How to Write a College Resume (Templates Examples)
Overwhelmed by college applications? A well-written resume can help you narrow down your top qualifications to get into your dream school.
Resumes aren’t just for job seekers — they’re key for college admissions, too. Whether required by the Common App or the university’s application platform, a well-crafted college application resume highlights your achievements, skills and academic goals. It can also impress scholarship committees and help you secure a job while in school.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to write a resume for college applications with tips from Certified Professional Resume Writers (CPRW). Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
- College Resume Template
- How to Write a Resume for College
- College Resume Tips for a Great Application
- College Resume Examples for Common Majors
- College Student Resume Do’s and Dont’s
College Resume Template
This college resume example will help you visualize what a resume should look like. With all the crucial resume sections and content tailored for college admissions, this resume example is a great starting point for writing yours.
Now, we’ll explain how to write a high school resume for college applications and optimize each section so you can impress admissions committees. However, if those college admission deadlines are tight, you can try using our Resume Builder, which will write a personalized resume tailored to your needs.
How to Write a Resume for College
Before writing your college resume, reflect on all your school experiences and achievements, starting ideally from 9th grade.
Many students think they have little to offer when trying to describe themselves on a resume, but you’d be surprised — everything from school projects to volunteer work can showcase your potential!
Some examples of valuable accomplishments for your college resume are:
- School clubs (theater, robotics, debate)
- Sports
- Student government or campaign staff
- Volunteering
- Hobbies
- Personal projects (blogging, podcasting, content creation)
- Part-time work
- Babysitting
1. Choose the right resume format.
Now that you know what to include in a resume for college students, it’s time to choose a resume format! The three recruiter-approved options — chronological, functional and combination — organize the same five sections (contact info, profile, experience, skills, education) to highlight your strengths.
- Chronological resume: The most common and traditional format prioritizes the work experience section and is ideal for candidates with 10+ years of experience.
- Functional resume: Prioritizes the skills section and is ideal for candidates with 0-2 years of work experience.
- Combination resume: Puts equal focus on work experience and skills, ideal for candidates with 3-8 years of experience.
2. Format your contact information correctly.
Let’s start simple. Every resume should begin with a contact information section at the top.
Some key elements to include in this section are:
- Your full name.
- Your phone number (where college recruiters can contact you easily).
- Professional email address containing your name (no nicknames or jokes).
- Your primary location (city and state).
Here’s how your college resume contact information should look:
Alanna Carter
555-555-5555
alanna.carter34@example.com
Santa Barbara, CA
3. Share your best qualifications in the resume profile.
Making a strong first impression is critical in competitive college applications, and your resume profile is the perfect place to showcase your top qualifications. Be honest — highlight your achievements without exaggerating, and focus on what’s most relevant.
You can choose between a resume summary or an objective statement for this section. A summary emphasizes your achievements and skills tied to admission or scholarship requirements, while an objective introduces your goals as a college student.
Check out the examples ahead to see how to craft a standout profile. Pick the one that fits you best and tailor it to your skills and accomplishments!
Resume summary for college application:
Resume objective for scholarship application:
Resume summary for job application:
PRO TIP
If you need extra help drafting your college resume summary, check out our Resume Builder or get help directly from our team of experts by utilizing our professional resume-writing services.
4. Showcase your achievements in the work experience.
Your resume needs a detailed section highlighting your achievements — just listing jobs or dates won’t impress college recruiters. To ensure your work achievements shine, use our Google-approved formula to make your accomplishments stand out for any type of experience!
Action verb + key skills + quantifiable achievement = an excellent work history section
Here’s an example of how to write achievements on your work experience section.
“Conducted in-depth research and fact-checking for articles, ensuring 100% accuracy and contributing to a 15% increase in reader trust and engagement for the newspaper.”
Here’s why this example works:
- Begins with powerful action verbs that inform college recruiters about your duties.
- Focuses on concrete accomplishments instead of vague responsibilities. Your work experience descriptions shouldn’t just list your role’s everyday tasks. You’ve got to show how you met specific goals.
