Writing And Formatting a CV for Graduate School

The application to the university is a long-lasting process when you have to submit a lot of documentation; one of those is CV for Graduate School. It is an integral component of the whole process. Therefore, you have to be attentive when making up your curriculum vitae. 

Is there a difference between resume and CV for graduate school application?

When you have finished with your graduate personal statement, you may go through the admission conditions and find there a CV. Many applicants face the problem of submitting their resumes instead of curriculum vitae. Thus, many future students don’t understand their faults as they consider that the resume and the CV is the same document. 

However, there is a significant variation between these two kinds of documents about which you have to know. 

A resume is more about your work achievements. It is a review of your skills, education, and proficiency. It is more suitable for a job application rather than an additional document for your university application. A resume is a shortlist of what you can do and what you have accomplished. As a rule, it is a one-page document that focuses on your skills and knowledge. 

Curriculum vitae for grad school is a lengthy comprehensive outline not only of your job background but also of everything somehow connected to educational achievements. Usually, it doesn’t have a page-limit, so it may be more than two pages. The main goal of submitting a CV is to have an overview of your studying life and scientific researches. Moreover, CV is frequently used to apply for a scholarship or grant program as it exposes only crucial and short data related only to the studying process on the whole. 

Sometimes it happens when universities ask future students to submit either a graduate CV or a resume. The thing is that the specifications may vary. On the one hand, the admissions committee may be interested in your work background and everything related to it. On the other hand, the university may seek exactly your studying practice and achievements. Usually, it depends on the specialization you apply to. However, it may also depend on the inner requirements of the university. 

How to write a CV for grad school

Many applicants have a question of how to write a CV for grad school and what to include in it. It takes time to decide what to write. Here is the list of bullet points that should be included in your CV. 

1. Contact information
   Write the information about your name, address, phone number, and e-mail. Write it at the top of the page. Also, you can write it in bold or large font. 
2. Educational participation
   List all the educational institutions that you have attended. As well, you can mention the degrees that you have received. It is better to start from the most recent educational institution and move below to high school. 
3. Teaching and research backgrounds
   If you have experience in such fields, you have to mention it. That may be a force point to demonstrate that you are entirely into the scientific process. 
4. Honors and awards
   In case you have honors and awards, don’t neglect to include them while writing a CV for grad school. As well, mention the date and institution that awarded you. 
5. Grants and scholarships
   If you have received a grant or a scholarship, write down the amount of money, year, and department granted you. 
6. Professional experience
   Write down the institutions where you have worked and name the position you have taken. Better to write only about the jobs that are related to your specialization. 
7. Publications and Conferences
   If you have taken part in some conferences, you should mention them. Don’t forget to write down the title of your report. Also, the same regards to the publications you might have. Write down the date of release and the title of the article. 
8. Memberships
   It can be both academic and professional membership. It may show that you are already in the community of people close to the science field. 
9. Skills
   Mention both soft and hard skills. Also, in this section, you can mention the languages you speak. Other essential features that are worth mentioning can be included in this part. 
10.  References
    Write down a few names of the professors or your employers who can prove everything you mentioned in your graduate school CV. 

In case you don’t have every point from this list in your biography, you don’t have to mention it in your CV. Write only about the things that are related to you. Don’t forget that it mustn’t be plain text. You have to structure your CV into parts. Each part of the CV must be correlated with a particular experience; that’s why you should be careful while combining everything up. 

How to make a CV for grad school: tips on doing such a thing

If you are struggling with how to make a CV for grad school appropriately, here is a guideline for you to understand how it works. 

1. Arrange the topics
   Do this step to simplify the reading. In this way, you can highlight the main points and describe them widely in the section below. 
2. Evaluate the achievements
   Write everything down from the most significant achievement to those that you think are worth just mentioning. 
3. Stick to chronology
   And again, you should do this for easy reading. When everything is arranged chronologically, it makes the reader realize the information better. Appear the most recent events first. 
4. Use professional language
   It would be an excellent idea to use specific terminology. The person who will read your CV for graduate school application may understand that you are into your specialization. 
5. Use samples
   When you face CV writing for the first time, you can use samples to understand the structure and the writing pattern. 
6. Avoid common things
   Your CV isn’t a letter to your friend. Therefore, avoid using hashtags, emojis, underlinings ans weird fonts. Even if it looks cute, it isn’t worth including. Keep in mind that your CV is, first of all, a document. 
7. Ask for feedback
   A good tip for you is to ask your colleague, pier, or employer to look through your graduate CV and give you feedback. In case when you don’t have such an opportunity, you can refer to graduate editing service. Professionals will highlight the mistakes if you have such, or simply will give you some advice on how to improve your CV. 

Graduate school CV: is there a particular format for it?

Many future students have such an issue while preparing their graduate CV. People think about whether there are any requirements or not; sometimes, it becomes a cause of nerves and worries. You can breathe out because the answer is no. All you have to know is that your curriculum vitae must be structured, written in a readable font, and spaced. You can use italics and bold fonts only when writing personal information. It is applicable to do that to highlight the importance of the data. 

You have to use the appropriate lexis and tone of voice. Never forget that it is a part of your admission process, so take it seriously. Include the most crucial information at the top of the list and go down to those that are simply have to take place in your graduate CV. 

One more essential thing to keep in mind is that you have to submit your CV as pdf-file or a document from the programs made for writing such files. That makes to simplify the process of reading. Nobody wants to spend their precious time to find a way how to open your file. It is in your interest to submit the graduate CV in the appropriate format. 

Making up a CV is a required step in the process of applying to the university. It may seem to be a challenging and exhausting process. In fact, it isn’t like that at all. Our tips and tricks may help you to deal with all the problems that may originate while writing. 

For more information about CV for graduate school, you can find it in the EssayEdge blog. 

Information prepared by EssayEdge editor

Robin Wilson

10+ years of experience

Our editors on College, Graduate, Medical, MBA, and Law admission documents help you with brainstorming, proofreading, and editing to make your writing concise, persuasive, and original.