Do I Need A Resume?

Do I need a resume to apply to college?

The number of colleges requesting resumes has exploded in the last few years. Historically, colleges did not want resumes because it repeated what was already in the application’s activity section. Admission officers only spend 8 minutes reading the complete file. Yes, you read that right, eight minutes to read  one to three recommendations, review the transcript, the high school profile, and the rest student’s application with one to eight essays!

Currently, 300 of the 900 schools using the Common Application ask for or offer the student the opportunity to submit a resume. Some of these resumes will be a page or two or from some creative students three pages. This new document now must be compared to the list of ten activities already in the application. Again, all within the eight minute review per student applying. The only bright side is at least they don’t have to look at SAT or ACT testing for every student this year.

The reality is the resume should not be created in the fall of the senior year. It should be created starting when a student finishes eighth grade and then polished in the senior year. But you can’t turn a lump of coal into a diamond by polishing it. Creating a quality resume takes time, thought, and involvement by a student. It is akin to saving enough for retirement. You start way before the year you turn 65.

Creating a resume is an exercise in planning. Trying new activities is a chance for a student to test what they may like. The resume should reflect what the student enjoys. Creating a resume is hard work; most adults don’t put the work into creating their own resume. A student who starts thinking about taking control of their resume will be a more successful adult no matter how they choose to define success.

However, it is not always easy to get a student to take control of this process (even though the teenage years are spent with teens demanding control). It is scary to make choices. Will it work out? FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is a big issue. What will my friends be doing? How will my choices be perceived by my friends, my parents, on social media?

Here is our advice. Not everything works the way you expect. Sometimes they work out better, even if they initially fail. We had a student who lost an internship at a major research lab just before it was going to start. Instead, they end up working on a new startup idea with a well-known serial entrepreneur who had made millions selling their prior ventures. Another student had an internship with the making of a major motion picture and helped write the briefing book for an Oscar winner. The student later decided Hollywood was not the right fit for them at the end of the internship. But the experience led to them meeting several international politicians. He now produces documentaries on social justice.

Lastly, you don’t have to have a resume to apply to college. But developing a resume of activities during the four years of high school will make for a better application to college even if you never submit the actual resume. We always warn, just adding more paper or repeating the same information that appears in other areas of your submission will weaken the application. In the end, each student will make the decision if submitting a resume will add value to their application.