How to Write a Resume for College Applications and Scholarships

Most do not require one. CFNC, North Carolina's college-planning service, notes that some highly selective schools may request a resume and tells students to check each school's guidelines. Others say no outright: Georgia Tech's admissions site says it does not accept separate resumes and asks applicants to use the activities section of the application.

So upload a resume only where the application invites one, and never where a school says not to. Build one anyway. You will use it for alumni and admissions interviews, honors college and scholarship applications, summer programs, and as a brag sheet for the counselor and teachers writing your recommendations.

The Common App activities section lets you add up to ten activities, and Common App says you do not need to fill all ten. Each entry gets a position or leadership description of 50 characters, an organization name of 100 characters and 150 characters for activity details, honors won and accomplishments, plus hours per week and weeks per year.

For the 2026-27 application, Common App renamed the section "Activities and experiences", made the position/leadership field optional and kept the character limits the same. It points students who need more room to the Additional Information question. A resume, by contrast, gives you full bullets, start and end dates, jobs and skills on one page, which is why counselors and interviewers like having one.

Use these sections in roughly this order. Move a section up if it is clearly your strongest; CFNC suggests moving Education higher for colleges and Volunteering higher for a service scholarship.

• Header: name, email, phone, city and state. No photo.
• Education: high school, city, expected graduation date, GPA (weighted and unweighted if your school reports both), class rank if reported, and SAT or ACT scores you are sending.
• Honors and awards: name, level (school, state, national) and year.
• Activities and leadership: role, organization, grades involved, hours per week, and one or two bullets on what you did.
• Work experience: paid jobs, including work in a family business, with hours per week.
• Community service: organization, role and total hours.
• Summer programs: academic camps, research programs and pre-college courses.
• Skills and interests: languages, software, instruments and certifications such as lifeguarding.

Admissions readers want commitment and impact more than a long list. Georgia Tech names commitment, initiative and leadership among the qualities it values and says students are typically involved in three to five activities in a meaningful way, so there is no need to fill every slot. It also counts work, family responsibilities, activities outside school and personal projects. Common App's activities guide likewise mentions family responsibilities, jobs, internships, volunteer work, hobbies and sports.

For each activity, show the time (grades 9 to 12, 6 hours a week), your role and how it grew, and a result someone could check: members recruited, money raised, a competition placement, a program you started. Caring for younger siblings every afternoon or working 15 hours a week in a family restaurant belongs on the resume as much as a club office.

One page. CFNC warns that going longer can cost you with the reader, and the College of Southern Nevada's scholarship resume guide recommends one page, a 10 to 12 point font and one-inch margins. Use a single column, bold section headings and one consistent date format, and save it as a PDF.

List activities in order of importance rather than alphabetically. Middle school activities stay off unless they started a commitment you still have; in that case, show the start year so the reader sees how long you have stuck with it.

A scholarship resume uses the same material, tuned to the award. The College of Southern Nevada suggests this order: header, career goals, work experience, education (GPA only if 3.0 or above), honors and awards, honors courses, courses attended, languages, memberships, community involvement, athletic achievements, and visual and performing arts.

Match the emphasis to what the scholarship rewards: service hours for a community service award, work history and family responsibilities for a need-based award, a portfolio link for an arts award. The same guide says to leave out personal information such as religious affiliation, marital status and age. Follow any instruction to remove your name for blind review.

No. A college application resume covers your high school record. Once you are in college, your resume is for internships and jobs: college education, relevant coursework, projects and work come first, and MIT's career office advises removing high school details as newer experience needs the space.

Fictional students. The numbers are illustrations.

A sample for a fictional senior. Names, schools and numbers are illustrations.

• High School Student Resume Example and Writing Guide
• College Student Resume Example and Writing Guide
• Accomplishments on a Resume: Examples, a Formula and the Awards Section
• Volunteer Work on a Resume: How to List It, With Examples
• How to List Education on a Resume, With Examples
• How long should a resume be?

We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.

1. Common App: Approaching the Activities section (up to ten activities, 50/100/150 character limits, hours per week and weeks per year, Additional Information)
2. Common App: What's new with Common App: First-year 2026-2027 (section renamed Activities and experiences, position field optional, character limits unchanged)
3. Georgia Tech Undergraduate Admission: Contribution to Community (no separate resumes accepted, 3-5 meaningful activities, qualities valued)
4. College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC): Creating a High School Resume: The Definitive Guide (some selective schools request resumes, one page, reorder sections for colleges or scholarships)
5. College of Southern Nevada: Guide to Writing a Scholarship Resume (scholarship resume order, one page, font and margins, personal information to omit)
6. MIT Career Advising & Professional Development: Enhance your resume: A guide for first-year undergraduates (remove high school details as college experience grows)