Everybody's 9not) doing it

I met with a student recently and in my usual role as a broken record, the conversation led to the topic of the student resume'. His comments were pretty typical. "Yeah, our guidance office is pushing those", he said, "but nobody is doing it".

So perhaps I shouted "Exactly!" with more enthusiasm than needed, but seriously, that is exactly the point!

You are in the midst of the college process where Everything is about making yourself stand out from a hundred other students. You are willing to take 15 AP classes, volunteer to lead the committee on solving world hunger, and you organized the rally to restore junk food to the cafeteria vending machines. Great and noble activities, to be sure. So why not invest a couple hours on a resume'?

You mean all it takes is a single piece of paper? Of course not. But a well thought out and structured resume' is a simple tool that can really set you apart. Remember, not everybody has one.

Beside the fact that very few people have taken the time to write a student resume, how does a resume help? Essentially it starts a conversation. More importantly, it starts a conversation about you, focused on the areas and activities you know are some of your best (and proudest) moments. It guides people to the topics you want to talk about. It sets you apart.

And once you have your resume, you can use it in many situations, for example:

- Guide recommendation writers to build on areas of strength and to reinforce where needed.

- Start conversations in an admissions interview on topics you know and highlight your accomplishments.

- Show a department head or professor you are a serious student with something to offer their program.

I know what you are going to say next, “But I’m only a student. I don’t have anything to put in a resume.” Maybe, but if you start to look at what you have accomplished, you might be surprised. Often getting started is the hardest part. Try building a list for the three major areas, and then focus on the best:

- Academics - Include courses planned for the coming year and results of major tests (SAT, ACT, AP)

- Activities - Community service, work, school involvement. Include the positions you held and when you were involved. Readers want to see depth of commitment as much as breadth.

- Accomplishments - Highlight your specific passion. For example this can be Athletics, Art or Music.

Meanwhile, back in the broken record department, I’ll continue to talk about the virtues and the values of having a student resume’ during the college search process. Most students will politely smile and nod, and continue on without one. A few will choose to invest the hour and develop their resume’ and hand it out shamelessly.

I have a special nickname for those few…..I like to call them "Successful".

Dress to Impress but Write to Reveal

Let’s face it. We’re trained from our first assignments to write to impress. Typically that means impressing our teachers with the dreaded essay question or term paper. Our job is to “wow” our audience with our amazing grasp of the English language and the subject matter at hand. The denser your language, and the longer your words, the sentences or the paragraphs, the more intelligent you must be, right?

For your college essay….big mistake.

Probably the most frequent advice I give is to simplify the writing. Put away the thesaurus. Cut off that run on sentence.

Fortunately, the solution is simple. Write the way you would speak to someone you just met (well, almost).

Why is that helpful? Well, for one thing, that is pretty close to the situation you are facing. You want the person reading your admissions essay to get to the end and say, “Wow, I really know this student.”. You want them to see the person behind the grades and test scores. That’s a win.

So practically speaking, what does this mean? There are a few tips that can make a big difference.

• Don’t use those ‘big’ words you think make you sound smarter. Often the effect is quite the opposite.
  
• Write short, sharp, active sentences.
  
• Watch out for the ‘passive voice’. For those not well versed in grammar that means look out for the word ‘be’, or “will” in your sentences.
  
• Write in a style (i.e. voice) that is uniquely you and personal.
  
• Stop the run-on dead in its tracks. If you’d have to take a breath while you are reading your sentence aloud, then think about ways to shorten it up, and allow your reader to pause because they are probably reading it just the same way and it will be exhausting and confusing to remember what the point was by the time you reached the end. (see what I mean?)

One last tip. Read your essay out loud. If what you hear isn’t like anything you’ve said out loud before, then there’s a good chance you’ve fallen into this trap.

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Short, sharp, active sentences, written like you would speak, in a voice that is your own.

That is how to make the right impression for this audience.