confused on optional resume in Common App

[cintinative]

Should this look sort of like an actual resume?

My son's starts with work experience, certifications/training, then discusses other/volunteer activities, awards and indicates he is homeschooled and gives his GPA.

Am I missing something??

Is it okay to list his linkedin page on it?  One of his target schools has a strong co-op program and we really want to emphasize his employability. 

[freesia]

I think my kids were a bit different but similar. I got some books on applying to college out if the library and they had samples. We found it helpful bc the place to describe activities on the common app is so hard to really describe or highlight things. We could clarify things. Also some college honors programs wanted to see one. So, my answer, google or get a book out. Wish I could be more specific but dh handled that part. 

[cintinative]

I do have a book I forgot about, and I pulled it out. It's over 10 years old though, so I am going to Google as you suggested. Thank you.

[cintinative]

To the poor souls trying to make sense of this, may the odds ever be in your favor.  😃 It's safe to say that there is not a lot of consistency on the web about what is important to put on the resume.  The book I have recommends a lot more information than the "current" web pages do.  I am shooting for one page.  Unfortunately, there are far more examples of students without actual work experience than those with it.  We did our best, and I am trusting that it is good enough.  

[freesia]

1 hour ago, cintinative said:

To the poor souls trying to make sense of this, may the odds ever be in your favor.  😃 It's safe to say that there is not a lot of consistency on the web about what is important to put on the resume.  The book I have recommends a lot more information than the "current" web pages do.  I am shooting for one page.  Unfortunately, there are far more examples of students without actual work experience than those with it.  We did our best, and I am trusting that it is good enough.  

I am pretty sure we did two pages. So don’t worry too much about one page

[catz]

I have seen using the resume referenced for use when your ECs, including volunteering and work experience may not fit into the common app EC slots neatly.  And certain extracurriculars lend itself to this.  Like theater - a kid might do a huge committment production every few months with a 3-6 week/30-50 show run.  Or music where you are doing lessons, groups commitments, various master classes, workshops, paid gigs, etc.  Or work with leadership, etc.  

It shouldn't repeat info that is easily given in those (really brief and annoying and poorly formatted) EC slots.  I do see why they have ECs like that, it can give a good overview with some brief blurbs.  And some kids ECs are neat and tidy like that.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Look at how the college introduces the option of adding a resume. Does is seem like they use this in addition to the Activities section or instead of it?

I usually recommend a fairly standard resume format (ie, bullet points with action verb statements about what the student did) Try to include the outcome, impact or effect of participating.

Probably most useful for students who want to list things like performances or publications that don't fit in the Activities section.

[chiguirre]

Dd just uploaded her resume to UF. She had to hound them to change her application from transfer to freshman because she completed her AA during high school, but their system treated all AA holders as transfers. This had implications for courses she was required to have already taken (two semesters of physics) but it also changed the requirements for attached documents. For the freshman application, she needed to have provided SAT scores (they had them already) and a resume. In this case, I think the resume is clearly meant to highlight activities since they require them of freshmen but not transfers.

Dd has worked for two years in a full time, responsible adult job so she did a standard work centered resume with DH's help using his template. If she was a high school senior I would have told her to center her extracurriculars to highlight leadership roles and selective activities instead of her part time job making supermarket sushi. 

[cintinative]

49 minutes ago, chiguirre said:

Dd just uploaded her resume to UF. She had to hound them to change her application from transfer to freshman because she completed her AA during high school, but their system treated all AA holders as transfers. This had implications for courses she was required to have already taken (two semesters of physics) but it also changed the requirements for attached documents. For the freshman application, she needed to have provided SAT scores (they had them already) and a resume. In this case, I think the resume is clearly meant to highlight activities since they require them of freshmen but not transfers.

 

Off topic, but my niece is a high school senior who will be earning her AA this year, and wants to go to UF.  Was your dd a high school senior when she applied? It sort of sounds like no?  I would like to give my family a heads up about problems with the AA and freshman status if that is common. Thanks!

[chiguirre]

6 hours ago, cintinative said:

Off topic, but my niece is a high school senior who will be earning her AA this year, and wants to go to UF.  Was your dd a high school senior when she applied? It sort of sounds like no?  I would like to give my family a heads up about problems with the AA and freshman status if that is common. Thanks!

No, my dd has been in the Navy for two years. She used the UF Online app (this may be different than the regular UF app, I'm not sure) and when she entered her AA information, it automatically categorized her as a transfer, even though their written rules are quite clear that she is considered a freshman and her AA graduation date is before her high school graduation date. She had to email and call a couple of times until they changed her over, but once she spoke to the correct human it was an easy fix. 

Another thing to keep in mind with UF is that their list of acceptable classes to fulfill distributional requirements is really wonky. My dd's 2 semester survey of British lit didn't count as a humanities course and neither did her Film Appreciation class. They accept a lot of CLEPs and DSSTs for credit though and dd is planning to fulfill her humanities requirement with the World Religions DSST. They also require 2 semesters of biology for a CompSci BS. She'll be CLEPping one of those too.

Edited September 1, 2023 by chiguirre

[JanetC]

So, in olden days there was a low-level admission staffer who had to summarize the application folder for committee review. Think of your college application resume as a self-checkout option to summarize your student for that staffer.

Stuff that might not go on a job resume but which would look great on a college app should go on an application resume. Stuff admissions committees look at but which don't make your student stand out (maybe your test scores are only fair) can be left off in favor of your student's strongest qualifications and experiences. Assume you're summarizing your student on behalf of a staffer that really wants to see this kid admitted.

I would not put a link to linkedin and assume it would be clicked - if there is something you really want them to see, put it on the resume and don't assume they'll go see it on linkedin.