Graduate School Resume Length

boneh3ad
Thu, 01 Dec 2016 21:10:06 +0000

It will probably be both. Usually admissions committees (internal to the department) make the decision on whether or not to admit and individual professors can sort through the candidates then to see who they may want to try to hire (if they haven’t already been contacted by said candidates who are interested). Sometimes professors who want a specific student admitted may be able to sway the admissions committee if the student is borderline.

Regarding the resume, there is no set length. I feel like they (anecdotally) tend to fall in the 2 to 3 page range. You want to convey all of the important points about you and your qualifications without watering it down with fluff that doesn’t matter. In other words, take as many pages as you need, but use as few as you reasonably can to present your credentials. No one on the admissions committee wants to sit down and sift through a 7-page CV from someone who clearly doesn’t have 7 pages worth of important information to share.

Also, don’t squish all the information together with small font and small spacing just to save space. Information density and readability is important, too. You want it to be easy for readers to find what they need. CVs aren’t supposed to turn into a scavenger hunt.

For what it’s worth, even my CV when applying to faculty positions was only 3 pages long (4 if I included references) so it’s unlikely that you really have so much to say that you should go much longer than that.