Ready Your Resume
Ok students, now is the time to get your student resume of activities going. If you are a junior it is NOW, if you are sophomore start now. If you are Senior, time to brush it up as you will need to keep it current all through college. You need to have it ready to apply to internships this upcoming winter. Yes, it is necessary to apply not just for admission to college, but for summer jobs, internships, and summer college programs for high school students.
There are myriads of sample resumes you can look up or you can download a template. You can also contact us, and I am happy to send one to your email form free. Be cautious not to mistake what is listed on Naviance™ or The Big Future™ as a resume, because those are really activity sheets and not formal resumes.
You need to have a formal resume of student activities, period. 
Twenty years ago, only students who sought the help of consultants ever had such, and even then, I knew many counselors who did not do them at all. I have always had my students prepare one. Before we would send a nice packet about 5 days before we submitted online with application that contained a few items for the college admission office to consider, and one was always a formal resume. Today, many colleges allow you to upload your resume in the supplement section of the Common Application™ or onto the website of the college, such as Elon University does.
You need to have this done and reviewed now. It is good to take on college visits, should you meet up with a department head or specific person whom you want to remember you, you can hand him or her, your resume. It also will help you tremendously when filling out your actual application. Your Applications will only allow you to list your activities and limit the number you can put on your application.
Your resume will allow you to go into some detail as to what are your most important activities and why. Plus you list your time commitment for each activity, and this allows any admission officer to see what a typical week in your life entails. The more you have going on, then the more obvious how challenging it is for you to achieve what you do. Resumes give a sense of your demands and accomplishments in a much more precise method. This is very helpful for anyone wanting to have a quick idea about a snapshot of your life. It is a great tool to give to people who might be called onto interview you for a particular college, whether an alum or current faculty member. It can help elicit some pointed questions about something you do.
The student resumes can vary in format, and there are specific types for some students. Athletic and Dramatic Arts resumes have a particular format, which often schools will provide themselves. Be sure to ask about this when checking out a college for recruiting or auditioning. Art students usually must provide a portfolio, in addition, to a resume. Everyone really needs to have a resume, though. It is a vital tool, which you will continue to use and morph as you grow up.
There are specifics which all student resumes of activities should include, but how they are listed is up to the student’s time commitment. Whatever you do the most or dedicate the most time to, should always be listed first. Also you should estimate your senior year, if you will continue with similar activities from junior and sophomore years. The most CURRENT should always be listed first and nothing before high school really belongs on the resume, unless it is a singular activity you have done your whole life. Many equestrian people have one thing and have been doing it since childhood. The Equestrians actually have access to all their shows and ribbons on a website, which is easily downloadable. You can use this for your resume.
What belongs on the resume: Academics, Athletics, Extra-Curricular activities and clubs, Community Service, Work, Professional certificates or licenses, Language fluency in more than one language, Honors and Awards, Personal Hobbies or Recreational Activities, Camps, Travel, Seminars, etc.
Briefly- Academics are Honor Roll, AP Courses, IB Program, School Government, Committees, and Offices held for class such as President, Honor Committee Chair, etc.
Athletics-School and Non-School teams, including both JV and Varsity levels. Travel Teams and camps attended for recruiting, skills, etc.
Extra-Curricular Activities and Clubs-These can be both in and out of school, such as Choir, Drama, Photography, Robotics, Boy and Girl Scouts, Boy and Girls Clubs, etc.
Community Service-can also be in or out of school such as regularly volunteering for an after-school children’s program, or Fund raisers for specific causes such as hurricane relief bake sales, or even one-time events such as giving blood or a midnight breakfast run for the homeless.
Work-is actual paid employment, such as babysitting, summer camp counselor, office worker, retail job, etc.
Professional Certificates or Licenses: Some students have computer language certificates, some have CPR, some have actual commercial licenses to operate boats, etc.
Honors and Awards-any specific honors (not honor roll though) given or earned, such as National Honor Society.
Personal Hobbies-something you have invested time to learn or do, such as play guitar or bake.
Camps-important to list if you attend any camps for enhancement of skills, such as Outward Bound, Sports Camps, Sleep Away camps annually, etc.
Travel-If you have traveled to a fair amount of places during your life…throughout the Northeast of the US, North America, Europe, hiked the Appalachian Trail, etc.
You get the idea. I have a template, which is free to you, just send a contact us note and ask. If you want someone to review as you go along, happy to help out to. You can book a single session review for that and get all that you need.