Building Your College Resume

Webinar Transcription

2023-07-19 – Building Your College Resume

Stacey: Hi, everyone. My name is Stacey Tuttle, and I am your moderator today. Welcome to, “Building Your College Resume.” To orient everyone with the webinar timing, we’ll start off with a presentation, then answer your questions in a live Q&A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides and you can start submitting questions in the Q&A tab.

So now let’s meet our fabulous panelists.

Joseph: Hi, everyone. My name is Joseph Recupero. I am a senior advisor and admissions officer here at CollegeAdvisor. So I work as a primary advisor and then as an admissions officer helping students throughout their admissions process. My background is in anthropology.

I’m currently a PhD student at the University of California, Davis. Um, and I also attended Columbia for my Master’s, Gettysburg College for my Bachelor’s, spent some time in and out of admissions offices. So I’m very excited to get to speak with you all today and really talk through what it means to build up a resume for the application process.

Stacey: Yeah, it’s definitely one of my favorite topics. Um, so let’s get a sense of who’s in the room right now. Um, you should see a poll appear in front of you shortly, um, asking you what grade you are currently in. So let’s get a sense of who’s in the room. In the meantime, Joseph, do you actually remember the very first time you built a resume?

Joseph: The first time I built a resume was in college. I don’t think I had one in high school. Um, I don’t think it was something We did back then. I’m aging myself here because I graduated 10 years ago from high school. But, um, yeah, it’s not something I remember doing. But the first time I did it, all the different formatting and tips and tricks, I was like, Okay, I’ll figure this out.

And then I have made so many minor tweaks to it since then because I don’t want to change the format Um that i’ve just like built off of the same resume years in the making and just improved on it

Stacey: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I’m actually on that same train as you I didn’t make my first resume until my freshman year of college and then it became a real scramble to get that resume together without the career counselors there Um, but you’ll see in the presentation all that, you know There are places for you to collect your, your extracurricular information that aren’t necessarily requiring a resume per se, a resume in the same sense.

But just if we’ll talk about that a little bit more, I’m going to go ahead and close the poll. So it looks like we have mostly seniors and juniors. Yay. We do have a few sophomores and then we have a few who are not in any high school grade right now. So, um, welcome. Welcome. Welcome. I hope that information we provide today is useful for you in every stage of life.

Uh, with that, I’m going to turn that over to you, Joseph, for the main part of the presentation.

Joseph: Awesome. So welcome everyone. Um, today we’re going to talk about resumes. And so the first thing I want to talk about is kind of the official idea of what a resume is. And then I want to talk a little bit about what I’m going to be referring to as a resume for this presentation.

So of course, an official resume is. It’s documentation of your work, education, skill sets, and additional experiences. It usually ranges between one to two pages, depending on who you ask. This is a healthy debate on if you should have a one page resume or a two page resume. But essentially, a resume is really a collection of your experiences, um, and skill sets related to those experiences.

So that you can show that employers, um, graduate s life, As I said, it’s type assessment essentially, it is a strange way to put if a company could take this resume and look at all of the things you’ve done and somehow end up with you as the final product, it’s almost a recipe for making you as an employee or as a student or as a worker quirky, but that’s how I like to think of it. Now, creating a resume, um, is, as I said, I didn’t create a resume until I got to college, at least the official paper resume.

But you all do need to be thinking about building up your extracurriculars and your work experiences and your education experiences. And so for that purpose, we’re going to call all of that a resume, regardless if it’s on the paper or not. And that’s really what we’re going to talk about today. And, uh, Why you should be creating one of these.

First off, it’s very very useful to understand your own skill sets. Sometimes, you know, you’ll say I have this experience and this experience and this experience. But you don’t necessarily know how to express the skills that you’ve gained in those experiences, and a resume is a really great way to do that and collect that all into one place.

And it also is important to start learning about what a resume is. Those of you that want to pursue academic careers, you’ll actually learn about what a CV is as well, which is Kind of an extended resume, but more based on academia and research and teaching. So it’s important to start to think about how to build yourself up in a few sheets of paper and how to really keep track of all of your different accomplishments.

So let’s think about how big of a part the resume plays in the college process. This is where I’m going to be honest and upfront with you. The actual document, the one two page document that you may make, Not going to play that big of a role in the process. That’s because there are actually separate sections for activities within the application.

So we’re going to talk about that in a second. But the experiences are going to play a huge part in the college process. Your grades are great. But colleges want to see everything that you do. And so we’re going to think about the resume as a concept, as a collection of your activities, your education, your extracurriculars, and everything that goes into making you who you were throughout your time in high school.

Now, when it comes to the actual applications, these will be collected in what are called the activity sections of the applications. Some students think that this is the easiest part of the application. I often think it’s the most difficult part of the application. For those of you that are applying through the common application, which is most of you, you will be allowed to select only 10 activities and 5 honors and awards.

These 10 activities will only be described in 150 characters. That is very, very small. So that’s why it’s important to keep track of the skill sets that you’re building up over time. So that it gets a lot easier to, within this very, very, very, very small word count, describe what you’ve actually done in your activities, extracurriculars, working experience, babysitting, family responsibilities, whatever it may be.

And then within those five honors and awards, it’s even a more limited description. So you really have to start to think about what are those key highlights as far as honors and awards that you want colleges to know about. For those of you in California like me or who may want to apply to the UC system, it is a little more extensive when it comes to your activities.

