Key Takeaways

• The Common App Activities and experiences section allows up to 10 entries, with 50 characters for the position or leadership title, 100 characters for the organization name, and 150 characters for the description.
• The Common App makes the position or leadership field optional in the 2026-27 application.
• The Common App Additional information question allows up to 300 words for first-year applicants, down from 650 words before the 2025-26 application.
• The Common App Challenges and circumstances question has its own 250-word limit for first-year applicants.
• A resume upload appears in the Common App only for colleges that choose to offer one, so applicants check each college’s requirements before preparing a resume for it.
• Indigo Research suggests including a resume only when it adds information that does not already appear in the Common App sections, the supplemental essays, or the Additional information question.

Should I Submit My Resume to Colleges or Universities? 

The Common App gives applicants space to describe their achievements in the Activities and experiences section, which holds up to 10 entries, and in the Honors section. Some students have more experiences than those sections can hold, and colleges that choose to offer a resume upload let those applicants share a longer document. Indigo Research suggests including a resume only when it contains important information that does not already appear in the Activities and experiences section, the supplemental essays, or the Additional information section (suggested approach, not an official rule). A resume that only repeats details found elsewhere in the application adds little. A resume can help in three ways.

Supplement Your Application: A resume can ensure that admissions officers see important information you may not have been able to fit elsewhere in your application.

Highlight Special Projects: For students who have completed complex research, high-level art projects, or other impactful work, a resume can offer space to elaborate on these experiences. 

Expand on the Details of Professional and Academic Experiences: Many applicants have completed work experiences, internships, or competitive summer programs at which they demonstrated professional skills and command of advanced material far beyond what is expected of typical high school students. A resume can ensure that colleges understand the specifics of the impressive work these students completed as part of these experiences.

Understanding the Importance of a Resume in College Applications

A resume lets a student present accomplishments in one document and describe the role the student played in each achievement. The Common App Activities and experiences section limits each description to 150 characters, so a resume can add detail that does not fit in that space. A resume can also show how a student’s responsibilities grew over time, for example when an early volunteer role led to a leadership role later in high school.

A resume can emphasize the parts of a student’s profile that match the academic strengths and values of a college. A resume can also connect experiences to a student’s intended course of study and show how the student plans to contribute to the campus community. Indigo Research suggests tailoring a resume to each college in this way (suggested approach, not an official rule).

An effective resume communicates the most significant parts of a student’s profile clearly and shows what makes the student distinctive. The Common App Activities and experiences section holds up to 10 entries, so a resume works best when it covers material that those entries cannot hold.

Example of a resume for the university application sample (by Indigo Student, Camilla)

What do you put on a resume as a student?

A Header with Contact Information
Start with a clear header featuring your name, address, phone number, email, and any relevant professional social media links or websites.

Your Educational Background

List your high school information–including your GPA, class rank (if applicable), and anticipated graduation date–and include your standardized test scores and any relevant advanced coursework.

A Detailed Experiences Section

Include paid work, internships, volunteer opportunities, summer programs, research projects, business or non-profit ventures, and extracurricular activities. Make sure to highlight your specific contributions when describing each experience. Include the hours per week and weeks per year for each experience, because the Common App Activities and Experiences section asks for both.

Advanced Tips for Resume Formatting and How to Write a Common Application Resume

Prioritize Clarity and Conciseness
Use bullet points to describe your roles and achievements in a clear and concise manner.

Tailor Content
Customize your resume to align with the values and characteristics of each college to which you are applying.

Quantify Achievements. Wherever possible, add numbers to quantify your impact. If you organized a charity event that raised over $10,000, make sure to include that specific amount of money in your description.

Special Sections to Consider

Activities and Honors Section: List here any academic, artistic, or community awards that emphasize your competitiveness.

Skills Section: Include any languages you speak in addition to your primary one, as well as technical skills and other competencies related to your intended area of study. For example, if you’re interested in computer science, it’s a good idea to include any coding languages you’re comfortable with in your skills section.

Personal Projects: Elaborate on any independent projects you’ve completed to a high level. 

Where Each Detail Fits in the Common App

A resume works best when it holds information that does not fit in the Common App’s own sections. The table below lists the first-year Common App fields where applicants can already describe experiences, with the limits published for the 2026-27 application.

Details that fit in the fields above do not need a separate document. Material that does not fit in those fields, and that a college allows in a resume, is what a resume can add to an application.

How to Include your Resume on the Common App

Step 1: Proofread Your Resume

Before uploading, ensure your resume is polished and tailored for college applications. It should be clear, concise, and formatted professionally with no typos or mistakes. Here are a few helpful tips:

Use a Professional Format: Opt for a clean, readable layout. Standard fonts such as Arial, Times New Roman, or Calibri are a safe choice (suggested starting point, not an official requirement).

Keep it Relevant: Include experiences and achievements that are recent and relevant to your academic and career goals, and present them, as much as possible, in chronological order.

Proofread Again: Check again to make sure there are no typos or grammatical errors. Have someone else review it as well to catch any mistakes you might have missed. Typos and grammar mistakes make a resume harder to read.

Step 2: Save Your Resume as a PDF

Save the resume in the file format the college requests. When a college does not name a format, Indigo Research suggests a PDF file, because a PDF keeps the same layout on any device (suggested approach, not an official rule).

Step 3: Check Each College’s Requirements

Verify Acceptance: Not all colleges on the Common App require or accept a resume. Check each college’s application requirements through their admissions page or the Common App college information section to confirm if they accept additional documents like resumes.

Follow Specific Instructions: Some colleges may have specific guidelines about the types of supplementary materials they accept and how these should be formatted or labeled.

Step 4: Log into Your Common App Account

Access Your Account: Log into your Common App account.

Navigate to the Dashboard: Go to the ‘My Colleges’ section, where you’ll manage individual applications for each college.

Step 5: Upload Your Common App Resume

The Common App has no single resume upload that applies to every college. A resume upload appears only for colleges that choose to offer one, so open each college under My Colleges and look through its own questions and writing supplement for an upload field.

The Additional information question in the Writing section is a text question with a limit of 300 words for first-year applicants. The Common App suggests using it to share more details about an activity or experience that needs more space than the Activities and experiences section allows.

Step 6: Label and Submit

Properly Label Your File: When uploading, ensure your resume file is properly named (e.g., FirstName_LastName_Resume.pdf) to make it easy for admissions officers to identify.

Confirm Upload: Make sure the file has uploaded correctly by previewing it if possible.

Step 7: Review and Confirm

Check that all sections are properly filled out and that your resume is attached. Double-check to see that the attachment has loaded properly and is formatted just as you wanted.

Conclusion

When a college accepts a resume, the document can show the full picture of what makes an applicant unique. Before submitting, check that the resume adds information that does not appear elsewhere in the application.

For any student hoping to build a high-impact college application resume that will impress college admissions officers, research can offer a significant boost. Our Indigo Research program offers guidance to students in completing such projects. As admissions become more competitive by the year, being able to list an interesting research project on your application reflects your initiative, intellectual curiosity, and love for pursuing academic excellence. Indigo Research can provide the perfect opportunity for this kind of student-led independent research experience.