It’s Not the Resume You’re Thinking Of
When most parents hear the word “resume” in the context of college applications, they picture a professional document — formatted, polished, and packed with titles. And while students do eventually put their experiences into a more formal resume format in junior year, the college activities list is really something different.
What colleges are asking when they look at this list is simple: where did this student make an impact? What did they genuinely care about? How did they choose to spend their time outside the classroom — and what does that tell us about who they are?
That’s the lens through which every decision about the activities resume should be made.
Quality Over Quantity — Every Time
This is the most important thing I tell families, and it’s also the one that gets overlooked most often. By the time junior year rolls around, I start getting questions like: “What else should we add before we finish the activities list?” And the honest answer is usually: nothing — not unless it’s genuinely meaningful.
Adding clubs and organizations at the last minute just to fill space is filler. It doesn’t demonstrate commitment, and admissions officers can see through it. What colleges want to see is evidence that a student stuck with something, grew within it, and invested themselves in it over time.
There are exceptions. If a student’s interests have genuinely shifted — say, a student who was on a pre-med track discovers a real passion for business — it makes sense to seek out relevant experiences before senior year. But that’s a reflection of authentic growth, not resume padding.
For parents of younger students, this is the most valuable takeaway: help your student identify things they actually want to try, early in high school, and then encourage them to go deeper over time rather than wider.
What Actually Belongs on the List
This is where a lot of students sell themselves short. The activities list isn’t just for varsity athletes and student council presidents. It’s for anyone doing anything meaningful outside of class — and that category is broader than most families realize.
Jobs are a great example. A part-time job shows responsibility, time management, and real-world experience. Babysitting is another one students frequently dismiss as “not important enough” — but it absolutely is. Being trusted with the care of someone’s child is a significant responsibility, and it belongs on the list.
Volunteering counts, whether it’s through school, a community organization, a church, or a family connection. Being part of a youth group, singing in a choir, coordinating a donation drive — these all tell a story about who a student is and what they value.
Hobbies with genuine depth belong too. A student who has spent years teaching themselves guitar, or who bakes every week and delivers to neighbors, or who independently researches a topic they’re passionate about outside of school — all of that is relevant and worth including.
The question to ask is always: does this reflect a real investment of time and interest? If the answer is yes, it belongs.
Showing Initiative — With or Without a Title
One of my favorite things to look for in a student’s activities list is evidence of initiative. That doesn’t always mean being president of a club or captain of a team. Sometimes it means being the person who stepped up when things weren’t moving, who solved a problem no one else was addressing, who created something from scratch because they saw a need.
Leadership shows up in all kinds of ways. Help your student think through moments like these — times they took action, made something happen, or stepped into a role even when it wasn’t handed to them. Those stories are often the most compelling ones on the page.
How to Write It Well
On the Common Application, students have 150 characters to describe each activity. That’s not a lot of space, which means every word has to work hard.
Strong action verbs matter. Instead of “Member of club, attends weekly meetings,” a student might write “Coordinated weekly meetings for 10-member group focused on…” See the difference? One is passive; the other shows engagement and ownership.
Numbers help too. How many people were impacted? How much money was raised? How many items were collected for a donation drive? Quantifying impact makes descriptions more concrete and easier to digest — which matters when an admissions reader is moving quickly through an application.
When Life Has Limited Involvement
Not every student has had equal access to extracurricular opportunities. Long commutes, family responsibilities, work obligations, and other circumstances can genuinely limit how involved a student is able to be. If that’s the case for your student, there are places in the application to explain that — and doing so honestly is always the right move.
Colleges are not looking for a perfect, polished resume of activities. They’re looking for context, authenticity, and evidence of who a student really is.
The Big Picture
Start early. Encourage genuine interests. Support depth over breadth. Help your student see the full range of what counts — and then work together to present it in a way that truly reflects their story.
If you’d like personalized help building your student’s activities list and putting together a strong college application, we’d love to talk.
Book a free call with our team we’d love to learn more about where your student is in the process and how we can help.
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