The Twitter Method of Resume Writing

So the CommonApp is changing in a big way for this upcoming app season.
And this next class of applicants? You are the guinea pigs.

You’ve lost essay of choice, but, worse, you’ve lost the “Upload a Resume” option.

While you may be able to sneak it in somehow (send it by snail-mail to the school, upload it in the “additional info” session), more likely you will have to conform to CommonApps standards.

So basically, here’s how it’s going to work.

You get 10 spaces for activities. You get 1 line to describe each activity and list your accomplishments.

Which… quite frankly… sucks.

So let’s delve into this.

10 slots for activities is… honestly not that bad.

Some of us have more than 10. But lets be honest, how many of you have more than 10 activities that you are incredibly passionate about and have a ton of involvement in? I think you can narrow down that list to 10 if you needed to.

And if you cant? You should probably devote a little more time to the activities that are important to you.

But for those who really need to make deep cuts:
Take off anything that is “one time” that isn’t incredibly impressive. Take off any club in HS that you only did for a short amount of time. Cut out anything that’s redundant (multiple lessons, anything that’s implied, etc). Cut anything that is more a “hobby” than a legitimate extracurricular (creative writing, exercising, blogging, etc.)

Also, you do not need to have 10 slots filled. You’re better off with 3 or 4 quality activities than 10 sub-par ones.

So the easy part is done. Now how are you supposed to put 4 years of commitment into one line of text?

What I call the “Twitter Method.”

We are the social media generation, and if anyone can write a mind-blowing description in 140 characters or less… it’s us.

So here’s how to tackle those descriptions.

All officer positions first (with years if they’re multiple, w/o if they’re once).

Then hrs/week (if there isn’t already a slot for it on the app). If it’s a summer program just write “Summer.”

Then, if you can, describe what you do in the club. Short and sweet. Hit the big points.

Awards are last.

 If the club needs to be explained, try to explain it in the title. It will save you space in your description, and make everything easier.
Ex: ACTIVITY: “Association of Creative Thespians” (Drama Club)
Ex: ACTIVITY: “Table Top Troupe” (Board Game Club)

I can’t remember if there is a slot for how many years you participated (I think there is). If there is not, just put it first (ex: 9-12, or 10-12), before your officer positions.

I don’t know how many characters you get, but there will be a limit. So try to be as concise as you can.

Make sure you write out everything before you try to enter it into the CommonApp. First of all, you’ll be able to make sure everything you’re writing looks good and makes sense.
Secondly, you want to make sure your phrasing sounds nice and is grammatically correct.

Third, in case you find out there is less space than you thought, you can play around with everything to make the best descriptions you can.

The resume is going to be a rough bet this year, so make sure you’re polished and ready to go.