Student Curriculum Vitae

A curriculum vitae is an important document that carries a summary of your personal background, academic qualifications, professional experience, qualities and skills, achievements etc. This generally is the very first document viewed by an admission committee and your first impression entirely rests on the hands of your CV. Hence, it’s recommended, you must design it with utmost care and add most of your meritorious points that would highlight your personality and your skills.

A well-written CV should include certain important points which is followed by a proper format and an accurate length. The construction and the flow of the content should be such that it connects with the admission committee and should be described in a hierarchical order of your qualifications and your work profile followed by your achievements. Remember, while the admission committee would go through different CVs in just a matter of few seconds, if it captures the attention of the committee in those few seconds, you have the benefit of standing apart from a number of applicants.

While you’re preparing your CV, you can keep in mind the following guidelines:

• When there’s not much difference in different academic CVs, sections such as a Summary or an objective statement could have a good impact.

• Stay focused and create a comprehensive CV that would include your academic history, work-experience, achievements and your professional as well as academic skills.

• Use reverse chronology to mention your most recent academic qualification / work experience / achievement first. The committee would like to know your most recent qualities first rather than the older ones.

• Use a steady font throughout your CV in a justified alignment.

• Get the titles highlighted.

• Also mention any papers of yours that might have gotten published.

• Don’t overwrite your CV. Two pages of content should be more than enough to get you described effectively.

Understand there’s a difference between a professional and an academic CV. Be careful while preparing your CV and stick to the academic guidelines. Follow these, and you will find a competitive edge over the other applications that might help you secure an admission into the college/university you desire.