What is a CV?
Most programs ask you for a CV as part of your application package. If you are like me you definitely knew what that was before hand and you DID NOT have to furiously google it when you reached that part of your application. It sounds scary but the CV is basically just an academic resume with some key differences. The big picture is that any document that you are submitting as part of your applications is trying to get across two big messages, 1. I can do the academic work in your program and 2. I have the skills to be a good professional in the field you are training me for. Your CV is no different, you need it to get across both of those messages but in a different format from your other materials. Ideally your CV should be a “shortcut” version of material that you discuss in more detail in other parts of your application material, either your essays or your letters of recommendation. In reality, space is limited so the CV may also need to get across new information that isn’t listed anywhere else.
What to know:
Two big things to think about when you are putting together your CV. First, the organization of your CV is a key to the reader about what you think are the most important things for them to know about you. Whatever you believe is the most important or impressive aspect of your academic background should be the most prominent part of your CV. If it’s your GPA and your academic record, start with that. If you have a ton of internship of external experience then the document should be organized to highlight that. Since you are applying to an academic institution then your academic record should be a major part of the CV, but what parts of your record your present are up to you. If your overall GPA isn’t much to write home about but your GPA in your major courses, or over your last 60 units is a lot better, show them that! If you did some relevant work in your undergraduate courses that will help you in the grad program, talk about that! How you organize your CV is just as important as what is in your CV. If you have impressive things to share but they are buried then they may never get seen!
The second major thing is that as first-gen students we are often have a hard time trying to get across the skills that we’ve gained from our undergraduate program. In part we did the same work as anyone else so what’s special about that? Or since you graduated doesn’t that tell the story of what you needed to do to get your degree? Both are wrong. First, whether everyone in your program needed to do the same work or not doesn’t matter, the important thing is that YOU had to do the work, and you did! The program NEEDS TO KNOW exactly what types of work, tasks, analysis, projects etc.. that you did to earn your degree. Maybe other people had to do the same thing, but the people who will be reading your application won’t know that, and if you don’t tell them, they will never know what you accomplished. Secondly, most programs that we will be applying to will not have much if any familiarity with the undergraduate program that you were a part of. You cannot assume that your readers understand what your program required for you to earn a degree, and if you are applying to a program that is in a different discipline than what you are graduating in, then they may not have much understanding at all about why the program you went through is a good fit for the grad program you are applying to. If there are key things you studied in your undergraduate degree (and there ARE!) the you need to talk about them!
Last things:
If you look up CV examples on-line, be aware that the people who are most motivated to put their CVs on-line are people who have fancy degrees, impressive sounding awards or cool job titles. For the most part the CV examples that you will find will seem intimidating. Don’t let that scare you off! Everyday people without crazy internships or perfect GPAs get into graduate programs all the time, you don’t need to have a letter of recommendation from a former President to get in, you just need to work on presenting what you DO have in the best possible light.
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