How To Create A College Recruiting Resume: Fill & Download for Free

Here are 23 ideas for optimizing your University experience--in some ways its like a recommendation list to my former self to learn more about myself and the world:Get involved in groups you are interested in or passionate about. You've paid for it (or will) and its your only experience of college (4 years goes pretty quickly). These are potentially some of the most memorable experiences of college.I never did a semester abroad or similar travel education opportunities. Looking back, I would totally opt to do that.Build stuff along the way (this could mean writing or hosting events, etc...). Resist the temptation to spend a bunch of time watching TV or looking at funny cat videos on YouTube.Try to not allow the campus or your dorm room to become a bubble-like existence. Certainly there may be weeks (i.e. midterms, finals) where this might occur--but don't let it occur for lack of something to explore, do, or eat.Don't hate too much on the local town. Sure, I'm sure there are some quirky aspects, but take advantage of whats there (rather than whats not). But realize that if someone pretty important isn't there or nearby--it may be time to check out other college opportunities.Try to eat off campus at least once a week.Reward yourself with a non-campus meal for your work on essays, projects, and studying for tests.Learn to cook in the dorms (assuming you have the available resources).Create a movie, game, sitcom, and/or whatever night with your friends if possible. This helps build deeper friendships and ties.If you're town has mass transit and you don't have a car--and you aren't using the mass transit or renting a car (via a car sharing service or rental agency) your experience of college will probably pay the price.Live on campus at least one year. Live off campus at least one year.Ideally pick a college where learning, discovery, and invention are both valued and honored. Or at least that they are cherished in your departmental major. (also ideally pick a university in or near a larger town).Find people with different perspectives and engage them and learn from them.Take advantage of experiential learning opportunities. (i.e. Startup Weekend if you are into that or internships). Real portfolios and projects seem to be the core way that recruiters seem to make decisions about resumes.Consider grad school. Its so much better than undergrad in my experience. But if its not your thing.....oh well.Make memories. Live great stories. Stay committed to learning and challenging yourself.Stay in touch with your friends. Losing touch with true friends is a tragedy (those from your hometown, your high school and your college).Love your parents. Stay in contact. (I was pretty bad about this one).Try to make at least a weekly visit to the athletic facility. Try out nature, hiking, climbing, etc.... Consider going on a weekend trip.Learn to love your University sports (at least one--be that football, volleyball, soccer, etc...)Learn to save money, but learn to splurge a bit with memorable events and experiences. Learn to really spend where the money really matters the most.See live music. See a festival.Your time in college is precious. Have fun!You might consider reading this thread for more advice. Bodnick: What is Marc Bodnick's advice for college students? I don't totally agree with the advice given (you can read my note in the comment section)

There is no formula for writing a flawless personal statement. This is a space on your application to show who you are and what you believe. Your personal statement should capture your personality and how you view the world. In order to write a strong personal statement, you should do some self reflecting and ask yourself a series of questions. This will help generate a personal statement topic that is meaningful to you. When trying to write a “flawless” college personal statement, keep in mind these guiding principles on how to succeed and mistakes to avoid.How to succeedWhen making a statement with your college personal statement, genuinely be yourself. Don’t try to be the person that you think admissions committees are looking for, be yourself. When writing, instead of saying “I’m unique,” give concrete examples.Show who you areShow what makes you uniqueShow your personalityShow how the pieces of your application fit togetherShow don’t tellSpend more time brainstorming and outlining your essay than writing. There will be plenty of drafting and re-drafting, but creating a definitive outline will help you develop an overall theme to your application. This theme should draw together your experiences and activities so that an admissions officer can sum up who you are very quickly.Mistakes to avoidThere are many different topics that you can write about for your personal statement, but yours needs to be unique. Admissions officers read thousands of applications every year and come across some cliché topics over and over.Here are some topics to avoid in your personal statement for college.Overcoming adversity: Make sure that you are discussing a matter that anyone could sympathize with.Save the diversity for the diverse candidates: Admissions officers have read enough applications to know whether your diversity is exaggerated or not.The injured athlete cliché Unless you were a top Division I swimming recruit in the country, steer clear of this topic.The tropical vacation cliché : Admissions officers can easily determine when these trips were glorified vacation. If they weren’t academic or intellectual experiences, leave them out.The inspiring relative cliché : Do not focus the essay on anyone but yourself. They are admitting you, not your grandma.Writing about middle school: You shouldn’t mention middle school achievements unless you started an activity or business in middle school that you’ve continued throughout high school.Trying to do too much: There is not enough space to say everything you’ve ever done, only focus on what matters most to you.Writing your resume twice: This gives the admissions officers no information they didn’t already have and it makes you seem uncreative.Again, there is no “flawless” personal statement to get you into your dream college. Admissions officers read applications holistically and will take every part of your application into account. However, the personal essay is a great spot to show why you would be a good fit for your dream college!

Assuming the student has the academic and leadership resume to be a competitive candidate (rigorous schedule, GPA, test scores and focused extra curriculars with demonstrate leadership) then there are a few things that can significantly influence acceptance to the most selective schools including schools in the Ivy League:Being part of a group that is underrepresented at the school or selective colleges in general such as being a minority like African-American or Hispanic, first generation American/first in family to attend college, coming from a rural geography, coming from any under represented state, etc. there is some thinking that even being the dependent of an active military serviceperson or veteran can help as schools measure this.Being an athlete the coach wants at the school - recruited best but just desired to join the team can tip the scales in your favorHaving a highly unique talent that is desirable to some professor, coach or other member of the staff to enhance the schoolBringing positive publicity to the school (the child of a world leader, a famous and talented actor or musician, a published author whose work gained exposure)Achieve or accomplish something unique, especially in the field you intend to pursue such as: research that led to a breakthrough or new learning, being published in a respected journal with new insight or learning, creating a successful business ideal on a meaningful scale, creating a non profit that makes meaningful and recognized changeBeing a legacy, the child or grandchild of an alum will improve your chances of being accepted everywhere but MIT and CalTech (these two schools do not give legacy preference). Being the legacy of a family that has made significant donations to the school. (named buildings, 6 better 7 or 8 figure donations) is even betterOvercoming some significant hardship and succeeding or even excelling despite it and being able to bring this to life in your applicationStand out essays and recommendations that clearly identify how you will add value to the campus above and beyond the many other qualified candidates applying