How to Write a Curriculum Vitae for Graduate School

When applying for graduate schools, your application may require you to submit a curriculum vitae. What is a curriculum vitae? Think of it as an extended resume. Unlike a resume, a curriculum vitae may be two pages or more, and its main purpose is to demonstrate your academic achievements. The common sections in a curriculum vitae are contact information, education, work experience, teaching experience, research skills, professional affiliations, publications, presentations, honors, awards and references.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Start your curriculum vitae with your personal information. Include your name, address, phone number and e-mail address.

2. Include the name of your undergraduate college and the degree earned in the education section. Be sure to specify the month and year you graduated as well as your major and minors.

3. List your employment history. Sometimes applicants split this section into two: relevant employment and other employment. Relevant employment refers to employment that relates to your field of study. Since you must list your most recent employment, splitting this section is a good idea if your employment history is interspersed with irrelevant work.

4. Outline any teaching experience. If you have no teaching or tutoring experience, skip this section. If you do, however, you should highlight it in its own section, since many colleges look for graduate students that can become teaching assistants.

5. List any presentations or publications. If you ever made a presentation at a conference, you should cite it here. Any publications (or even pending publications) in academic journals belong here also. Be sure to use the appropriate citation style from your field of study (for example, APA, MLA or Chicago).

6. List any awards or honors. Only include ones from postsecondary schools. Citing any honors from high school can be frivolous.

7. Include any research skills. List any experience with statistical programs and any other computer skills.

8. Include any professional affiliations or organizations. Any membership in associations or honor societies that reflect your field of study are appropriate.

9. List references at the end of your curriculum vitae. Check your college's requirements for references. Sometimes it won't require any, but the typical number is three.

Tips & Warnings

• Proofread your curriculum vitae several times. Ask others to look at it as well.
• Check your graduate's school requirements for your curriculum vitae. Each school may have its own preferences on what to include and in what order.

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