I would reconsider that advice. If a particular employer cares about SAT/ACT scores, they will ask for them. But if I received an application from someone who included their scores, it would not be a net positive for them, no matter their score.
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Hmmm. Interesting. D24 is interested in consulting and I read college students should put it on there if their scores are high.
I think the student should ask about it at the career services office on their college campus.
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Good point. Ill have her ask them.
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Perhaps that is the custom in a particular field. If that is the case, then I would definitely have a resume specific to that field and then a general resume (i.e. one with the scores and one without).
Great advice.
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Iām cracking up about the phrase āturbo parentsā we have a bunch around me. My favorites are the ones whop studiously pretend they arenāt that. Yeahā¦nice try!
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What is the advice on college GPA? If itās a 4.0, and the student is applying for an internship or first job out of college, is it advisable to include it?
In my experience, itās entirely appropriate to include oneās college GPA, particularly if the degree has been received in the last 2 years (or is a work-in-progress). It is a measure of performance on an aspect of the resume that is pretty universal (i.e. where one received their postsecondary education and in what field).
For professional resumes, it would be extremely surprising to see any reference to oneās high school or accomplishments from high school, unless specifically asked for. About the only circumstance I could think of is if one was applying for a job at oneās old high school (teacher, staff, whatever), and even then it would probably be more appropriate in a cover letter than a resume, but at least understandable on the resume.
But I will defer to @blossomās expertise in HR which is far more expansive and can give better insight about the inclusion of oneās SAT/ACT scores and about inclusion of college GPA on a resume.
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College and recent- yes. College forever-- Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Phi Beta Kappa. You can drop the various honors societies from undergrad once you are a couple of years out except for the truly exceptional as noted above. And just a note for the super compulsive students out there- employers donāt make a distinction between a 4.0 and a 3.8 as long as there is a lot of rigor. So the āshould I drop my poli sci seminar on the Supreme Court in case I get a B- the professor is a hard grader, but I can take an easy course where everyone get an A?ā discussions are just not worth it.
HS- only if relevant. So applying for a job working on a program to establish a chain of magnet schools around the country-- and you are a graduate of Boston Latin or Stuy (famous āmagnet typeā or exam public HSās)-- then include. Teaching job in or near your hometown- include. Otherwise, drop. It can both work for and against you and you canāt predict which one. Besides, youāll need the real estate for more relevant and recent skills.
Foreign Language - always, but donāt exaggerate. It is not hard in a big company to find someone who can conduct an interview in the language you claim you are fluent in. Tagalog, Dutch, Ukrainian- if your āfluencyā is actually you telling your grandma you want more dessert in her native language, it doesnāt belong on your resume. But you never know when your actual fluency becomes relevant.
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Thanks! So for college students and recent grads it it is considered relevant to include oneās SAT or ACT scores?
Hi everyone. D26 has her in-school ACT tomorrow. This is the first time she has ever seen an ACT before (previously our state did PSAT/SAT) and we just realized there is a written essay portion. My understanding is the essay does not count towards the ACT composite score, but also cannot be separated from the composite score. In other words, if you send your score to a college they will see the essay score too. [Can anyone confirm this?]
Soā¦ Does anyone have any info re: the essay? Or maybe a video or quick ācheat sheetā explaining how to approach the essay? No way I will get my D to do a deep dive or practice essay tonight, but I can probably convince her to look at a short resourceā¦ TIA
Nothing like the last minute scramble!
The scoring rubric (according to a work acquaintance who has worked as a scorer for ACT and various AP exams) is not terribly complicated. A strong topic sentence (grammatical) and a conclusion which sums up the substance of the essay gets you pretty far.
Kids get hung up on flowery language and impressive vocabulary words but the key is the structure-- topic sentence, supporting argument, conclusion. Avoid passive voice, avoid too much of anything- semi-colons, ellipses, exclamation points. Simple declarative language is better than complex sentence structure if your kid is prone to errors in syntax when in a hurry.
Sheāll do fine. KISS- keep it simple, student (donāt want to jinx her with the actual acronym!)
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At the airport having completed our CU Boulder tours today. Iāll do a post on the colleges visited thread, but suffice to say here it confirmed for C26 that itās their top choice, and for us parents it went way up.
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I had to go to Boulder a few times ages ago for work. Itās a cool city!
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Did you make it to the Dushanbe Teahouse? Itās one of the most interesting places Iāve visited in Boulder.
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My oldest applied and was accepted at CU Bolder (with a little merit even). He ultimately opted for Tulane, but both he and my husband had very positive things to say about the campus and town.
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D26 has the in school SAT with writing this week as well. Sheās never done the writing before, so donāt know if itās factored into the score report. I really donāt want her to half a$$ it like she does for the ACT experimental section if the score gets reported but having just taken the ACT on Saturday, being out of town for a college visit, heading out on Friday for another college visit and then AP test prep, not sure if Iām gonna convince her to do it.
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I hear you. It would be just our luck that D26 would have a good composite score but have to send it to colleges along with a crappy essay score!
Edited to add: I think SAT treats the essay the same as the ACT. Meaning it does not impact the composite score, but is included in the official score report sent to schools. I wonder if you can exclude it on applications that allow students to self-report?
Ah, we tried, but we didnāt book far enough in advance. Weāll know for next time! We did get a look inside.
I wouldnāt worry too much about the ACT essay. D22 didnāt realize there was a writing section and did in fact make a great composite ACT score and a lousy writing score - so I did some research and couldnāt find any evidence that any schools really gave meaningful weight to the writing portion at all. And sure enough, it ended up having no impact on her admissions process. Many ACTs offered through schools no longer even include writing (including D26ās school a few weeks ago). While itās always good to check with individual schools etc. etc., I highly doubt that itās going to be a significant factor in the process anywhere.
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