GRADUATESCHOOLRESUME

Agraduateschoolresumeisadocumentthataccompaniesyourentranceapplicationtoa
college/university.Itprovidestheadmissionscommitteewithmoreinformationthanwhatsincludedin
theapplicationandfocusesonwhattheyneedtoknowtobetterevaluateyourcandidacy.Thisresume
isdifferentthanthejobsearchresume.Jobsearchresumesaredesignedtogetyouaninterview;
graduateschoolresumesaredesignedtoenhanceyourapplicationtoaschoolandprovideyetanother
opportunitytosellyourself.

Itissimilartoyourjobsearchresumeinthefollowingways:
Crisplanguageuseactionverbstodescribeyourexperiences
Cleanlayoutuselotsofwhitespacesothatitiseasytoread
Nomistakesnotypos,nogrammaticalerrors

Itisdifferentfromyourjobsearchresumeinthefollowingways:
Isnotlimitedtoonepageinlength(twopagesisfine,thoughcontactinfomustbeonboth)
Separatesyourworkandnonworkexperiencesintodifferentsections
Includeallyourexperiencesnotjusttheonestargetingaspecificjob
Indicatesamountoftime(perweek,month)youvecommittedtodifferentexperiences
Referencesyoureducationbutdoesnotprovidecompleteinformationthatwillcomefrom
yourtranscript

Yourgraduateschoolresumemayincludedifferentcategoriesthanyourfriends.Thatsbecauseyour
experienceswillbedifferent.Thesectionsyouchoosetoincludeandtheorderinwhichyouchooseto
listthemshouldbestrategiconyourpart.Whatdoyouwanttheadmissionscommitteetopaythe
mostattentionto?

Someofthemostcommonlyincludedcategoriesare:(moredetailsintheLAYOUTsectionfollowing)
Objective
Education
AcademicExperience/Highlights
Employment
Volunteer,Community,and/orExtraCurricularInvolvement
Certifications/ProfessionalDevelopment

LAYOUT

Thelayoutandorderofyourresumeshouldbedeterminedbywhatyouwanttoemphasizetothe
admissionscommittee.Themostimportantandrelevantexperiencesshouldbeatthetop,whilethe
leastareatthebottom.Imagineifthecommitteewascrunchedfortimeandcanonlydiscussthetop
twothirdsofyourresume.Organizeaccordingly.Ifyouarenotsurehowtoarrangethelayout,use
Examples#1and2(included).Belowisabasicorderforagraduateschoolresume.

ObjectiveAshortsentenceidentifyingtheschoolandtheprogramtowhichyouareapplying.
Example:ApplyingforadmissionintoSlipperyRockUniversitysDoctorofPhysicalTherapyprogram.

EducationThisshouldbethemostimportantentryinyourresume.Afterprovidingthebasics(name
ofundergraduatecollege/university,degree,graduationdate,major,minor,GPA,etc),selectthe
outstandingacademicaccomplishmentstohighlightfortheadmissionscommittee.Thesemaybesub
topicsunderEducationortheymaybetheirowncategories.Areasthatmaybeincludedare:

Research
Honoraries
Scholarships
Conferences
IndependentStudy
Presentations
InternationalStudy
Publications

AcademicExperience,CourseHighlights,and/orInternshipsHighlightparticularlyrelevantacademic
coursesbyprovidingmoredetailsaboutthesecourses.Describetwotothreeupperlevelcoursesthat
providedhandsonexperiencesorindepthstudywithbulletstatements.Includeonlythemostsalient
coursesrelevanttoyourintendedgraduateschoolmajor.Donotlistallcourses.Also,mostgraduate
schoolspreferapplicantswithacombinationofacademicandexperientialpreparation.Somegraduate
schoolsrequirevolunteerorinternshipexperience.Providedetailsaboutyourrelatedexperiences.

EmploymentListthemostrelevantandrecentjobpositions.Besuretoinclude23bulletedpoints
thathighlighttheskillsandexperiencesthatwillbestsupportyourapplicationforgraduateschooland
yourmajorareaofstudy.

Volunteer,Community,and/orExtraCurricularInvolvementIfyouparticipatedincampusor
communityactivitiesthatdevelopedyourleadership,timemanagement,orotherskillsimportantto
yoursuccessingraduateschool,includetheseactivitiesandprovidedetailsthatshowyouractive
participation.

Certificationsand/orProfessionalDevelopmentExperiencesnotrelatedtoyourgraduateschool
admissiondonotneedtobeincludedunlesstheyshowrelevantskilldevelopment.

AdditionalCategoriesAddtheseifyouhaveextraroomorifyouhavedonesomethingespecially
noteworthy.Additionalcategoriesyoumightchoosetoincludeare:
Memberships
LeadershipExperience
ForeignLanguages(remembertoindicatelevelsofproficiency)
Dontbeafraidtogenerateyourown