- Mentions relevant skills and keywords for your desired major. You can browse scholarship requirements or a college’s website for keywords that convey the qualities and skills they value in prospective students.
- Includes quantifiable achievements (aka those numbers and percentages) that accurately illustrate your impact on the job.
When including achievements in your work experience section, you should include key details about your role. Make sure you include:
- Your job title
- Employer name
- Employer location (city and state)
- Employment dates
Here’s an example of what a traditional work experience section looks like:
Fashion Merchandiser | The Gap
Missoula, MT
05/2024 – Present
- Curated visually appealing product displays to drive sales, boosting weekly revenue by 10%.
- Analyzed sales trends to recommend display adjustments, increasing featured item sales by 15%.
- Collaborated with team members to execute seasonal marketing campaigns and promotions effectively.
PRO TIP
If you’re wondering how to write a resume as a college student to land a job, you’ll find further guidance guidance with our college student resume examples or our college graduate resume examples.
5. List your top college skills.
Skills are essential to every resume, but creating an impactful skills section requires more than just listing the first skills that pop into your mind.
Always include a balanced mix of hard skills and soft skills. Tailor your skills to the specific scholarship, college or job you plan to apply to. It’s normal to change a few of these skills for each application; in fact, we encourage it to get the best chances.
We’ve got a complete list of the top college student skills and strengths, but here are some of the most relevant for your scenario as someone applying for college:
- Critical thinking
- Adaptability
- Microsoft Office Suite skills
- Time management
- Independent
- Communication skills (written, verbal, public speaking)
- Research
- Conflict resolution skills
- Interpersonal skills
- Collaboration
- Computer skills
6. Highlight your education.
The last but not least crucial section of your college resume will be the education.
When listing your degree as a high school student or graduate, you only need to include:
- The name of your school or institution
- Your school’s location (city and state)
- Your diploma or certificate
However, because you’re applying for college, recruiters want to see more of your impressive academic credentials.
Some additional information you should include in your college resume is:
- Your GPA (if above 3.5)
- Honor roll placement
- Class percentile
- If you were class valedictorian or salutatorian
- Your position in class government (class president, treasurer)
- Relevant coursework to your major
- A relevant school project (Science fair presentation, case study, research project)
- AP classes
- SAT or ACT scores
- Extracurricular activities (Volleyball team captain, 1st place debate team winner)
7. Include additional sections to boost your resume.
If you want to make a truly perfect college resume, additional resume sections are ideal for showing college recruiters you have the potential to excel at university and bring value to the institution.
Remember: College isn’t all about what the school can do for you; it’s also about what you can contribute to the academic community.
Suppose you possess lots of additional achievements that don’t necessarily fit into the five essential resume sections. In that case, you should consider adding some extra sections like:
- Projects
- Extracurricular activities
- Languages
- Publications
- Honors and awards
- Volunteer work
- Certifications and licenses
- Hobbies and interest
College Resume Tips for a Great Application
A lot goes into crafting a perfect resume for college, so we’ve compiled the most important tips for a successful application. Use it as a checklist before you submit your college resume:
Always include the five essential resume sections: contact information, summary or objective, work experience, skills and education.
Ensure your resume’s formatting is top-notch, including an easy-to-read resume font, a font size between 10 and 12, 1-inch margins and line spacing up to 1.15 for a well-balanced document with text and white space.
If you have large swaths of text, consider separating your main points with bullet points to make it easier for recruiters to scan.
Use a professional resume template that is well-formatted, tidy and shows your personality without overwhelming the reader.
If you’re applying through a digital platform, ensuring your college resume is ATS-friendly doesn’t hurt. Upload your document to our ATS Resume Checker to ensure your resume reaches the hands of recruiters.
Avoid common resume mistakes like labeling your resume file with a generic title like “Resume 2024,” spelling and grammar errors and extending your resume over one page.
If your college requires more information than you can fit into one page, you might be better off building an academic CV.
Ensure your resume is devoid of typos and grammatical errors by enlisting the help of an English teacher to proofread it or use a spell-checker like Grammarly or the one built in our Resume Builder!
