Writing a resume for your college application isn’t the same as it is for finding a job. You’re not trying to show how hireable you are - you’re trying to show how well you’d fit into the program you’re applying to, and what kind of student you’d be on campus. That takes a bit of tailoring.
It’s more than just listing everything you’ve done up until now - it’s about choosing the things that make sense for the program you want to get into. When you frame those things clearly in a resume, it makes it easier for admissions officers to connect the dots and see how your background lines up with what they’re looking for.
That said, not every school asks for a resume. Some make it optional, others don’t accept one at all, so always check the requirements before you hit upload.
Do You Need a Resume for College Applications?
Technically, NO. Most colleges don’t require you to submit a resume. But if you’ve got one ready, it can absolutely work in your favor.
Until now, you might’ve believed that resumes are just to land you a job, but that’s not it. As a high school graduate, you can use one to give a quick snapshot of who you are beyond your grades.
It shows what you’ve been doing with your time - the clubs you’ve joined, the projects you’ve led, the competitions you’ve entered, and even the part-time jobs or family responsibilities you’ve juggled outside of school.
Since a lot of schools/colleges now use platforms like the Common App, which gives you the option to upload a resume along with ACT/SAT scores, recommendation letters, essays, etc - you should TOTALLY make use of that. It’s one more way to show that you’re serious about your future, how your activities outside the classroom align with your academic and career goals, and that you’ve taken the time to organize all of your achievements professionally.
It’s also really helpful in other parts of the process - like making it easier for teachers to write strong recommendation letters, as they’ll have a full view of what you’ve done.
So even though it’s not really a requirement, having a resume ready gives you an edge and shows you're thinking ahead.
What to Include in a College Application Resume
The goal here is to make it easy for whoever’s reading it — could be an admissions officer, a scholarship committee, or a teacher writing your recommendation — to quickly see your strengths, interests, and what you’ve been up to throughout high school.
Here’s what to include, with examples to help you visualize how to format it:
Contact Information
Start with the basics and make sure everything is up to date. Add your full name (consistent in spelling with your other documents), contact number (be very careful about typos), your address, and a professional email (please don’t add that funny email you created in middle school - make a new account if you have to).
Example:
Ava Thompson
123 Cedar Lane, Portland, OR 97203
(503) 555-0198
ava.thompson@email.com
Objective (Optional)
This is a short 2–3 sentence intro about your academic interests and what motivates you. Not a must-have, but a nice touch if you want to add some personality.
Example:
Motivated high school senior with a passion for biology and health sciences. Hoping to pursue a pre-med track and use science to make a real difference in underserved communities.
Education
List your high school, GPA (if you feel good about it), expected graduation date, and any classes that relate to your future studies.
Example:
Lincoln High School, Portland, OR
Expected Graduation: June 2025
GPA: 3.8/4.0
Relevant Coursework: AP Biology, Psychology, Honors Chemistry, Statistics
Extracurricular Activities
This is where you show how you’ve spent your time outside class - clubs, sports, music, arts, student council, anything that mattered to you. Focus on your role and what you actually did.
Example:
- President, Drama Club
2023 – Present
Directed annual school play, organized weekly rehearsals, and helped expand the club’s membership by 40%. - Varsity Soccer Team, Midfielder
2021 – Present
Played in state-level tournaments and coordinated team-building events as part of the leadership council.
Volunteer Work & Community Involvement
Even if it’s just a few hours a month, use this section to show your values and commitment. Be specific about what you did and where you made an impact.
Example:
- Volunteer, Portland Animal Shelter
2022 – Present
Walked dogs, cleaned kennels, and created adoption social media posts that helped increase weekend turnout. - Peer Mentor, Freshman Orientation
Lincoln High School, 2023
Welcomed and supported incoming freshmen during orientation week, gave school tours, and ran Q&A sessions.
Work Experience
If you’ve worked part-time, done freelance gigs, or helped out with a family business, it all counts.
Example:
- Barista, Bean There Café
Summer 2023
Took orders, handled the cash register, and trained two new team members during peak season. - Assistant, Family Landscaping Business
2021 – 2022 (weekends)
Helped with planting, mowing, and client scheduling. Learned the basics of small business customer service.
Awards & Honors
This could be academic, athletic, artistic, or anything else that gave you recognition. If it’s relevant, list it.
Example:
National Honor Society Member, 2023 – Present
Top 5% of Class Award, 2022
Regional Science Fair – 1st Place in Environmental Category, 2023
Skills
Think practical skills: languages, tech, programs you know, instruments, or anything that might connect to what you want to study.