You are able to list 20 activities, honors, and awards, and you do have a much more robust area for descriptions, but I would always say plan on the Common App length of description so that you learn how to really write and tailor those skill sets from your different activities. Now, why do colleges care about your activities?

A lot of students will say, well, you know, I didn’t have a lot going on in high school, but I had a ton going on at home. Does that count as an activity? Yes. And why do colleges want to know that? Because they don’t just want your academics. They want to know who you are as an individual. Most of the time when you go after extracurriculars or activities, it’s because you’re passionate about them.

They mean something to you. They make up part of who you are. You’ve spent countless hours throughout high school on these things, and so they’ve become a part of you. And so colleges want to see you as a holistic individual, not just as your grades. And one of the big places that they can start to understand you as an individual is through your activities.

The other big reason colleges choose to look at your activities is it tells them what you’ve done, but also likely what you’ll do at their campuses, right? Because college is not just a place where you go to learn. It’s a place where you go to live, contribute, become part of a community. And so nowadays, especially highly competitive colleges, when they’re admitting students, they want to know that you’re going to actively contribute to their campus.

And one of the best ways they can find out if you’re going to actively contribute to their campus is through the activities you’ve done. Or perhaps if you’re going for a highly skilled major with a lot of research components to it. They want to know that you’re going to be able to thrive in that environment.

So they’re going to want to see if you’ve done research or internships while in high school. They want to see that you’ve started to explore your career areas through your activities. And so all of those are really important reasons that colleges are going to be looking at Your resume and the activities that you’re a part of.

So the piece of paper, not so much. The experiences, absolutely. Excuse me. So, what are the different sections of a typical resume? Um, and how can you build those sections? Um, so in a typical resume, I’m talking the paper resume at this point. Um, but also just in general, you will have your education section.

Thank you. And this is pretty straightforward. When you’re building your educational section, you want to think about the classes you’re taking, how hard you’re striving in those classes. I usually talk about challenging yourself appropriately, which means taking advanced classes to the point that you are succeeding, but not taking so much that it’s becoming overwhelming.

You want to be very purposeful with your education choices, um, because you will be evaluated in the context of your high school. So, colleges will see what classes were available to you and what classes you chose to take. If you are a straight A student, but your high school offers advanced classes and you’re taking none of them, colleges are going to wonder why.

If you’re taking every advanced class your high school offers and you’re pulling a C average, colleges are going to wonder why. So you do have to be very specific with these education choices. Then you’ll have your experience section. This is where you want to really focus in on the different types of activities that are purposeful to you.

Please don’t choose your activities based on what you think a college wants to see. Choose your activities because they are meaningful to you. Padding your resume just doesn’t do it any. Um, they really want to see depth and meaning and, and really relevance. And I’m going to go grade by grade in a minute and talk you through kind of some of those choices.

You will often have an honors and awards section. It does not hurt to go after those different academic competitions in high school, or research awards, or try and get AP honors with distinction, or national merit. These are all really great things for you to strive for while you’re in high school. In your additional skills section, start to think about all the little things you’ve picked up along the way, whether they’re extremely relevant skills, like maybe you know how to code, Or maybe you know how to bake extremely well.

I don’t know. Think about what your skill sets are and what skills you want colleges to know that you have. And finally, of course, you’re going to have references. On your resume, you’re going to have references, and then you’re also going to have people that are going to write your letters of recommendation.

So you really want to start building up those relationships as early as possible, um, so that you can foster really strong references.

Okay, so since we’re in the summer, let’s think about why summer is such an important time when it comes to building your resume. And the first thing is because you have quote unquote free time. I understand that you don’t actually have that much free time. High school students these days are constantly filling their calendars and I appreciate that.

But use the time for standout opportunities. Opportunities that you may not have been able to do while you were in school because of time constraints. Think about things like job shadowing, getting inside a doctor’s office or inside an art museum or inside, you know, um, a judge’s chambers to start to do a little bit of shadowing.

Think about longer term internships that you can pick up during the summer or research opportunities. Think about doing an in depth volunteering project that you now have more hours that you can dedicate yourself to. Juniors, sophomores, you can also start to think about pre college programs where you can take classes at different college campuses and get to know professors.

You can also start to think about a passion project, which is kind of your own self designed project, whether it’s creating an art commission, um, where you take commissions and you develop art projects and you donate the money to different charities, or you work for Habitat for Humanity and kind of start up your own chapter, whatever it may be, you can really use the summer and those Time periods, um, truly optimize those opportunities on what I call standout opportunities, things that go above and beyond the normal that you can’t usually do during the school year because of time constraints.

The other thing with the summers is you have to plan ahead. Summers are great, not just for planning what you’re going to do in the summer, but also what you’re going to do each year. So after your freshman year, you should be using the summer to plan out what you want to do as far as your extracurriculars in your sophomore year.

Same thing with sophomore summer going to junior year, junior summer going to senior year. You should be making plans, especially if you’re someone who wants to go after leadership positions or, you know, really advance the clubs and organizations you’re a part of. Those things don’t happen overnight, so make sure you’re setting goals for yourself and making plans.

But the big one I have to remind you of is have a work life balance. Colleges do not want you to burn yourself out. You are still kids. You should still be enjoying your time in the summer. Go to the beach every once in a while. Take a day off. It is okay. Use your time in ways that’s not going to burn you out and that you’re really going to enjoy these experiences.

These should not just be things that are added to your resume. These should be things that allow you to really grow as an individual. Harness your skill sets and And enjoy it along the way, honestly.

