College Application Nuts and Bolts: How Do I Design a Brag Sheet/Résumé? (page 4)

How Do I Design a Brag Sheet/Résumé?

The brag sheet/résumé/extracurricular activities list is a way to compile all of your activities to demonstrate your interests and leadership skills. A résumé should be between one and three pages. It highlights the clubs, organizations, work and summer experiences, and community service in which you participated. You can also list any honors or awards, including honor societies, sports awards such as Most Valuable Player (MVP) or Most Improved Player (MIP), subject awards, participation in contests or competitions, and other accomplishments.

Some colleges want you to list your activities in order of their importance to you, and others leave the order up to you. You can list your activities in chronological order or you can start with activities in which you had a leadership role. Take the same care in preparing a résumé that you would in completing your essay and the rest of your application. A well-designed résumé can give admissions counselors a clear window into who you are and what you care about.

TIP: Some colleges verify activities which students list on their brag sheets, so don’t be tempted to exaggerate your accomplishments.

Tips for Creating a Brag Sheet

“Students help themselves most when they send a concise and comprehensive list of chief activities, passions, and accomplishments. List the activities in order of depth of commitment and importance to you. Do not inflate your level of involvement. Do not join clubs just to have another listing on the brag sheet/résumé. Admissions officers can always see through that strategy.”–Paul Marthers, EdD, Dean of Admissions, Reed College

“We look to see what the student has added to their high school experience. We’d rather see a ‘short’ list of activities that the student has enjoyed in depth, rather than a ‘long’ list of activities that the student has only just joined in the junior/senior year likely to beef up their application to college. Are they a leader, do they work well with group projects, have they given of their time (other than what’s required by the school) to do something for others? A student who has had to work to help support their family may not have a long list of activities, but the work they’ve been doing shows that they can shoulder responsibility, can learn new skills, and can work to the best of their ability at whatever that job entails. That can be just as important as the list of clubs or sports that many applicants can talk about. If a student has not found activities of interest to them in their school surroundings, they can tell us about their community or religious activities such as scouting or volunteer groups.”–Joan Isaac Mohr, VP and Dean of Admissions, Quinnipiac University

“I’m looking for evidence that the student is capable of handling more than just the work in the classroom. Students who demonstrate the ability to lead, motivate, and juggle multiple responsibilities are likely to become active, contributing members of our college community. The key is not to have a laundry list of items on a résumé, but rather fewer, higher quality experiences that speak to a student’s character and leadership.”–Jacquelyn Nealon, VP Enrollment Services, New York Institute of Technology

What Should My Brag Sheet Look Like?

The formats for an activities sheet on the Common App, the UCA, and a college’s own application vary slightly, but the information contained on all of them is pretty similar. You need to list the activity (club or organization), the grade level (9, 10, 11, 12), the number of hours per week, positions held, honors or awards received, and on some forms whether you will participate in this activity in college.

You can estimate the number of hours per week as best as possible. You should be accurate in your information, especially in leadership positions. Some applications instruct you to submit information in the extracurricular activities section of the application, even if you intend to attach a separate résumé. You can have separate sections for honors/awards and work/summer experiences. Do not list abbreviations or acronyms (i.e., P.A.S.T. club), which someone from outside your school may not know. Describe any organizations/activities which are not self-explanatory.

If you are planning to pursue a business-related degree, you may want to attach a traditional résumé format (see third sample brag sheet) as it looks more professional and business oriented. Some examples of brag sheets follow on the next several pages.