<p>Is it bad form to submit a one page resume with the Common Application you send through the mail. Will these get read or tossed…any guesses? Also is 500 words too long for the essay. the Common Ap. says 250 “minimum” but does not mention a maximum???</p>
<p>My daughter submitted a one page description of her activities (with more detail than could fit on the form) with the Common Application a few years ago. If I remember correctly, the Common Application itself (at that time) mentioned something about “if you are going to submit a resume on a separate sheet” or something like that. I think it is a good idea to do this unless the college specifically asks that nothing extra be submitted.</p>
<p>I don’t think see why it should be considered bad form as long as it’s a good, concise resume that sheds light on aspects of the student that aren’t already thoroughly addressed elsewhere in the applicaion. I think a resume is a good place to offer brief clarification on the nature of a student’s activities. For instance, one of my daughter’s hs ECs is a peer counseling group that offers a comprehensive program for mentoring middle school students during the school year. The scope of my d’s activities with this group can’t be addressed in the EC section of the Common App (and she’s writing about another activity for her short-answer response), but a resume can make them clear.</p>
<p>The Common App asks for specific info to be included in the additional info section, such as the names of courses in which the student has earned college credits; it’s also the place to self-report AP scores, if you choose. My d would rather not have to write yet another well-put-together paragraph or two, and finds the idea of a resume more manageable. (Plus, her gc requires kids to put one together, so it’s already done!) She just uploaded the resume as a document in the common app and says it looks good (no formatting problems).</p>
<p>I thought my d told me there are 6000 characters available for the essay? For most people, that would be well over 500 words. I think 500 words is a good guideline, though. When my older ds were applying to colleges, before the common app was required by so many schools, several of their essays were in the 750 word range. Just remember how much the reader will appreciate a good, to-the-point essay. :)</p>
<p>I am a big advocate for attaching a reasonable-length resume. My son had taken a 3 week community service trip to India that couldn’t possibly have been explained on the common app., for example. It would have looked like a trip, vs. a rigorous service project. I also think a resume is critical to anyone in the performing arts. That being said, I think you have to be careful to not be blowing hot air onto a couple of pages no matter what.</p>
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<p>The performing arts supplements often asked for a resume. Some gave a format they wanted you to follow for their college. If they didn’t do this, but asked for a resume, S’s used a resume format that a professional in that field would use. Actor son researched it from Backstage.com. Screenwriter son looked at some sites of the Screenwriters Guild. Although they didn’t have the hefty lists of achievements, at least they put their h.s. info into the more sophisticated format.
An actor’s resume, for example, does not list a zillion dates, as would a business resume. It notes whether the part was “Lead” or “Lead/Support” for example. The theater company, play title and name of character played can be listed succinctly in columns. It fit onto one page.
I think this helped them, because it represented some research to uncover the formats. The nuisance was that when a college supplement asked for a format, they felt duty-bound to use the college’s format, so this meant many resumes, not just one.</p>
<p>DS added a one-page extra-curricular resume, and his essay was about 500 words. He applied to 6 schools, all took the Common App. He got 5 acceptances (3 with merit aid) and one wait-list at a “reach” school. So I don’t think either the resume or the long-ish essay was a problem.</p>
<p>I find the Common Ap. offers scant space to include some of D’s activities. I thought a thumb nail one page sketch with half-dozen categories like Scholastic, Athletics, Awards, Volunteer work, SAT/ACT scores. Basically A title with a list of items relevant to the title> D did fill out a Brag Sheet for her GC but it is by design three pages long… too long to include with the Common Ap. (we’ll be mailing it). Any ideas as to format would be appreciated. I worry i will anger an adcom. as much of what will be on this single sheet can be gleaned, eventually and in scant terms from the Common Ap.</p>
<p>I sent you a PM. I don’t know if mailing a three page sheet is a good idea, maybe keep it to one page unless there is some extraordinary reason three pages is needed.</p>
<p>If you apply on-line which most schools prefer it seems, can you just upload the resume in Word format where it asks for supplemental information? You don’t have to mail it in separately do you?</p>
<p>D is planning on a resume submission as well- really no way to put the hours of ballet/performance etc on the Common Ap. As her transcript is a bit of a mess (took courses thru many online programs), it helps organize her cyberschooling. It is as concise as possible.</p>
<p>markcc, you’re right - you can upload a Word document for the additional information section and preview it to be certain it looks right.</p>