So ninth graders, let’s start with you. I know we didn’t have as many, um, but I definitely want to talk through this as well. So for ninth graders, I think this is really the time, um, during your ninth grade year and then the summer of your ninth grade year to explore options and interests, right? This is the time to start thinking about job shadowing early on and job shadowing in a couple of different areas in case you don’t quite know what you want to do.

I always thought I was going to be a history teacher. I was dead set on being a history teacher until I actually did some job shadowing at a museum and realized, Oh, I don’t really want to study the past. I want to study people in the here and now. And then I discovered anthropology. And so this is a really great chance to start feeling out your different opportunities that you’d be interested in.

I’m really starting to think about, okay, I have these interests. How do they manifest as careers, and how can I explore those? Usually during your 9th grade year, you’re also trying a lot of different extracurricular activities, which is absolutely fine. But I think the summer after 9th grade is the time to really narrow down what you think your involvement is going to be going into sophomore year, and really starting to focus in on what your time is going to be dedicated to.

Ninth graders start volunteering early. One of the things that colleges love to see is that you have a cause that you believe in and you continuously dedicate time to it. So if you’re starting your freshman year and you’re volunteering with the same organization the whole way through high school and maybe deepening your involvement as you go, that is a really, really great sign to colleges of your commitments.

So I think that’s something to really think about. And then, as I said, think through the activities you’ve been involved in, figure out what you’re really passionate about and what’s meaningful to you, narrow in that involvement and go after it going into your sophomore.

Now, I know we do have a couple sophomores. Um, so what should you all be thinking of as you move through sophomore year and then into sophomore summer? This is where I think if you’re going to do a passion project, The planning should happen waiting until your junior year, which is usually your most difficult year academically, is not when I would wait to start a passion project.

I would start thinking about it during your sophomore year and then implementing it during your sophomore summer so that you can really build it up over time and you can really get those goals that you want to achieve. For those of you that don’t know, as I said, what passion projects are, they can really be anything, but it’s something that you do on your own.

It’s your own idea, your own creation that you can really put your stamp on. As I said, with volunteering, continue that volunteering, continue that deep involvement, but increase your commitment to the causes you’ve chosen. Go deep. If, if you’ve just been doing a couple hours here and there, ask if you can be a project lead or a manager, or you can start your own fundraiser for that volunteering opportunity.

Really deepen that involvement. If you’re planning to do research, same thing with the passion project, I think this is when you should be starting. Um, research is a long term process, especially good research. That’s why PhD programs take seven years. Um, so if you’re planning to do student research, start during your sophomore year and you’re, and use the summer after sophomore year to really get into that research.

Um, Same thing with an internship. Internships can sometimes happen and bring you back summer after summer. So if you’re able to get one in your 10th grade summer, that’s fantastic. And see if you can carry that over into your junior summer as well. Within your sophomore year, this is where you should really be deepening your involvement.

This isn’t really the testing the waters phase anymore. This is where you’re saying, these are the clubs and activities I’m going to be involved in. These are the skill sets that I want to build up, and this is how I’m going to do it. And really diving in. And finally, set goals. Once you hit your sophomore year, as I said, you should have an understanding of what you want your high school trajectory to look like as far as involvement.

So make sure you are setting very specific goals for each of your activities for 11th and 12th grade. Anytime I work with a student, this is the first thing I do when I sit down with them at the start of the summer. I say, here’s your activities, Going into junior year, what do you want to accomplish in each of them?

Going into senior year, what do you want to accomplish in each of them? Write it down, tell me why those are the things you want to accomplish, that way you can really set yourself up for success. That is really the way I look at the 10th grade summer. Excuse me.

Now, 11th graders, this is what I call the final opportunity summer. Being very honest with you, I don’t think you should be adding a lot of activities in your senior year, unless it is something that shows up or something that you start that is like extremely impactful to you. Adding activities in your senior year can sometimes come off as resume padding.

And we don’t want it to look like that. So this summer after your junior year is really the last time to add those big opportunities, to capitalize on those passion projects, to start planning leadership positions, to start getting ready for elections, to get that final internship. Um, this is really the time to go after those opportunities.

So take advantage of that 11th grade summer as much as possible because as you get towards the end of your 11th grade summer and the start of your senior year, application season kicks in and you are going to be very, very busy. So use the summer as much as possible, especially for summer internships.

You also have the opportunity for pre college programs. Pre college programs, although they do not necessarily increase your chances of getting into a certain college by doing a pre college program there. It does give you the opportunity to meet professors, um, and meet staff at those schools and get a feel for if you really want to apply there.

And that’s important. You want to start to really make sure you understand what those colleges are like, what the education systems are like there, and if you enjoy it. But as I said, set those senior year goals. although you don’t want to be adding new activities. You definitely want to be going after leadership positions and honors and awards and, you know, really making your stamp before you leave high school.

And that takes planning and that planning happens during the summer after 11th grade. So it’s a really important time. And you should also, of course, be working on your applications. Do not let the 11th grade summer go without putting work into your applications, especially your personal statement. Your personal statement should be wrapped up and finished by the end of your junior summer.

At least to be on the timelines that I like to work with for my students. So dedicate a lot of time to that as well.

So what do admissions officers want in a resume? There are four key components that I often talk about when it comes to What they’re looking for. The first one is leadership, and leadership is a complicated thing because I’ve often worked with students who will say There was just no way I was gonna get a leadership position You know, there aren’t enough captain positions on this sports team or you know The leadership positions just I did a lot of work in the clubs, but I wasn’t in a leadership position.

