Maybe you think a résumé is something that is only used for a job interview. Not so! A résumé is an important part of your college application. In fact, everyone should have a high school résumé.

The high school résumé is a snapshot of YOU, a concise summary of your achievements, talents, and interests. It is a great way to showcase what you have done during your high school years, who you are, and what you can contribute to a college campus.

But, how does a high school student create a résumé? It’s easy! Just follow these steps and when you have finished, you will have a clear, easy-to-read anecdotal history of your high school career.

1. Let’s begin by listing the major sections of a high school résumé.

The Heading: (contains personal information)

Academic Profile: (contains high school information)

In-School Activities

Interscholastic Athletics

Academic/Other Recognitions

Work Experience

Summer Programs/Community Activities

Volunteer Services

Avocational Interests

2. To complete the first 2 major sections (Heading and Academic Profile) requires only factual information.

First type The Heading in bold. Then type your full birth name, social security number (“x”ing out the first 2 sets of numbers and only stating the last 4 for security reasons), and name of high school in one column on the left; then type your street address, name of city, state and zip code, telephone number, and email address in another column on the right hand side.

Between the 2 lists, insert a copy of your graduation photo to personalize your résumé. (To SEE what this should look like see our article “Sample Résumé.” )

Next type in bold font, Academic Profile. Under this section title, state the name of the high school(s) that you attended and the dates of attendance; the type of curriculum you studied (Honors? AP? College Prep? General? or Vocational/Technical?); your GPA through your junior year; your class rank, and your SAT and/or ACT scores.

3. Now for the remaining sections, start brainstorming! Hopefully, you have kept an on-going brag sheet of all of your accomplishments since you entered high school but if you haven’t, it might be wise to sit down with your parents and friends so that they can help jog your memory as you compile your list.

Take one section listed in #1 above at a time and simply list everything that you have done that is appropriate for each section. These sections should be listed in chronological order, but organize your extracurricular activities and avocational interests in order of importance to you.

4. Fill in the details!

Beside each activity or achievement, state the school year that you participated in the activity or received the honor. Then describe the purpose of the club/activity/honor and most importantly briefly describe your specific contribution(s) to the activity.

Tip! Any leadership or honor from your involvement in any activity should be italicized to emphasize its importance, and the year that you were selected for the position or honor should be noted.

Finally, denote the number of hours per week per year you devoted.

Tip! Do not include those activities in which you spent one hour or less per week.

5. Review your final product. Make sure your high school résumé is rich with details and personalizes your college application! This is the time to brag, to sell yourself, to make the admissions committee want you on their campus! Be truthful, but DO NOT undersell yourself! Perhaps, you should even consider using professional resume writers like Resume Edge give it one final polish so you will truly have a perfect product to submit with your application. You can even save $20 off by using our link to buy their service!

Note: Because your résumé will have lots of details it may take more than one page. For each new page make sure to put in your name and your “secure” social security number on each page, in case pages are separated. Also make sure to restate the heading under which you were working from the last page: Work experience Cont.

The article “Sample Résumé” is something you should look at before you finalize your own résumé.