Skip to main content
How to build a high school resume

How to build a high school resume

It’s never too early to start working toward your dreams! Extracurricular activities help with problem solving, interpersonal awareness, and other skills needed in college and beyond. Having a strong resume is a huge help when it comes to finding your path.

Get expert tips

How can high schoolers build up their profiles?

There are many ways that high schoolers can build up their profiles — extracurriculars being an extremely important one. Make sure that you do the following to develop a profile that impresses admissions officers.

Follow your interests:

Choosing to pursue what you love will give you the motivation to invest time and build your skills. Think about how you'd most like to spend your time, then look for productive ways to test out those interests.

Take advantage of the opportunities at hand:

Not all students can work in their dream internship. Search online and explore your local community for achievable ways to engage with what you love.

Show initiative:

Look for ways to improve your community. There is always important work that others are too busy or discouraged to pursue. Find a needed improvement, then make it.

Keep up the good work:

The best way to improve your profile is to perform well in your current position. Thriving wherever you are is a great way to be noticed and often leads to greater responsibilities down the line.

What do strong high school profiles look like?

Shows strong character

Do you follow through when you make a promise? Can you raise support for an important cause? Do you find creative solutions to problems? A strong profile makes others trust your ability to make the world a better place.

Illustrates how you made an Impact

Particularly when it comes to college admissions, the people reviewing your profile want to know how your work impacted those around you. Students who make changes at the regional, state, national, and international level will have more competitive college applications.

Demonstrates growth

Employers and admissions officers want clear evidence that you build on your past experience. For most, that means narrowing your focus to a few activities and engaging more deeply with them.

How to present trends in
your resume

As you write your resume, trends in your accomplishments will emerge. For one student, a love of teaching may become apparent through their tutoring positions. For someone else, an entrepreneurial spirit will appear in the projects they have started from nothing. Highlight these trends as you find them by using key words that all relate to your most important professional trend or characteristic.

Understand how your
profile stacks up

We’ve built a one-of-a kind chancing engine that allows you to understand your real chances at hundreds of schools.

We use hundreds of thousands of data points from real student profiles, so we can show you how you compare to other students.

You’ll get personalized recommendations of how to improve your profile so you can reach your college and career goals! Plus, it’s completely free.

Get started now >

Get free guidance right now

Sign up for CollegeVine and get personalized recommendations to ehnace your profile and get ready for college admissions.

Get Started
...