Is that okay? Yes Leadership is official and unofficial, and it comes down to how you highlight it in the applications. So when it comes to leadership, yes, I do think you should go after the president and the vice president. I do think you should start clubs. I do think you should be as involved as possible.

But also if you’re just extremely involved without a title, let that be known on your resume and in your activity section, because those are all leadership skills that you want to highlight. Thanks. Also, having the title is not enough. Colleges want to see that you build up a leadership style. They want to see that you have made impacts through your leadership.

So that’s why that goal setting is really, really important when you start taking on leadership positions. Volunteerism. Sometimes a buzzword, but not for colleges. Colleges want to see that you have passions, and that you know how to commit yourself to them. Colleges do expect you to volunteer when you’re there, and so they want to see that you’ve gone out of your way to do that in high school.

And sometimes, it actually looks better to do one thing, one cause, one organization, one volunteer commitment, instead of a bunch of little ones that don’t necessarily mean as much to you. Because as I said, they want to understand why you’re choosing those activities. They want to see that you can deepen and really commit yourself to those things.

Third thing they look for are those standout opportunities. They want to see that you’ve pushed yourself towards internships, towards jobs, um, towards student research, uh, towards summer programs. You really want to take advantage of all of the little opportunities that come your way. My general rule in high school and in college was if it interests me, I’m passionate about it, and it’s not going to burn me out, I’ll say yes to it.

And that is my general advice to you. Um, find those standout opportunities that are really going to not only make your resume stand out, but that are going to make you develop as an individual. And then they’re going to look at your overall involvement. And sometimes people get a bit confused by what I mean by this, but actually all of your activities should come together.

to tell a story about you. They shouldn’t be random and sporadic. They should all have purposefulness. And so by reading your activities sheets, um, by reading your resume, I should be able to start to get an idea of who you are as a person. And that takes a lot of tweaking and tampering and, you know, really making it tight.

But if you do it right, you get, as I said, that recipe for who you are. So what does stand out in the activity sections in these four areas? Diversity of skill sets. Please don’t say lead, lead, lead, lead, lead over and over and over again. If, even if you did lead a club. They want to see a diversity of skill sets.

They want to see you use a diversity of verbiages when describing those skill sets. And so you do want to start to think about what are those particular things that you have learned in each of the activities that you’ve chosen and how can you really highlight those on your resume. They want to see measurable impact.

They are reading, we are reading hundreds of applications. Okay. And if someone tells me that they started a website, if someone tells me that they started a website that gets around a thousand views a day, that’s a very different thing, right? Give them measurable things, give them numbers, give them statistics if you have them.

Make it well known the impact that these activities are having so that they can understand that. They want to see passion and they want to see commitment. You do not need to do 25,000 things. You can do eight. Nine, ten things really, really well, and really in depth, and really committed. And they would rather see that.

You also don’t have to fill all ten of those slots. I have had students get into some of the best colleges in the country with eight of those slots filled, because they have such deep involvement and passion and commitment to what they do. And finally, they want to see purposefulness. They do not want to see you doing things at random.

They want to understand why you got involved in each and every one of the things you got involved in and how that has resulted in where you are, how that has contributed both to you as a person and to your application and how those choices will actually reflect when you’re involved on their campuses.

So these are a lot of the things that stand out when it comes to your resume.

Stacey: Thank you so much, Joseph. That was extremely informative. So I really appreciate all of the insight. I learned some things along the way too. Um, so now let’s get into The Q and a part of the life Q and a part of our presentation today. I’ll read through the questions you all submitted in the Q and a tab as a reminder for reference during the Q and a there is a copy of the slides in the handouts tab at any point and you will be emailed with a recording of the webinar after today’s session.

Um, so when I review your questions, I might reference the handouts in the handout section or the slides in the handout section on the recording. Thereafter, I will paste my responses into the public chat. So you can see them and then I’ll read them out loud so that Joseph can answer them for us as a heads up.

If your Q and a tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just double check that you join the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page. So with that. Let’s get to our first question. And so this is a very specific question just around, um, If you don’t, you have one specific activity that takes up a lot of your time.

How do you manage that on your college application? In this case it’s a sport, but I’ve heard students talk about dance taking up a lot of their time, um, or a particular passion project taking up a lot of their time. How do you approach that? Um, does it look bad on a, a, a, a, I guess a resume or college application, um, if that’s the case?

Joseph: I don’t think it looks bad, um, and I, I don’t think it’s necessarily a detriment, but with that said, I will say there are opportunities. There are off seasons. I was an athlete myself, and I do know this. So sometimes, and I’m not saying this to the person who asked the question, but don’t allow that one activity taking up so much time to become a reason that you don’t pursue other things, um, especially volunteer and leadership opportunities, um, because those are really, really important.

So again, you don’t need to have 10 things, but I also don’t think you want to have two things. Um, you do want to show that you can balance your time because colleges want to see that as well. Um, that you can balance your time and get involved in a lot of different things. But if you do do one thing, like dance, for example, but you’re a dancer and also a dance instructor and you also do these couple different dance companies, right?

Or you’re on a sports team and you’re on one team and a travel team and you’re a captain. Those are actually different activities. That you can write about on your resume and you can write about in your activity section. So sometimes you’re actually involved in more than you think you are, even if it just seems like one activity.

Stacey: Yeah, absolutely. That’s, that’s totally how you can go about that. Another um, challenge that I have for any of you who have this particular question is really think through how you spend time. Your spare time outside of that particular activity, because something that you might not think is relevant to including your activities might be very relevant.

