic accolades or awards for your high school.

Activities: The centerpiece of the resume is this part. List your extracurricular pursuits, volunteer work, leadership positions, clubs, sports teams, and any relevant affiliations. Mention the event’s name, the institution or organization involved, your position or role, and the length of your involvement.

Responsibilities: Detail your responsibilities, successes, and the impact you had on each action with a concise description. When describing your accomplishments, acquired abilities, and any leadership experiences, use action verbs and be explicit.

Work Experience: List any volunteer roles, internships, or part-time jobs you have held, along with the organization’s name, your position, and the length of your involvement. List your duties and noteworthy accomplishments for each function.

Awards: List any accolades, awards, scholarships, or other distinctions you have achieved in your extracurricular activities or academic career. Please include the name of the award or honor, the name of the organization, and the date it was given.

Skills: Mention any relevant skills you have, such as language skills, computer programming capabilities, artistic talent, or certificates, if applicable.

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Tips for Effective Résumé Writing

  • Adjust it: Create a different resume for each application.
  • Keep it brief: Use bullet points and stick to one page.
  • Use action verbs: Begin every sentence with a powerful verb.
  • Measure accomplishments: To demonstrate influence, use numbers.
  • Put relevance first: the most relevant experiences should come first.
  • Put results first: Emphasize accomplishments and results.
  • Be precise: Give specifics and illustrations.
  • Point out your transferable skills: Accentuate your relevant expertise.
  • Edit and proofread Verify for uniformity and mistakes.
  • Refresh frequently: Update it with fresh encounters.

Where to submit a resume on the common app?

Follow these steps to know the answer and gather relevant information on how to avoid mistakes for Common App Essay.

Format: Create a PDF file out of your resume. PDF will preserve your formatting on a variety of hardware and operating systems.

File Size: The Common App typically allows you to upload up to 500 KB in size resumes. Make sure your PDF file does not exceed this size.

File Naming: Give your resume a descriptive and straightforward name. To make it simple to recognize, include your name and the word “résumé” in the document.

Summary Section: Enter your Common App login information and select the “My Colleges” option. Go to the “Writing” section after choosing the college or university of your choice. Find the specific prompt for submitting a resume.

Uploading: many people ask, ‘Should you upload a resume to the common app?’ The answer is yes. To upload your resume, follow the guidelines that are provided. Use the “Upload” or “Choose File” buttons to find the PDF version of your resume on your computer or other device. Once the file has been chosen, click “Upload” to begin the upload process.

Review: After uploading, check your resume to make sure everything is in order and that it can be read. Verify the uploaded file for any formatting mistakes or other errors that may have appeared.

Submitting: Complete the Common App application submission process after checking your resume. The resume will be presented with your application to the college or university of your choice.

Conclusion

Effective resume writing for Common App college applications demands careful planning and close attention to detail. You can give a thorough account of your activity outside of the classroom by customizing your resume to showcase your distinctive experiences, successes, and leadership responsibilities.

Keep in mind, a solid first impression on college admissions officers and evidence of your capacity to positively contribute to their campus community can both be significantly improved by a well-written résumé. You can always find help from a professional Common App writing service at Writing Metier.

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    author

    Vitalii Anufriiev

    CEO and Co-founder at Writing Metier OÜ