Example:
Fluent in Spanish
Beginner Java Programming
Microsoft Excel & Google Sheets
Photography & Image Editing (Lightroom)
Formatting Best Practices
Admissions officers don’t have a lot of time, so your goal is to hand them something clean, clear, and straight to the point.
- Stick to one page. Two pages max if you’ve been seriously involved in a lot of things like state-level competitions, multiple leadership roles, or part-time work on top of school and extracurriculars. But generally, shorter is better.
- Use a simple layout. Choose clean, readable fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman. No script fonts, no funky formatting. Use bold section headers to break things up clearly (like “Education,” “Volunteer Work,” etc.) and make sure your spacing is consistent throughout.
- Write in bullet points. Don’t write full paragraphs - no one likes blocks of text, especially in resumes. So use bullets to list your activities and achievements, and begin each one with a strong action word - like led, organized, created, volunteered, assisted, or designed. It helps paint a clearer picture of what you actually did.
- Save it as a PDF. This keeps your formatting locked in, no matter where or how it’s opened. A Word doc can look totally different on another device, so unless the college asks for a specific format, PDF is the safest bet.
How to Make Your Resume Stand Out
What makes a college application resume stand out is how clearly and thoughtfully it presents the things you’ve already done, especially the ones that align with your future goals.
Here are a few tips to do it right:
Use strong action verbs: Words like organized, led, initiated, improved, or collaborated instantly show that you were active, not passive. So, instead of saying “Was part of a school cleanup,” say “Led monthly school cleanup drives as part of the Eco Club.” It's one line, but you see a big difference in impact with a little change in phrasing.
Get specific when you can: Numbers help bring your efforts to life. For example, saying, “Tutored 10 students weekly in Algebra I and II, helping raise their average scores by 15%” sounds way more impressive than a boring statement like “Helped tutor students after school”.
Show leadership and initiative: Don’t think that if you weren’t some “President” of a club or society, your contribution will not weigh much. Instead, even if you started a small project at school or helped improve a club’s activity calendar, mention it. Colleges love seeing students who don’t just participate - they step up and take action. You just have to find your way with the words.
Tailor your resume to your intended major: If you're applying to an engineering program, highlight that robotics competition or your AP Calculus coursework. If you're leaning toward psychology, mention your involvement in peer mentoring or community mental health volunteering. It's not about forcing relevance, but making it easier for the college to see the connection between what you’ve done and what you want to do.
Start Early: Why 9th Grade Matters
When you sit down to write your college application resume as a senior, you might be surprised by how much you’ve already done and how easy it is to forget half of it.
That’s why it helps to start keeping track early - from 9th grade, YES.
Not in a formal, resume-looking format, but just a simple running list in your Notes app, Google Doc, or wherever you usually jot things down. Include the clubs you joined, the events you helped out with, the roles you played in group projects - anything that made you show up, try something, or contribute in some way. It doesn’t have to sound impressive right now. The point is to capture the moment so you’re not relying on memory later.
When the time comes to put together your resume, you’ll thank yourself for it.
You won’t be scrambling to remember what year you won that robotics competition or how many hours you volunteered at the food bank. You’ll have the details ready and that makes a big difference, not just for your resume, but for teacher recommendation letters too. Teachers often ask for a summary of your accomplishments or a brag sheet when writing recs, and giving them a clear list makes their job easier and your letter stronger.
Honesty and Authenticity Matter
When you’re putting your resume together, it’ll be tempting to dress things up a bit, thinking that would make you sound more impressive. But we’re here to warn you against that. Because the thing is, admissions officers have read thousands of resumes and they can spot exaggeration from a mile away.
So quote your real experiences, just as they are, and they’ll have more impact than any inflated version.
You don’t need big titles or dramatic language. If you helped organize an event, say that - no need to call yourself the “Executive Coordinator.” Focus on what you actually did, what you learned, and how you contributed. That kind of honesty comes through clearly, and it builds trust.
Keep it simple and keep it real. That’s what sticks.
Avoid Common Mistakes
There are some things that just don’t belong on a college application resume, not because they’re wrong, but because they take up space without really helping your case.
Skip the Photos and Graphics
A lot of students think, “If they can see my face, maybe they’ll get a better sense of who I am.” Or they add charts and colorful visuals to make their achievements ‘pop.’ But admissions officers aren’t here to admire your smile or be wowed by design.