So I had a student, um, who spent a lot of her time making jewelry, uh, and she didn’t think that that was important. As something to include on the resume because it wasn’t a formal activity right through school or a club But that was really important to her and so really challenge yourself to think how else you you are involved Um in other things in your life, even if it’s not through a formal club.

Do you agree Joseph?

Joseph: I do even if it’s just you you were babysitting your siblings and that’s your responsibility All right I have a student who would do hair for people in her community and she didn’t realize that was an activity She should be listing and so yes Really think about that free, free time spare time because it could actually be full of activities that you didn’t even know you were doing.

Stacey: I love that example. Yeah, absolutely. Um, and when you get to the activity section of the common app, the family responsibilities category is a real category. You can choose that, um, relevant to this discussion. Actually, somebody had asked if it’s okay to put paid jobs on your application. What are your thoughts on that, Joseph?

Joseph: Absolutely. 100%. And yes, you should. Um, I will tell you my five years of McDonald’s were absolutely on my college applications. I guess four because you don’t list the eighth grade year. But yes, um, paid jobs take up a lot of time and develop a ton of skill sets and show personal responsibility. Those should 100 percent be on your application.

Even if you were dropping fries constantly like I was while in high school.

Stacey: Yep. That was a big part of my resume, too I definitely worked at stop and shop as a cashier and I worked in a pharmacy And those were big parts of my activities took up a lot of time, too. Um, so don’t sell yourself short um Another question here.

Is it okay if we’re talking about formal resume right now, right? So is it okay for your resume at this stage in high school to be more than one page? What are your thoughts on that? What’s your advice? It’s a very popular question.

Joseph: If you have gone above and beyond you can move beyond a page. Um, but most of the time while you’re in high school, it should be a page right now.

Mine has just hit two pages as a PhD student. Now my CV is like seven pages long, um, which is a completely different thing, but I would say it should be one, no more than two pages. Uh, when it comes to resumes, um, formal resumes, I don’t think colleges are going to scoff at you and throw it away if it’s more than two pages, but.

If you are turning in a resume for jobs, you definitely want it to be one.

Stacey: And a lot of admissions officers will have the perspective of at this young stage at this stage in your life Um, it’s it’s not appropriate for you to have a resume longer than one page because you just haven’t lived that much life yet so, um Even though you’ve done a lot and that’s really important to you One page is usually sufficient to get that that point across at this stage in your career um Another question here has to do with the passion project that you were referring to earlier, and I know you talked a little bit about when what’s relevant in senior year and what that means in senior year when you take up an activity.

Is senior year too late to start a passion project? Um, and can you also touch on the question? Do you even need to do a passion project? Do you have to feel pressure to do that?

Joseph: No, you do not. A passion project is just one option among, among many of how you can spend your time and sometimes, you know, maybe you’re just so committed to your volunteer work.

You don’t need to start your own project or you’re doing research or you’re doing internships or different things like that. You don’t need to do a passion project. Starting a passion project in your senior year. If you are doing it, For the resume and only for the resume. I wouldn’t I wouldn’t start it in your senior year.

You’re gonna be too busy You’re gonna be doing applications. You’re gonna be wrapping up grades I but if it’s something that you want to do because it means something to you and you intend to carry it forward Beyond high school then sure. I’m never gonna tell you not to pursue your passions But if you’re just doing it for the resume going into your senior year, I I would advise against it

Stacey: Yeah.

Um, everybody’s a little different. And so I think you should always ask yourself and Joseph, I’m sure you would agree with this. Always ask yourself if this actually is a genuine interest for you. If this is actually genuinely something you want to be doing at that state late stage in high school. Um, Don’t do it for the sake of, um, your application, but rather for your sake, right?

Um, and if it’s not adding anything to your personal growth, uh, in addition to adding something to the application, um, the application should be a secondary thought, right? Do you agree, Joseph? I agree. Absolutely. Awesome. Um, We have a lot of questions about passion projects. Um, just for the record, you know, there passion projects can come in a lot of different shapes and forms.

Um, can you name a couple of examples, some unique examples that you’ve encountered?

Joseph: So the student who did hair in her neighborhood turned it into a business where she taught other people how to do hair, um, in a traditional way from West Africa, which was really cool. So that was her passion project. She did in her living room.

She just taught girls younger than her how to do it. Didn’t take much time. Um, I had a student who, as I said, set up an Instagram to get art commissions to, to, do her paintings, um, and then donated the money to cancer societies. Um, I had a student who developed a website for a lawn company, um, that he worked for and so his passion project was, you know, setting up their website for them because they, it was an older man who owned the company and he didn’t know how to create a website.

Um, so these are just some different, different ones that I’ve encountered.

Stacey: Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of good ones out there. I’ve seen students create podcasts. I’ve seen students create seminars in their community to educate people on specific health topics There’s a lot of different approaches you can take and so a lot of these questions are does this count as a passion project?

And the answer if you’re asking the question is most likely yes Um, because there is so much variation. Some questions here also about research as it relates to your extracurricular building, the timing for that. Um, do you have any thoughts on when it’s an appropriate time to start thinking about research if you’re going to pursue that, if it’s even possible to pursue that?

In high school and any if you have any tips for how to begin that process, um, I’d welcome them I can also add some thoughts there

Joseph: Sure. So the first thing I will start by saying and this isn’t going to be a particularly satisfying answer But it is part of the answer is sometimes it really depends on if your high school has a research program Um some high schools have the funding for that and some high schools do not, um, but if your high school does, I would start thinking about it during your sophomore year.