- Complement your college resume with a compelling letter of application where you can address recruiters directly and tell them your unique story as an individual and what makes you stand out as an applicant.
College Resume Examples for Common Majors
If you read this far down, you can be sure you’re already a resume-writing pro ready to wow recruiters at your dream college.
Once you’ve optimized your resume’s content, you should use an equally impressive and practical resume template. Below, we’ve compiled a selection of the best templates for your college resume.
Marketing
Biology
College student resume do’s and dont’s
Do tailor your resume: Customize your resume to highlight experiences and achievements relevant to the college and program you are applying to.
Do emphasize extracurricular activities: Showcase leadership roles, volunteer work, clubs and sports. Highlight activities demonstrating skills and interests relevant to your intended field of study.
Do quantify achievements: Use specific numbers to highlight your accomplishments, such as “Increased club membership by 30%” or “Raised $2,000 for a charity event.”
Do include soft skills: While focusing on academic and extracurricular achievements is crucial, you should highlight soft skills like communication, teamwork, and problem-solving, which are just as crucial for thriving in college.
Do update your resume regularly: Keep your resume up-to-date with your latest achievements and experiences, even after submitting your college applications. Doing so helps you keep track of all you’ve done, and you can tailor your resume to each college or scholarship.
Do use a professional email address: Use a professional email address, preferably one that includes your name. Avoid using nicknames or informal language.
Don’t include irrelevant information: Avoid listing experiences or skills that don’t strengthen your application or aren’t related to your desired academic program.
Don’t lie or exaggerate: Be honest about your experiences and achievements. Colleges may verify the information on your resume by contacting your references, and dishonesty can harm your application.
Don’t use jargon or abbreviations: Avoid using terms that may not be universally understood or casual jargon with no place in a professional setting. Spell out acronyms and provide context for specialized terms.
Don’t overuse personal pronouns: Generally, you shouldn’t phrase your resume’s content with “I” or “my.” Omitting these pronouns helps your resume be more concise and devoid of filler words that can extend your resume’s length.
Don’t use graphics or images: Stick to a text-based resume. Graphics and images can be distracting and often incompatible with application tracking systems.
Key Takeaways
- A resume can be a helpful tool for current high school students preparing for college admissions. Many universities offer the option of submitting a college resume as part of the application, and most scholarships require it as part of the application packet.
- If you don’t have much formal work experience, you can draw skills and achievements from many other areas, such as school clubs, sports, hobbies and volunteer work.
- Your college resume should be optimized using the format that best suits your experience level. It should always include the following five sections: contact information, resume summary, work experience, skills, and education.
- Additional college resume sections for extracurricular activities, relevant coursework, languages or volunteering can be an excellent way for students to show colleges they’ve exceeded their basic academic expectations.
- Your college resume’s profile should introduce you to college recruiters by listing your most relevant and impressive qualifications, such as your desired major, academic or professional skills, and an impressive achievement that sets you apart from other applicants.
- Your work experience achievements should include your unique accomplishments, not generic duties. You should showcase at least one quantifiable accomplishment per experience.
- Carefully select your college resume skills depending on the scholarship or your desired college’s admission requirements.
- Boost your education by including additional information such as GPA, publications, honor roll or class placement.
FAQ
What should I include in my college resume?
For a standout college resume, include your contact information, academic achievements, work experience, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, skills and any awards or honors. Don’t forget to tailor the content to highlight experiences relevant to the college or program you’re applying to.
How long should my college resume be?
When applying for college or scholarships, aim for a one-page resume. Keep it concise and focused on your most relevant achievements and experiences. If you have extensive experience, you can extend it to two pages but prioritize quality over quantity.
Should I include my GPA on my resume?
Yes, include your GPA if it is strong (generally above 3.0) and relevant to the program you’re applying to. Also, mention any honors or advanced courses that demonstrate your academic abilities.
How can I make my resume stand out?
Make your college resume stand out by highlighting your unique experiences, quantifying achievements and emphasizing leadership roles you stepped into to leave a positive impact on recruiters.