They’re looking for signs of potential - someone who’ll contribute meaningfully to their campus or program. And all those colors, headshots, and shapes just get in the way. They make your resume look cluttered, distracting from the real stuff that actually matters.
Besides, including your photo also opens you up to the potential for bias. Professional as admissions officers may be, they’re still human and susceptible to bias like everyone else.There’s really no good reason to introduce this element into your application.
Be Careful of Grammatical and Formatting Errors
It might seem minor, but even a small typo can change the way they perceive your entire resume. And it makes sense because admissions officers go through hundreds - if not thousands - of applications.
And when they come across something with uneven spacing, a misspelled word in your awards section, or dates that don’t line up - it can leave a subtle impression that you rushed or didn’t take this part seriously.
It has a very simple fix, though.
First, install Grammarly for Chrome or Windows. It’ll catch things you didn’t even realize were off. And secondly, use our resume builder to ensure correct formatting (there are dozens of templates to choose from, so rest assured you’ll find a student-friendly one).
Make Your Objective Section Count
If you’re going to include an objective at all, make sure it does more than just state the obvious. Phrases like “I want to go to college to follow my dreams” don’t tell them anything they don’t already know - every applicant wants that.
Instead, use your objective to give a quick, grounded sense of who you are and what you’re aiming for.
For example:
“Aspiring environmental engineer with a passion for sustainable design, seeking admission into a program that supports hands-on research and community-based environmental work.”
Or:
“Motivated first-gen student excited to pursue a Psychology major, with experience in peer mentoring and a strong interest in adolescent mental health.”
Tailor for Each School
This might sound like a lot, but tailoring your resume for each school you apply to is one of the smartest things you can do. It shows intention - that you’re not just applying to fill up your Common App, but that you genuinely see yourself at that school.
What Does “Tailoring” Actually Mean?
You don’t have to rewrite each version of your resume from scratch, but simply tweak it in a way that makes your strengths and accomplishments feel like they belong at that specific college. Because when you highlight the parts of your story that align with a school’s culture, values, or academic style, you look like a great fit.
For example, some colleges are big on community leadership and civic engagement, while others lean more toward innovation, entrepreneurship, or academic research. If you’re applying to both, it doesn’t make sense to send them the exact same resume. Because what one school finds impressive, the other might not care about as much.
Let’s Compare: Stanford vs. MIT
Stanford values interdisciplinary thinkers - students who are creative, collaborative, and often involved in a mix of things like arts, social impact, and leadership. They love students who can bring energy to their campus culture beyond academics.
MIT, on the other hand, is famously hands-on and problem-solving focused. They look for students who’ve built things, questioned things, and shown early signs of tackling real-world challenges, especially in STEM. Passion matters - but so does technical depth and curiosity.
Now imagine submitting a resume that heavily emphasizes your theatre leadership and community outreach (great for Stanford!)... but you send that same one to MIT without mentioning your robotics club work or coding projects. You’d be underselling yourself — and it might not reflect the version of you they need to see.
Small Tweaks Leave Big Impact
Tailoring doesn’t mean exaggerating or reinventing anything - it just means choosing what to spotlight.
You might reorder your sections. You might swap out a volunteer project for a more relevant internship. Or maybe you add a line in your objective that ties directly to a school’s known program or mission.
These small changes show the admissions team that you’ve done your research, and that you're not just qualified - you’re aligned.
Proofread and Get Feedback
Once you’re done with the writing part, run it through tools like Grammarly or Hemingway to catch any sneaky grammar mistakes or awkward phrasing. Then, hand it to someone you trust - a teacher, counselor, older sibling, or even a parent. Fresh eyes always catch things you miss, and sometimes, they’ll remind you of achievements you forgot to include.
Use a Resume Builder to Save Time
Putting a resume together when you’re still in high school can feel like A LOT.
You’re thinking, what goes where? Does this look okay? Should I bold this or move that to the side? And if you’re applying to more than one college, doing all that over and over again? It adds up.
That’s where our Resume Builder can help so much.
It’s simple to use, and the templates are clean and easy to read (which is exactly what admissions officers want). You just fill things in - schoolwork, clubs, projects, volunteer stuff - and it all falls into place.
What makes it even better is that you can switch formats with one click. So if you’re applying to multiple schools and want to tweak how your resume looks or what it emphasizes, you don’t have to redo the whole thing every time.
It saves time, keeps things organized, and takes so much stress out of the process, especially when you’ve got ten other things on your plate during application season.
As an added bonus, you can also make use of our Job Tracker as an application tracker, keeping a handle on each of your applications, notes and resume versions.