Um, and I would start trying to think about your projects and your mentors and, and different things like that. Um, the other thing you can really start to do is if you know you want to research something and you are very, very passionate about it. Um, look into summer programs, summer research programs that are available at different colleges and universities, and also sometimes these are more shot in the dark than not, but you can still try it if you know there is a professor that aligns with the research you want to do at one of these universities.

Send them an email, see what they say. Um, go for that shoot your shot kind of email with the professor and, and see what they have to say. Um, but again, it’s not something that everyone needs to do. I absolutely did not do research in high school. I don’t know how you would do anthropological research in high school.

Um, I mean, I guess you’re always doing it. You’re just watching people all the time. Um, but yeah, I, that would kind of be my, Insight into research programs. Um, please feel free to

Stacey: yeah. Um, I want to also add, especially for these pre med students in the room who might be putting a lot of pressure on themselves to find research at the high school level.

It is a hard thing to do because a lot of labs have age limits. on, um, those who can participate in the research at an academic level. Usually that level is 16, but in general, um, professors might be very hesitant to take on submitting high school because of that liability. It doesn’t mean that you can’t pursue research.

So don’t, as Joseph was saying, don’t, um, hesitate to shoot your shot and send those emails, send those cold emails and see if the professor does have an opening in their lab. Or you can approach it from the perspective of shadowing if they can’t actually have you involved in the research. Um, and again, you always want to ask yourself, is this something you’re actually passionate about or are you padding your resume, right?

Um, and so don’t put that pressure on yourself to pursue the research. Um, if it’s not actually something you want to do and rather you’re just trying to get, check off that research box. on the resume because it’s not it’s not an easy feat in high school to pursue those things. And I think the best way is through formal research programs, like Joseph was saying, those formal programs in the summer, typically, um, and, or, you know, sending those cold emails, um, to faculty at maybe nearby universities.

So another question we have here, do you recommend that your extracurriculars, um, be tied to your intended major or minor? And is that in fact a requirement for your extracurriculars, um, in order for them to look good on your application?

Joseph: This is one of my favorite questions, because I think it gets very misunderstood.

Um, should some of your extracurriculars align to your major or your minor? Absolutely. I think it would be silly if some of them didn’t, but not all of them. They should align to your passions and things that interest you. I have had pre med students who love art and music and have committed so much time to art and music.

Why am I going to tell them to stop committing themselves to art and music? That’s why I talk about purposefulness. So yes, should some of them align? Absolutely. But they all don’t need to align. They all just need to have a reason why you Pursued them and why you dedicated time to them and as long as you can portray that to the college As it kind of pertains to you as an individual then I don’t see any reason not to go after those things Um, because for you athletes in the room, most of the time your sports don’t align with your intended major, right?

Um, and so, but I’m not going to tell you to stop pursuing your athletics. Um, just make sure you have a reason and a purpose behind the activities you’re involved in.

Stacey: Perfect. Um, I totally agree. And I think this is a good time to take a moment, um, to talk to you about a unique opportunity here with CollegeAdvisor.

For those in the room who aren’t already working with us, we know how overwhelming the admissions process can be. Our team of over 400 former admissions officers and admissions experts are ready to help you and your family navigate all of it in one on one advising sessions. So take that next step now.

I’ve mentioned this earlier in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team using the QR code on the screen here and during that meeting will review your current extracurricular list. Very relevant, right? And application strategy and discuss how they line up with your college list and outline the tools you would need to stand out in a competitive admissions world.

So definitely don’t sleep on this opportunity. It’s actually going to be on the next slide here while we continue our Q& A. Um, I maybe have more of a technical question here for you, Joseph, um, about how to you. Go about the kind of listed hours and like number of hours a week and stuff in the activity section.

Um, the specific question Is if you’ve been doing the same activity, but you spend a different amount of time on it every week How do you go about responding to that? Um, this is a very common question that I get to

Joseph: shoot. Hi Um, that’s generally my answer go for what took the most time Um, you can also average it out if it like but I I generally say shoot high You Go for the most amount of time it usually takes.

Don’t, don’t do an absurd week, like, where your robotics tournament was coming up and you spent 40 hours working on your robot. But if you generally, most of the time, are spending 10 hours a week on this activity, and then some weeks you’re spending three, I would go for the 10 because that’s generally the amount of time you’re spending on the activity.

Um, so I, I say shoot high within a reason.

Stacey: Yeah, I think that’s fair. I’ve seen, uh, I think you just need to be as true and genuine as you can, um, and authentic about your activities as possible, but also don’t sell yourself short, which is why just the saying shoot high, uh, thoughts on including. Activities from before high school.

Joseph: Nope That’s just that’s the straightforward answer. No, um, 9th to 12th. That’s all colleges want to see. If you start adding activities before that, they’re gonna be like, why in the world are you?

Stacey: Um, and in this specific example, um, the student had used a black belt achievement. You’re likely still pursuing karate in high school, so you can still list karate on your application and you can include the fact that you are a black belt.

It’s just not, um, obviously you achieve that much earlier, but. That’s still a fact about you that you can include on your application.

Absolutely. Um, I’m just looking for kind of more broader questions. We have a lot of very specific questions about passion projects, um, and extracurriculars. Do you have any, um, at this time, specific tips for those pursuing BSMD programs or pre med students? Um, I know that there’s, you know, maybe a specific set of extracurriculars you might be looking to see.

pursuing those pathways. Any categories of activities that might be more commonly pursued by students in those groups?

Joseph: I, um, that’s tricky. Um, I think BSMD students do typically shadow, um, in high school. So I do think If you’re pursuing a medical career and you’re applying for a program that is going to take you directly into medical school, they are going to want to see that you have at least spent some time in the medical field in some way, shape, or form.

Whether that’s through HOSA programs, if your high school offers them, or you’ve actually shadowed, um, I also think for BSMD programs, it’s less about the activities and more about the classes. Um, so I do think they’re going to want to see your AP bios, your calcs, your chems. Um, but, but generally the students that I’ve seen get into BSMD programs have done some form of shadowing because if a college is going to accept you into their medical program right off the bat, they are going to want to see that you have dipped your toe into the medical world in some way.

Stacey: Yeah, that’s totally fair. Um, activity is something to add a little something to add their, um, categories of, uh, extracurriculars that might be more helpful in terms of getting the insight into the medical world would be things like community service to, um, I mentioned shadowing. You can do clinical shadowing or research shadowing or research itself.

Um, um, There are definitely groups that you can get involved with at your high school Likely where you know, they’re pre med groups or HOSA or science based groups But I definitely echo what Joseph is saying here that you want to make sure you’re focusing on those important Pre med courses to not only make you competitive but set you up for success once you do get to college.

Yes Can you elaborate a little bit more on the flexibility around Leadership and activity. So the example here is somebody encouraging their friends to pursue healthier lifestyles and getting them to the gym. Is that something you include on an application in terms of the activity section? How would you frame that?

Um, and is that an illegitimate leadership example?

Joseph: So, I don’t know if I would necessarily list that as an activity, but it is definitely something I would write about in a supplement, um, if, if it’s talking about like a particular aspect of you that, you know, colleges might not know about. Now, if you are legitimately like taking yourself on as a lifestyle coach and like, like taking on your friends as your clients and you really formalize it, then yes.

Not, not formalize it as in get a business license, but formalize it as in like your friends actively know you are being a lifestyle. Um, when I talk about informal leadership, I usually am talking about it within clubs and organizations where you kind of step up and take on responsibilities, but not necessarily have the leadership positions.

Um, But Stacey, what do you think about that one? That’s, that one’s a bit of a tricky.

Stacey: It is tough. I think this, this falls, um, closely to the passion project discussion. Yeah. So yeah, you, you can frame it that way, but again, you need to be true and authentic, um, when you are applying to your schools. And so you need to ask yourself, was this really a passion project or was this like a few times that I got my friends to go to the gym?

Um, and if it’s something you’re actually interested in juniors in the room, sophomores in the room, Turn that into a passion project. You have time. You do, right? So I Understand where you’re coming from. It’s a tough one, which is why I asked it. Um Another tough question or maybe not. Uh, if you’re doing if something you do in as a part of a class for example a research paper is really important to you.

You didn’t publish the paper, but you know that that particular project was a really like moving, um, foundational part of your identity, whatever that looks like, but it was part of a class. It was part of an academic class. Should that be included in your activities list too? So

Joseph: this

Stacey: is,

Joseph: this is tricky, um, because technically if it’s academic work, it doesn’t usually go on an activities list.

However, if you take that research paper and choose to continue it or extend it and, and, and, and pursue it beyond what is required in the class, then, then I would really say it does belong. Um, and, and if, again, if you feel. That you didn’t just do what the class required of you, but that you went above and beyond in that research project, then I definitely think you could list it as an activity.

Again, it comes down to being honest. Like, did you do what was required for the class to get the grade, or did you take this as a research project, go above and beyond to the point that it became an extracurricular for you?

Stacey: Yeah, I totally agree. And keep in mind that the activity section is not the only, and Joseph talked about this earlier, it’s not the only place that you can talk about the things that are important to you.

You have essays, you have supplements, and actually you can also leverage your letters of recommendation, um, to talk about your skills and things that you’ve done. Um, maybe ask, in this case, if you have a research paper that is really important, a research project that’s really important to you from a class, ask that instructor to write you a letter of recommendation.

It’s a really great strategy. Um, Another question, uh, kind of somebody’s alluded to this a little bit in their question. Um, COVID 19 obviously made activity pursuit very difficult, um, for some students. And so those years may have made it harder for people to really, um, build up their resume, if you will.

Um, what is your advice to students who really, um, couldn’t get engaged much because of those COVID 19, um, remote years?

Joseph: Sure. Sorry, my cat just scratched into my leg. Um, No, you’re

Stacey: good. We love cats.

Joseph: First off, there is a section of the application where you will be able to write about the impact of COVID.

And if it truly impacted your involvement, write about it, tell colleges why it impacted your involvement. You weren’t able to get involved, but also make sure you are highlighting what you have done since. Because You know, it has been not that code is over because I know it is still a very active thing.

Um, but Activities have resumed right and there may have been things you did during covid. Um, That also count as activities Um, so keep that in mind But if covid really did for some if you you know Had a health issue and you weren’t able to pursue activities, um for a longer period of time than normal Um There is a section where you will be able to write about the impact of COVID on your application, and that is a good place to really explain that.

Stacey: Yeah, I agree. Um, and you know, there are things that you did in your spare time still, right? You didn’t just sit around and hope for the world to get better. You did things. And so really challenge yourself. Think back. What did you do? How did you engage with people? Um, did you pick up a hobby?

Joseph: How good was your animal crossing island?

Okay, sorry. Here’s the cat. Everyone say hi.

Stacey: Relevant cat and animal crossing. Um, how good is your animal crossing? You gotta throw

Joseph: jokes in there. Something you

Stacey: got it. You got it. This is a very serious subject. Um, so can we talk a little bit more about when it’s appropriate to break down an activity into multiple activity slots.

So in this case, this person, um, was in band, jazz, marching, concert, pit orchestra. Should those all be different? What’s your advice for a student in that situation?

Joseph: Sure. So if you held different positions, if you held different skill sets from each of them, break them down. Like for, Um, so for example, I’m going to use the job I work right now.

So I work for CollegeAdvisor. For CollegeAdvisor, I am an admissions officer, I am a team lead, and I am a moderator just like Stacey is. And each of those three things are extremely different skill sets and different jobs. So I would list each of those as a different activity. Now if you do a lot of stuff.

And the skill set seems similar than I would group them. Sometimes, sometimes you do need to group things together. And so it really comes down to the diversity in the skill sets and the positions that you hold, I would say.

Stacey: Thank you for that. I really appreciate you touching on that topic again because it seems to be a popular one.

Um,

I’m looking for maybe some different topics as we wrap up here. We have five more minutes. Um, I have a, this is a unique question. Um, I, I may, I asked it earlier on, so I want to definitely touch on it. Um, this person has skills and experience where they’ve worked on two passions, video game and development and music, but they feel that they’ve had little quote unquote impact, how can they salvage their resume is the question and their application as a whole.

What’s your perspective on that question?

Joseph: So first off, don’t, first off, I would, I would, I would change the way you’re looking at it. You do not need to salvage anything. Um, if you have put the time and the effort into them, you have built up some serious skill sets. Especially with music and video game design.

Those things take skills. So talk about them. Talk about the skill sets. Talk about the number of hours you spend on video game design, or the number of that you have been pursuing music. It doesn’t always have to be activities that impact others, right? You can, if you’re, I saw a question about duolingo on here.

Like if you have spent thousands of hours developing your Russian skills to the point that you’re fluent. That should be on your activities list for sure. Um, so I, I don’t think just because it didn’t have necessarily an impact on others doesn’t mean it didn’t have an impact on you. Um, and you should really think about how to quantify the impact it had on you.

Stacey: Thank you for that. That was really helpful. Um, Somebody was asking, well, we need to write both a resume and a personal essay during applications. I want to clarify again that you actually don’t need a resume for your college application. We talk about resume more as kind of this overarching way to describe your extracurriculars as we’ve condensed them into words, right?

But the Common App actually only has this activity section where if you have a resume, Conveniently made and ready you can copy and paste the information from basically your resume and amend that as you see fit But it’s an activity section in the comment It’s not a resume that you have to upload and then in addition to that You will have a common app essay to write a personal statement and then each school may or may not have supplements Anything to add to that?

Joseph, did I hit on all the main?

Joseph: You got it all.

Stacey: Awesome. Um, uh, lots of questions around research papers in classes. Joseph, what’s your experience with listing research papers in the activities of a comic? Like, how would you approach that?

Joseph: Yeah, so I don’t necessarily list the paper. I list the project. Um, and then if you ended up publishing it, um, or presenting it or one way or another, then I, I generally just put like, in process of publication or published like in in the activities description.

Um, but again, if these are just research papers for classes and you have not kind of taken it beyond that I wouldn’t necessarily list it Um, yeah, I I don’t think I have much more than that. Yeah.

Stacey: No, that’s totally fair Um, yeah, keep in mind that you have 10 activities Right. It’s a limited amount of activities that you could talk about, and you’re going to want to do that in the most strategic way possible.

So listing a research paper might not be the best way to utilize that space.

Joseph: Yeah. When I’m working with students, um, through CollegeAdvisor, we, We almost do a draft, um, when it comes down to what activities, like, like an MBA draft of what activities are going to make it onto those activity slots and the way we list them and the way we describe them.

So it’s a very, it’s a very strategic process. Um, and so that’s why it’s always great to have help with it, but it’s also really great to be purposeful and really think through what, what you’re choosing.

Stacey: Um, thank you so much, um, just look at, we have one minute left, um, I, I’m going to ask this question from the beginning of the chat, um, it was posted twice.

How much of a sport should be highlighted on a resume, and I think we talked about this a little bit earlier, um, they said, in other words, should it be something that is referred to often and uses something to tie back to, so like, how often should you be talking about sports on your application if it’s that important to you?

Joseph: I mean, if, if you’ve done it. and it’s important to you, then you should absolutely be writing about it. But when it comes to personal statements, your personal statement should not be an activity description. If, if the sport is part of the story that, that tells who you are, then sure, use it. Um, but, It definitely belongs in the activity section if you’ve dedicated a lot of time to it.

But I don’t necessarily know if I would make it your entire, well, I tell this to anyone, whether it’s a sport, whether it’s a club, whether it’s research, I wouldn’t make any one thing your entire application. Um, That’s yeah, I would never make one thing your entire application.

Stacey: And on that note, we are going to wrap up the webinar tonight.

Um, thank you for everyone coming out tonight. Thank you, Joseph, for being with us. That is the end of the webinar. We did have a really great time with you all telling you about building your college resume. And here is our July webinar series. If you’re interested in joining us for any more, um, webinar sessions.

So thank you all. And that ends our webinar tonight. Bye Joseph.

Joseph: Bye. Thank you so much.